AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The younger woman hurried away, and Isabella tried to regain her composure. She wasn’t easily given to tears, but all of this news had come as a shock. Why hadn’t her parents been honest with her about the sale of the land and her father’s sickness? Why hadn’t Aunt Josephina warned her? At least that would have given Isabella time to get used to the idea.
Lupe returned and helped Isabella into the cloak. The mauve-colored wool instantly warmed her body, but Isabella’s heart felt like ice. She made her way out to the courtyard. She remembered the hours she’d spent here as a child. It had been a place of quiet respite where she could make plans for her future.
The courtyard sat at the very center of the large adobe house. Overhead, the second-floor rooms each had a small balcony that looked down on the carefully tended gardens. In the summer, the scent of flowers would drift in through the open balcony doors. Isabella remembered the enticing smells. It was one of the only things she enjoyed about herhome here. At this time of year, however, everything was either dead or dormant. Much like the rest of her existence.
Stepping into the garden area, she made her way to one of the benches and sat down. What was she supposed to do now? Her home was gone. She glanced around the courtyard. This would never be home.
She thought back on the lawyer’s words regarding the will. She would inherit Aunt Josephina’s jewelry and artwork immediately and half of her money when she turned thirty or married, whichever came first. But marriage was restricted to a man her father approved.
“Am I interrupting?”
She looked up and smiled. “Oh, Diego, I’m very glad to see you. I’m trying to sort through all these thoughts and feelings.”
“Perhaps I can help.” He smiled down at her. “May I sit with you?”
“Please do.” She scooted over so that their nearness wouldn’t appear inappropriate.
“How did the reading of the will go?”
“Well enough, I suppose. I’m to inherit Aunt Josephina’s jewelry and artwork immediately. I will also get half of her money once I turn thirty or marry a man who has my father’s approval.”
“I see.” He turned toward her. “That was very kind of your aunt.”
“Kind, but far too restrictive. She should have just left the money to me unencumbered. I am an adult, after all.”
“This is true.”
For a long while, neither of them said anything more. Isabella didn’t know what to say. She thought about proposing they marry, but she knew her father didn’t approve of Diego, so it wouldn’t matter regarding the money. Still, she wantedto marry Diego. She’d wanted it for a very long time. She’d been infatuated with him since she was young.
At sixteen, when she’d gone back to California to spend her first summer with Aunt Josephina, she had encountered Diego one evening when they went to the Morales house for supper. He was twenty-six and so dashingly handsome. He had given her a shiver when he’d taken her hand and gently kissed the top of her fingers.
“I asked your father for your hand,” Diego said, breaking the silence.
Her head snapped up. “You did? What did he say?” She was hopeful that perhaps her aunt’s demise had changed her father’s mind.
“He told me no. He said I wasn’t worthy of you, and you know what? He’s right.”
“No, he isn’t.” Isabella shook her head. “He doesn’t know me. He doesn’t understand what I want.”
“He has good reason to worry about you. You are his only child.”
“Yes, but I don’t want his concern. Oh, Diego, I want very much to marry you.” There. She had spoken her mind and the truth of her heart.
He grinned. “And I want to marry you. Your father said he might consider allowing me to court you under certain conditions.”
“And what are those?”
“I have to change my ways—which I told him I already have. I am to work in his silver mine for one year. If I prove myself with that, he will perhaps allow me to court you with marriage in mind.”
“A year in the mine? That’s such hard work. I wouldn’t wish it for anyone, but especially not for you. You weren’t brought up to work like that, Diego. It’s neither right norfair. I’m tired of my father making decisions for my life without consulting me. He has no consideration.”
“Yet I heard the servants talking. Did you know that your father is ill?”
Her brows knit together. “He’s dying.”
“Yes. That is what I heard.” Diego paused. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry for Mama. Papi is her entire world. I don’t know how she’ll get by without him.”
