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“Amberlyn!” Now she’s red-faced, but there’s sympathy behind that stare. Mom knows about me and Ivan, or better yet, I lied to her. Told her that I wanted to keep it a secret until taking over the business. That I wanted respect for my name and not fear because of who I dated. “Niña, behave. If your father—”
“What about her father?” Dad asks, walking into the room and straight for the baked goods. “Whose butt am I kicking?” At that, I burst out laughing and he looks over, giving me a wink. “What, kid? You know I could.”
My father and mother couldn’t be more different, yet they work. Where he’s over six feet, Mom is barely five. While he’s reddish hair and green eyes, my mom is dark hair and light brown eyes.
One is loud but believes in peace.
The other likes sports and enjoys a good fight. Kickboxing is his passion, as is being a bounty hunter.
She bails them, and he finds those who skip, while I’m certified to do both jobs.
“Last time, I gave you a black eye.”
“I let you get that punch in.” Coming over, he drops a kiss on my head and then pecks Mom’s lips. So casual. They’re in love, have always shown it and I look away, my eyes tearing up for a second. Blinking them back, I focus on my breaths but still catch the tail end of his response. “…your mother threatened to make me sleep on the couch if you so much as got a scratch in our last sparring match.”
“Is that so?” My gaze shifts to hers, and I find understanding in them. There are also questions. A quick shake of the head and she nods, understanding that I don’t want to talk about it. “That’s mean, Mom. Poor Dad.”
“Exactly, princess. Poor Dad.”
“Oh, shut it, you two.” Pushing back from her chair, she stands and walks over to the sink and rinses her mug. “I’m nothing if not sweet and gentile.”
“Of course, love.” Dad shakes his head at me and I bite my lip, fighting my amusement.
“I saw that, Joey.”
“Yes, dear.”
“Out, Joey.”
“Yes, honey.” With one last kiss on my head, Dad steals the other half of my sandwich and walks out, but not before calling out their plans. “Be ready for lunch by two.”
Mom doesn’t say anything for a few minutes; she’s facing the wall while the water runs, and her fingers tap the countertop. But then she turns, and the sympathy is more than I can handle at the moment.
“I’m fine.”
“Are you?” she counters, leaning back against the sink. “Is he?”
“To be honest…” I shrug “…no clue.”
“What happened, kiddo?”
“Life. Reality.” This is my cue to leave. Without understanding how we got here and what’s true and not, I’m done speculating. What I need to do is talk to him. Confront this and let the chips fall where they may. Standing, I pick up my trash and then dump it before walking over to her. I kiss her cheek and meet her eyes; I’m not hiding. “But this mess is ours, and we will figure it out. We both need time, and I have clients to deal with. Just leave it alone for now. Si?”
Mom isn’t convinced but smiles anyway. “Okay. I won’t ask or interfere.”
“Thank you.”
“Hey, Amberlyn.” Anita, our front desk girl, taps on my door. “There’s a woman out front who’s asking to see you. Says it’s urgent.”
Looking up from my laptop, I scrunch my eyebrows. “One of my clients?”
“No. Never seen her before, but she looks…twitchy.”
“Okay.” Closing my computer, I sit back and crack my neck. It’s been a long day so far with a few walk-ins and the two house calls I made, delivering court dates personally. Not something done by other companies, but at ours, we give people every opportunity to do the right thing. No excuse. We serve you a few days before and have you sign off a statement that says were made aware. “Offer her something to drink and send her in. Bring me a coffee, too, please.”
“Right away.” Anita pauses before slipping out. Hesitates.
“What’s wrong?”
