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“What’s up with him?” I ask once Rafa is out of hearing distance.
“He’s been like that all week because of theweather.” Ellie’s gaze swings from me to Nico.
There is nothing worse than Hurricane Hillary influencing my cousin’s mood long after their divorce.
I step toward the hall. “I better go before he comes searching for me.”
“Bye,Tío!” Nico gives me one last hug before reaching out for Ellie’s hand. They return to the piano and restart the song.
I find Rafa sitting at the kitchen island, staring at his coffee like it might reveal his fortune.
“You good?” I grab the iced coffee he made me. Rafa might be an irritable dick most of the time now, but he still goes out of his way to do sweet things because he can’t help himself.
He runs his hands through his hair, making a mess of the already-disheveled strands. “Hillary called.”
“Hm.”
His shoulders droop. “She’s flying into Detroit and wants to see Nico.”
“When?”
“The weekend of the Harvest Festival.”
My brows rise. “Is she coming?”
“No.”
“Shocker.” Once the divorce papers were signed, she booked a one-way flight back to Oregon to be with her family and never came back to Lake Wisteria. If it wasn’t for Rafa flying out there so Nico could see his mom, I’m not sure she would have seen him until now.
“Nico’s excited to see her.” His fingers tighten around his mug.
“It’s been what? Four months since he last saw her?”
“Five,” he grunts under his breath.
“I forgot she missed his birthday.”
“I sure didn’t.” His voice reeks of self-loathing.
“You’ve got to stop beating yourself up over her poor decisions.”
“I’m the one who got her pregnant. Who else is there to blamebutme?”
“You were barely an adult when all that happened. It’s not like you could have predicted things would turn out this way.”
“No, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling like a stupid fool.”
I shake my head. “You’re too hard on yourself.”
“I’ve been thinking…”
“Stop now while you’re ahead.”
“You’re not going to like this.”
The empty pit in my stomach widens as I say, “Then let’s call it a loss and move on to better subjects, like betting on tomorrow’s soccer game. I’ve got a few of my paver guys—”
“Julian.”
