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“What’s the problem?”
He stares out the window facing his barn. “I’ve been thinking about moving.”
I blink twice. “What did you say?”
“With Hillary living so far away, I’ve been wondering if it’s in Nico’s best interest for him to live closer to his mom.”
“Is that inyourbest interest?” Rafa has spent his whole life within the small border of Lake Wisteria, so for him to move...
He rubs his eyes with the heels of his palms. “Forget I saidanything.”
A wave of nausea forces me to push my coffee away. “You’re seriously thinking about moving across the country?”
“Only occasionally.”
Losing Rafa and Nico would be devastating for our family. Besides my mom, they’re the only loved ones I have left, so I selfishly don’t want them to move away.
You could find a way to convince Hillary to move somewhere within driving distance, like Chicago or Detroi—
“Don’t mention anything to your mom right now,” he says, stopping me mid-spiral.
“But what if she moves back—”
“Stop.”
“What?” I blink away my confusion.
“This isn’t a problem you can solve.”
“Who said—”
He shuts me up with a single look.
I hold my hands up. “Fine. But talk to me before you make any big decisions.”
“Fair enough.” He scrubs at his cheek. “Anyway, I’m sorry to leave you alone to work the booth without me.”
My mom takes a lot of pride in sharing her grandmother’schampurradorecipe during the Harvest Festival. And ever since we were old enough to be trusted with the responsibility, Rafa and I have teamed up to run the Lopez booth together to make Ma happy and share our Mexican hot chocolate with the visitors.
“Josefina told me you could handle it. She reassured methat your booth will be next to the Muñoz one this year so that you can have someone to talk to.”
“How thoughtful of her,” I reply with a brittle tone.
“I told her the same thing before asking her to switch it.”
“And?”
“She says it would be dumb to separate theirbuñuelosbooth from ourchampurradoone.”
I sigh. “It’s fine.”
“Maybe if you talked to her about how you’re not interested in Dahlia like that, she would let up on her attempts at matchmaking.”
“Knowing her, she will only see it as a challenge.”
“I blame her obsession with those telenovelas.” He takes a sip of his drink.
“I’m hoping Ma will realize Dahlia and I aren’t meant to be once she finally leaves town for good.”
