Four months later

 

“…brilla la estrella de pa-a-az. Brilla la estrella de paz,” sang Carlos, finishing the second coat of white trim around the bedroom window as his iPod played his favorite Christmas carol, Silent Night, in Spanish.

Finished, he laid the brush in the paint tray and stood up, stretching one arm over his head and then the other.

“Noche de paz, noche de amor…”

Turning around slowly, he smiled at his work—crisp cream-colored walls and bright white trim. This was the last of four bedrooms in the old house that had needed to be repainted, and he’d gotten it finished just in time. With Christmas only nine days away and all of Alice’s sisters coming on Christmas Eve to spend the holiday with them, he’d made it his personal mission to have all the rooms patched, freshly painted, and ready for company.

Besides, more guests were coming on her sisters’ heels.

When he and Alice were married the second weekend of January, his parents, brothers, and sister would be coming up from La Isla to stay with them too.

He’d made his proposal official two weeks after they’d returned home from Puerto Rico with a small diamond ring resting on top of her morning latte, accompanied by the résumé from the young woman he’d hired to be his replacement.

Alice had tried to convince him to stay on and let her take a leave of absence instead, but he insisted he’d have his hands full. He’d spend a month training her replacement before announcing his resignation and their engagement, and then he’d concentrate on renovating their new house and taking care of any wedding-planning details that she couldn’t see to. That was his number-one job and greatest pleasure, after all: taking care of Alice.

And taking care of her meant being together. The night they returned from Puerto Rico, they’d slept apart, in their own homes…and the next morning, they agreed that one night apart was more than enough for a lifetime and then locked her office door, pulled the blinds, and made up for lost time.

That weekend, Carlos broke his lease, and Alice put her downtown condo on the market so they could find a place of their own and move in together. A long day of house hunting had proved fruitful, and they’d found a reasonably priced, two-hundred-year-old farmhouse in Gladwyne, not far from Haverford…that required a lot of work. But Carlos was only too happy to roll up his sleeves and make it theirs, day by day, every day, patching plaster, painting walls, refinishing old wood floors, and replacing broken windows. It still needed work, but that was okay because he still had time.

In October, he heard from Wharton and was invited for an interview, which had raised his hopes considerably, and Alice had spent a good deal of time coaching him through the interview process. He was fairly certain that it had gone well, but he wouldn’t know unless he received a letter. A letter that would have been posted two days ago on December 14.

“…brilla sobre el Re-e-e-y. Brilla sobre el Rey.”

Still humming, he folded up the paint drop cloth and gathered up the tape, paint, and brushes, taking everything down to the basement. He washed his hands in the ancient, stained basement sink, then threw on a barn jacket and walked in the dark down the snow-covered gravel driveway to the mailbox.

What if there was no letter there? Or what if there was a letter, but it expressed regret that there wasn’t space for him in the upcoming class?

“Then you’ll find a new job somewhere,” he told himself, his stomach fluttering as he neared the mailbox. “And you can always reapply next year.”

Opening the mailbox, he withdrew the small pile of Christmas cards and other envelopes, his heart stopping, then leaping when he found the envelope marked Wharton. He stared at it, wondering at its contents, knowing that his future—and Alice’s—would be shaped by the letter inside and hoping against hope that it was a future they both wanted.

***

Alice’s heart lifted, as it always did, when she got off the highway at Hollow Road.

Four minutes until I’m home.

They were the longest four minutes of her day, the drive from the highway to Carlos. But today they were longer than usual. Today there was wonderful news to be shared, and she couldn’t wait to see his face when he found out what she already knew.

She pulled onto the driveway, parking her BMW in the gravel circle in front of the house. When they’d purchased it, the front stoop had required a good bit of masonry work. Luckily, one of Carlos’ cousins in Philadelphia was a master mason and had spent several weekends out in Gladwyne helping his cousin fix and level the entry. More than once Carlos had taken off his shirt during long, hot afternoons of work, and she’d been certain to peek out the upstairs windows so she didn’t miss his back muscles rippling in the sun.

She slipped her key in the lock and opened the front door, closing her eyes and inhaling the warm, wonderful smell of dinner, no doubt a recipe shared by Elena, with whom Alice had become very close over the last four months. They’d returned to Puerto Rico twice to visit with Carlos’ family, and for the first time in Alice’s life, she knew the gentle warmth of a mother figure. She couldn’t wait to welcome Pablo and Elena to Pennsylvania in January.

“Carlos? Honey? I’m home!”

“In here, baby!” he called from the kitchen. “Just finishing up!”

She dropped her purse and laptop bag on the front table, took off her coat, and hung it in the front closet. Waiting for her were her favorite slippers, and she toed off her high heels and swapped them for homey comfort, then padded into the kitchen.

“It smells like heaven,” she said, grinning at her fiancé.

“You look like heaven,” said Carlos. “Come give me a kiss.”

She crossed the kitchen to where he stood by the stove and stepped into his arms, opening her lips to his. He kissed her passionately, like they’d been gone for much longer than eight hours, making her weak in the knees, making her want to skip dinner and head straight to their waiting bed.

When he drew back, he grinned at her, then shook his head. “No, mi amor. Dinner first.”

“Get out of my head!” she exclaimed, blinking at him in merriment.

“There’s wine open on the table,” he said, chuckling, “and this will be ready in two minutes.”

Alice glanced at the table, and her eyes widened. In the center of the table, propped up, was an envelope from Wharton.

“It came!” she cried, snatching it up and holding it out to him. “Why haven’t you opened it yet?”

“Because whatever it says, it affects both of us, Allie. I thought you should be here too.” He turned off the stove, picked up the pot, and carried it to the table, placing it on a trivet.

“Asopao?” she asked, familiar with the Puerto Rican gumbo-style soup that Carlos made at least once a week for dinner.

“Sí. I was painting until four.”

She sat down across from him and offered him the letter. “Time to open it.”

He spooned some of the hearty soup into each of their bowls and looked up at her. “You do it.”

“No,” she said gently, still holding the letter out to him. “This is your news.”

“Bueno.” He sighed, taking the letter from her and opening it while he held her eyes. “Whatever it says—”

“Whatever it says, we’ll handle it together.”

He nodded, removing the letter and unfolding it before dropping his eyes to read. Alice stared at him, trying to read his face, but it was frustratingly blank. “Well?”

Carlos looked up, a slow but steady smile blooming across his face, his dimples denting his cheeks as he whispered, “I got in!”

She clapped her hands together and stood up, circling the small table and jumping into his lap. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she covered his face in kisses, both of them laughing with glee. The letter fluttered to the floor, and he held her tight, finding her lips with his, the kisses changing in an instant from celebratory to hot. He threaded his fingers into her hair as his tongue slid against hers, familiar and yet always new. How she loved him.

Finally, he drew away, still holding her cheeks with the palms of his hands. “So your husband’s going to be a college student. You okay with that, mami?”

Alice gasped, searching his face, surprised by the endearment, which he used much less often than mi amor or querida.

His brow furrowed. “Alice? What is it?”

“About that…”

“Being a college student?”

She gulped, shaking her head slowly back and forth as her eyes filled with tears, because when all your dreams come true at once, it’s hard to keep tears at bay.

“No. Um. I have some news to share too.”

“Baby?” he asked, searching her eyes with worry, his smiling falling. “Are you all right?”

“Mm-hm.” She felt her lips wobble into a smile as she bit her bottom lip.

“Then…?”

“It’s going to be a busy year.”

He nodded. “I don’t start classes until September. We have plenty of time for fun before then.”

“Mmm,” she hummed, holding his eyes with hers, her smile blooming over her news just as his had blossomed over his. “If changing diapers is your idea of fun.”

“Changing…” She watched his face transform as her news settled between them, his face changing from relaxed to disbelieving to joyful in the space of seconds. “Do you mean…?”

She nodded, giggling a little at his expression. “We’re having a baby.”

“Allie!” he cried, his hands slipping from her face to her flat belly. “You mean it?”

She grinned at him, wiping away the falling tears. “I’m due the last week in July.”

“Dios mio!” he cried, pulling her close, resting his forehead on her shoulder as she rubbed his back and let the news settle in.

“You’re going to be a dad, Carlos.”

He leaned back, his eyes glistening with emotion as he reached up to cup her cheeks. “You’re going to be the most beautiful mother, Allie. I love you. God, I love you so much!”

“I love you too,” she whispered, leaning forward to nuzzle his nose with hers, to seal their future with a tender kiss. When she leaned away, her smile faded. “Except…”

“Here it comes,” he said, shaking his head indulgently at her.

“A wedding. A new house. A baby. Grad school…” She bit her bottom lip. “How will we make it all work?”

“Ah-leese. Allie. Querida. Mi amor. Mi cielo. Corazon de mi corazon. How many times do I have to tell you? We’re a team. There’s nothing we can’t figure out together.”

She nodded, arching against him, needing him, their asopao forgotten as they kissed long and hard…and the learned lesson in Alice’s joyful heart was this one:

The future isn’t something perfect.

The future isn’t something predictable.

The best thing you can do is find a partner who loves you

and tackle it together.

 

 

THE END

 

 

 

Coming on September 21, 2017

THE FLIRT AND THE FOX

The Story Sisters #3

(Elizabeth Story & Merit Atwell)