Total pages in book: 198
Estimated words: 186242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 931(@200wpm)___ 745(@250wpm)___ 621(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 931(@200wpm)___ 745(@250wpm)___ 621(@300wpm)
I ignored Mr. Rhodes and hurried over, ducking down and kissing Clara’s dad’s cheek. “Hi, Mr. Nez. Pants are overrated, huh?”
His big, sudden laugh caught me off guard as he leaned forward and brushed his cheek against mine, two brown hands that looked like leather, landing on my own and squeezing. He pulled back and blinked up at me with his big, dark eyes. “Aurora De La Torre. How the hell are you doing, child?”
His laugh was just the same. Face more lined, and he was much skinnier. But Mr. Nez was still the exact same in every other way that mattered. The sparkle in his eye told me so, even if the trembling in his hands tried to tell a different story.
I stayed where I was right in front of him. “I’m pretty good. How are you?”
“Damn fine.” He shook his head and aimed a smile at me that showed he was missing two teeth. He was a handsome man with his dark skin, the whites of his eyes nearly brilliant against his striking face. “Clara said you’d come back, and I couldn’t believe it.” He gestured toward the seat closest to him, which was the empty spot on the love seat between him and Mr. Rhodes. “Come here, sit down. But first.” He gestured toward Rhodes. “Aurora, Tobias. Tobias, this is Aurora. She used to live in my house every weekend and every summer.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as I glanced at the man I’d just spent time with last night. I smiled at him. “I know him, Mr. Nez.”
Mr. Rhodes, on the other hand, grunted.
Mr. Nez frowned. “How?”
“She’s renting his garage apartment.” It was Clara who answered. “Where’s Carlos?”
The old man ignored her question, chuckled and slapped his thigh. “You don’t say. You’re the one who took Amos to the hospital?”
“That was me,” I confirmed, peeking at Mr. Rhodes, who was still sitting there with his arms crossed on the love seat . . . watching me with a really funny expression on his face that made me feel less welcome here than even at his garage apartment.
“You look so much like your mom,” the older man said, pulling my attention back toward him. His forehead scrunched, and the surprised expression that had been on his face melted into a troubled one. “I told myself I wouldn’t bring it up the first time I saw you, but I have to say—”
I cut him off. “You don’t have to say anything.”
“No, I do,” Mr. Nez insisted, looking more and more upset by the second. “I’ve been living with this guilt for twenty years. I’m sorry we all lost touch. I’m sorry we didn’t see you again after they took you away.”
A knot magically appeared in my throat at that exact second.
“Wait, who took who away?” Jackie asked from where she’d taken a seat on the floor by the television screen. Now she was making a face too.
The lack of response to her made the room feel tense, or at least it felt that way to me.
But I didn’t want to ignore her, even if I felt Mr. Rhodes’s gaze still steady on me.
The knot stayed exactly where it was. “Me, Jackie. Remember Clara said I used to live here? And how I was friends with her? Child services took me. That was the last time I saw your aunt or your grandpa, twenty years ago.”
Chapter Nine
“Okay, someone explain this,” Jackie muttered, looking confused.
But Mr. Nez ignored everyone but me as he said, “The last I heard, the state took you into a foster home while they looked for your father.”
Well, I didn’t really want to talk about this in front of everyone, but it wasn’t like I had a choice. He knew. Clara hadn’t wanted to bring it up either, but they both deserved to know what had happened, even if it was out of order. “My uncle ended up taking me in,” I explained. Trying to go into details about my dad was pointless.
“Uncle? I remember your mother saying she was an only child.”
“It was her half-brother. Older. They weren’t close, but he and his wife took custody of me. I moved to Florida to be with them. After.”
His eyebrows inched upward with every word out of my mouth, his devastated expression going nowhere.
“I don’t know what’s happening, and I want to know,” Jackie said.
“Jackie,” Clara called out from the kitchen where she’d disappeared into. “If you be quiet, you can put it together.”
“They wouldn’t tell us what happened after child services took you; they said we weren’t family, but we were all so worried . . .” the older man murmured gently. “It was such a relief when you and Clara got back in touch.”
“Mr. Rhodes, do you know what’s going on?” Jackie asked.
Mr. Nez sighed and eyed his granddaughter for a second before focusing back on me. “Would you mind if I explained?”