There wasn’t room in his life for Maria. There wasn’t time. He didn’t have the energy.
And yet…
They were alone together on an isolated stretch of sand, and he thought again that she was sexy as hell. Logically, Maria should have run for the hills by now, but she seemed to be taking his past in stride, and for the life of him, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
He watched as she leaned back in the glow of the late-afternoon sun, propping herself on her elbows. He thought again that she was as naturally beautiful as anyone he’d ever seen, and in an effort to distract himself, he rolled to the side and reached behind her, pulling the cooler toward him. He popped off the lid and retrieved two bottles of water, then handed one of them to her.
“Banana or orange?” he asked.
“Banana,” she said. She sat up, languid and graceful. “Oranges get my hands all sticky.”
He handed it over and pulled out a couple of baggies of mixed nuts.
“Do you want some of these, too?”
“Sure,” she said. “Why not?”
She took the baggie and popped a couple of almonds into her mouth. “This is just what I needed,” she said with a wink. “I can already feel my cholesterol dropping and my muscles getting bigger.”
He smiled, beginning to peel his orange. She did the same with her banana and took a bite before leaning back again. “I never do this,” she said. “Come to the beach when I’m here, I mean. I’ve paddled past it, but I’ve never actually come out here just to relax.”
“Why not?”
“In the summer, there are always too many people around. I’d feel weird coming out here alone.”
“Why? It wouldn’t bother me.”
“I have no doubt you’d do it. For you, it’s no big deal. But it’s different for women. Coming out here, all alone – some guys might think it’s an invitation. And what if some crazy man sat next to me and started hitting on me? Like someone who’d done drugs and was on probation and had a history of going to bars so he could fight strangers and stomp on people’s heads… Oh, wait!” She feigned horror as she suddenly turned toward him.
He laughed. “What if he said he’d changed?”
“At first, I probably wouldn’t believe him.”
“What if he was charming?”
“He’d have to be really, really charming, but even then, I’d probably rather be alone.”
“Even if he changed your tire in the middle of a storm?”
“I’d definitely be grateful for the way he helped me out, but I don’t know if it would make much difference. Even crazy people can do something nice once in a while.”
“That’s probably a wise decision. A guy like that might be dangerous and definitely not someone you’d want to be alone with.”
“Obviously,” she said. “Of course, there’s always the possibility that he really had changed and that he happened to be a nice guy, which means I’d be out of luck. Since I never even gave him a chance, I mean.”
“I can understand how that might be a problem.”
“Anyway, that’s why I don’t come out to the beach alone. It just eliminates the whole issue.”
“Makes sense. Still, I have to admit that I’m not quite sure how I feel about what you just said.”
“Good,” she answered, nudging him playfully with her shoulder. “Then we’re even. I haven’t known how to feel about a lot of what you’ve told me.”
Though he wasn’t sure if she was flirting, he liked how natural it felt when she touched him. “How about we change the subject to safer ground?”
“Like what?”
“Tell me about your family. You said you have a lot of relatives in town?”
“My grandparents on both sides still live in Mexico, but three aunts and four uncles live in Wilmington, along with over twenty cousins. And we throw some rocking family parties.”
“Sounds fun.”
“It is. A lot of them either work or used to work at La Cocina de la Familia, so the restaurant was like our second home. Growing up, I probably spent more time there than at the house.”
“Yeah?”
She nodded. “When I was little, my parents had this play area set up in the back so my mom could watch me, and when I started school, I’d do my homework in the office. After Serena was born, I’d watch Serena in the play area until my mom’s shift ended, and then when Serena was older, I started working there, too. But the strange thing is, I never remember feeling like I came in second to the restaurant, or even like it dominated my life. Not only because my whole family was there, but because my parents were always popping in to check on me and make sure I was okay. And when we were at home, it didn’t feel much different. We always had relatives over. A lot of them lived with us until they saved enough money to get their own place. For a kid, there’s nothing better. There was always something going on; people talking or playing or cooking or listening to music. It was always loud, but it was good energy. Happy energy.”
He tried to match her account with the woman sitting beside him, finding it surprisingly easy.
“How old were you when you started working at the restaurant?”
“Fourteen,” she said. “I worked there after school and every summer and Christmas break until I graduated from law school. My parents thought it would be good for me to earn my own spending money.”
“You sound proud of them.”