LITMIR.BIZ

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he’s agreed. Now it’s up to me to keep him from backing out at the last minute and disappointing her. Are you taking Daisy?”

       “She asked me to,” he said.

       “I’m so glad. I was afraid she was going to feel left out.”

       “The thing is, she needs a fancy dress. Our budget’s pretty tight these days.”

       “And Selena has a whole closetful of dresses,” Adelia said, immediately understanding. “Why don’t I pick out a few and bring them by the spa? She can try them on at home tonight.”

       “You could just take them over to Mama’s if that would be easier,” he suggested.

       “And have Selena notice and make some thoughtless comment about Daisy getting her hand-me-downs? Bad idea.”

       “Of course,” Elliott said, wishing he’d thought of the potential for hurt feelings. “I’ll be here the rest of the day. Drop them by, anytime. You can use the spa while you’re here, maybe have a workout.”

       Silence greeted the offer. “What’s that supposed to mean? Are you suggesting I’ve put on a few pounds?”

       Elliott had the sense he’d just inadvertently wandered into another of those minefields the females in his life were known for. “I would never suggest such a thing,” he said quickly. “Has Ernesto said something to you?” If so, he’d have a little chat with his brother-in-law about showing some respect to his wife. So what if she was carrying a little extra weight from those close-together pregnancies? Those were Ernesto’s babies she’d been carrying.

       “Ernesto seems to have a lot of opinions lately,” Adelia said with rare bitterness. “I’ve stopped listening.”

       Now Elliott knew he was smack in the middle of the minefield. No matter where he stepped, there was danger. “Want to talk about it?” he asked carefully.

       “I do not,” she said tersely. “I’ll be by later with some dresses.”

       Taking his cue from her, he let the matter drop. “Thanks.”

       She hesitated, then said in a quieter tone, “It’s sweet, what you’re doing for Daisy.”

       “It’s not sweet. I just don’t ever want her to miss out on things because her dad’s not around,” he said.

       “And that’s sweet,” Adelia insisted again. “When are you and Karen going to have a child of your own?”

       It was a question she, their sisters and their mother had been asking regularly practically since he and Karen had said, “I do.”

       “When the time is right for us,” he said as he always did. Telling her simply to mind her own business was useless.

       At least this answer seemed to silence her, though not for long, he realized, when she asked, “And when will that be?”

       “Adelia, as my oldest sister, you will be among the first to know,” he assured her. “Right after Mama.”

       “I want to be first,” she teased. “Who taught you everything you know about girls? Who else protected you from the bullies at school?”

       “Not you, for sure,” he said, laughing. “You were all talk, and almost got me in more trouble than I could handle with that sassy mouth of yours.”

       She laughed, the first genuinely carefree sound he’d heard since the conversation began. “It made you strong, didn’t it? And you were a huge hit with all the girls because I told you what women like.”

       “I suppose that’s one way of looking at it. See you soon.”

      “Te amo, mi hermano.”

       “I love you, too.”

       Even though his sisters had the ability to drive him crazy in less than a heartbeat, he couldn’t imagine his life without them. He wanted Karen to benefit from being surrounded by all that love, as well, but it had been slow going so far. Though their open hostility toward her had faded, his sisters’ caution was still firmly in place. One of these days he’d have to find a way to bridge that gap.

       Karen had her share of friends, counted on them as she would family, but he knew from a lifetime of experience that the support of love and family made all life’s problems just a little easier.

      5

      Elliott walked into the gym at school with Daisy on his arm. Karen had piled her daughter’s light brown hair on top of her head in an arrangement of curls. The dress they’d chosen together was pastel pink satin that seemed to bring out the color in her cheeks and made her eyes sparkle. Or perhaps that was the excitement of attending her first real dance.

       She stood in the doorway, looking around with an awed expression at the tiny white lights that decorated potted trees, the disco ball hanging from the ceiling that sent out shafts of color as it spun, and the usual colorful streamers that turned a big empty space into something special.

       “It’s beautiful,” she said softly, turning to him with delight shining in her eyes.

       “You’re beautiful,” Elliott told her sincerely. “You look very grown up. I think you may be the prettiest girl in the room.”

       “Not really,” she said, though she looked pleased. “Are Selena and Ernesto here yet?”

       “I don’t see them,” he said, scanning the room, which was already crowded with young girls and their fathers. The excitement was at a fever pitch, as was the noise level.

       When the disc jockey began to play a slow song, Elliott looked down into Daisy’s hopeful face. “Would you care to dance?”

       “Really?” she asked, sounding breathless with anticipation.

       “That’s why we’re here, is it not? I imagine I can still make it around the floor a time or two without stepping on your toes.”

       He showed her where to put her hands, then counted for her as she awkwardly tried to follow his lead. At the end of the song, she took a deep breath. “I’m glad it’s you and not a boy,” she said, her expression filled with frustration. “I’m no good at this. I’ll never have a date.”

       “You’ll get the hang of it long before you’re old enough to go on your first date,” he promised just as he spotted Ernesto and Selena coming their way. His brother-in-law looked oddly out of sorts.

       “How’d Daisy talk you into being here?” Ernesto asked, his tone sour. “You wouldn’t catch me near this place if Adelia hadn’t raised a fuss.”

       Elliott caught the shadow that passed over Selena’s face at her father’s thoughtless words.

       Instead of talking back to her father, though, she whirled on Daisy. “That’s my dress!” she announced in a voice loud enough to carry to several nearby girls, who immediately giggled. “Mom must have dug it out of my throw-away pile.”

       Elliott frowned at his niece. “Selena, enough!” he said sharply since Ernesto seemed to have no interest in correcting his daughter. “You’re deliberately trying to embarrass your cousin.”

       “She’s not my real cousin,” Selena said nastily. “And you’re not her real dad.”

       At Selena’s cruel words, Daisy looked stunned, then burst into tears and ran from the room. Elliott hesitated only long enough to give Selena a disappointed look. “I thought your mother had raised you to be kinder than that,” he said quietly. He held his brother-in-law’s gaze. “And you have nothing to say about this kind of behavior?”

       Ernesto only shrugged. “What can I say? She’s her mother’s daughter.”

       Elliott shook his head, wondering not for the first time what on earth was happening to his sister’s marriage. “I’ll

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