“It’s a long story, and first I need some coffee.” I crossed the family room to the small kitchen area hidden behind a marble counter, with its small fridge, stove, and sink. The room, done in two of Mom’s favorite colors, beige and white, had at least been given some life with the golden oak floors and wall shelving.
Speaking of beige, mom was wearing her favorite beige tweed pantsuit with a high-necked, soft-blue blouse. The slacks had narrow cuffs on wide-legged pants with razor-sharp pleats. A matching jacket was draped over the back of her chair for when she left the house. Naturally, Mom’s feet were encased in Manolo Blahnik stilettos, exactly the same color as the pantsuit. The queen of understated elegance, stud pearl earrings and a gold wedding band were her only jewelry.
I looked down at my faded purple sweatsuit, then wiggled my toes in the fake leopard-skin scuffies. Sometimes the fruit falls far from the tree. Sometimes it falls in the next county.
Sighing, I headed to the counter with its carafe of hot coffee, cups, milk, and sugar. Then I noticed a plate of Tío’s incredible roles de canela or cinnamon sticky buns and cheered up considerably. I grabbed the largest bun I could find because I am a pig.
“Give me just a minute to inhale some caffeine and get my heart started.”
“You can see I make for you some breakfast before I go,” Tío said.
I turned and threw Tío a grateful smile. Ah! The friendly face I’d been looking for. A white linen Nehru shirt with trim black slacks outfitted him, and he never looked better. Or healthier. He crossed to the closet and took out a black jacket and threw it over one arm.
“You look ready to resume your life, Mateo,” Mom said. “And no doubt the women’s shelter has missed your cooking for the past few days.”
“Is that where you’re going?” I asked, heart dropping. “When will I see you again?”
“Today is a busy day,” he said with a small smile. “We have an audience with the mayor to discuss this new land proposal he has for the shelter. With his blessing, we can finally expand to include medical and dental clinics as well as job counseling for the women. I hope you will come soon to visit and eat with us again.”
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
“I cannot do this without you, my dear Liana. You have been my strength through these last few years. But now is the time to move on to bigger and better things for my sisters.”
“Mateo, I…” I started.
“No, Liana. This is how it must be. We have talked about this before. You have a good heart and need to find where it is happiest.”
“But, Tío, what about the question of who gets the old gold watch?”
He grinned at me. “For you, mi sobrina, it is yours. It has been yours from the day you were born. You were the one who always wore it anyway. Now it is officially yours.”
“Thank you, Tío. I will cherish it always.”
“Now,” Mom interrupted, “enough of this sentimental nonsense. I want to know what happened at the theater, and I want to know now. Tugger was quite vocal on the ride home last night. And that’s not counting all the messages on the answering machine.”
“You know he never did like the cell phone,” I said with a grin, glancing down at the first warm, dry, feline foot I’d encountered in the last half hour.
“No,” she agreed. “He much prefers the landline. As do I. Now, enough stalling. The information. Now.”
“Okay, okay. I’m drinking. I’m eating. I’m stalling. Now I’ll start talking.”
“What a relief,” Frank muttered.
