Nellie smiled
knowingly. “It was one of my favorites growing up, too, Mrs. Ayala. My mom taught me and my siblings early on how to make it.”
Mrs. Ayala waved her hand in front of her.
“Oh, no, I told you already. It’s Carolina, but you can call me Caro.”
Smiling
, Nellie nodded and glanced up at Abel, who was leaning against the doorway watching them with a cautious smile. Caro sat down on the bed next to Nellie and touched her forehead. “How are you feeling? You look a lot better.”
“
I feel a lot better.” Nellie nodded.
“
Mijo
,” Caro looked around then up at Abel, “I meant to bring a box I had for Nellie, but I must’ve left it on the kitchen counter when I grabbed the
sopa
. If it’s not there, then maybe it’s in my room on my dresser. Go get it and bring it to me,
por favor
.”
Abel started off
, and Caro seemed to wait until she heard the front door close. She reached into the front pocket of her apron and pulled out a small box. “He’s not gonna find it, but I wanted a moment alone with you.” Caro smiled and looked down at the box in her hand. “My late husband had only one brother. Like my sons, they were very close. My husband was the older of the two and also the first to fall in love. My mother-in-law, who’s also passed now, sat me down one day after I’d been dating her son for some time and told me she knew I owned her son’s heart. She’d waited until she was sure and gave me this.”
Caro tugged at the
heart-shaped stone pendant hanging around her neck. “It’s Fire Agate. I personally don’t believe that gemstones have healing powers or promote well-being, but she was one of those people who did, and she said this particular stone was supposed to deflect ill wishing and harm.” Caro waved her hand in front of her with a smirk. “But she also said it represented her son’s heart. She’d waited until she was certain I owned his completely and wanted me to have it. She said her mother-in-law had done the same with her. She later gave one to my sister-in-law when my brother-in-law fell in love. I really liked the gesture and always said I would do the same one day.”
Caro opened the small box with two heart
-shaped stone pendants much like hers on chains. She pulled one out and smiled. “I bought these years ago, one for each of my boy’s hearts.” As their eyes met, Nellie forced herself to hold in the emotion she’d begun to feel. “The only reason I haven’t given Charlee hers is because Hector is still so young.” She shook her head and laughed. “But I can see now that I’ve been in denial all this time. That
güerita
owns his heart completely. She has for some time. And you . . .” She smiled, touching Nellie’s face. “I’ll admit I had my reservations in the beginning.” She shrugged. “Noah and Roni are living proof that age has no bearing on true love. And how can I not be pleased that my Abel has found someone who makes him so incredibly happy? It almost scares me how hard he’s fallen.” She patted then squeezed Nellie’s knee over the blankets. “Please, promise me you’ll never hurt him.”
“
Never,” Nellie whispered, barely able to speak because she was so choked up.
Shaking her head
, Caro exhaled before continuing. “And
please
take care of yourself. My
God,
when you were in the hospital, for the first time in my life, I had no idea how to console my son. I’d never seen him so desperate.”
With her heart once again aching for what she
’d put Abel through, Nellie nodded and inhaled deeply before speaking. “I promise. My asthma hasn’t gotten that bad in a long time. For the most part, I know how to keep it under control. The circumstances this time were just . . .”
“
I know.” His mom agreed quickly. “I know.” She then handed Nellie the pendant. “Take this,
Mija
. His heart is yours forever. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.” She laughed, looking down at the box with the other pendant. “Well, that, and who owns
this
one too.”
Nellie smiled
, taking the pendant. And she had to agree that, as young as Hector and Charlee were, those two were definitely as hopelessly in love as Nellie now felt. She pulled the chain over her neck, feeling the sudden need to wear it. “Thank you, Caro. This means so much to me.” She knew now with complete certainty exactly what Charlee had been talking about. “I promise you. Your son owns my heart completely too.”
She hadn
’t even heard the front door open, but Abel walked in just as Nellie and Caro were hugging. “I couldn’t find—” He stopped as he walked in, his expression somewhat concerned. “What did I miss here? Everything okay?”
“
Everything is perfect,” Nellie said as Caro stood from the bed.
“
I found it,” Caro held up the box to show Abel. “I forgot I slipped it in my apron pocket.
Abel eyed the box suspiciously then looked back at Nellie
, who took one big satisfying spoonful of the
sopa
and grinned.
“
That’s right.” Caro said as she began out the door.” Eat up so you can get all your strength back. I have to go get dinner started now.”
Abel lay down next to Nellie again
, careful not to spill her
fideo
. “I told you she’d be taking over.”
“
If the rest of her food is as good as this,” Nellie said as she wiped her mouth with a napkin, “I’m not complaining.”
“
Oh, no!” Abel’s head fell back. “I should’ve known her cooking would win you over. That woman knows exactly what she’s doing. That’s how she got Charlee too.” Abel lifted his hands and made a buzzing sound as held them up in front of Nellie. “Tractor beam. She’s already sucking you in.”
Nellie laughed. He didn
’t know the half of it. But she’d keep her conversation with his mom to herself for now. He’d notice the pendant eventually, and then she’d tell him. Right now, she was still feeling all warm fuzzy about what his mom had said to him. She didn’t want him making light of it and taking anything from it. Nellie had seen the look in his mother’s eyes—heard the emotion in her voice. This was no ploy to get on Nellie’s good side or “suck her in.” She’d meant every word she said, and so had Nellie.
“
But I do need to eat,” she smirked, dipping her spoon into the
fideo
. “You want me to get all my strength back, right?”
That wiped the silly smile off Abel
’s face, and his eyes widened. “I don’t think that’s why she said it,” he said, already scooting closer and kissing her softly, “but I like how your thinking. Eat up, baby.”
Nellie did just as she was told because she was already having visions of breaking in her new bed.
***
By the end of the week
, Nellie insisted that she felt one-hundred percent better from her asthma, but the morning sickness had kicked in pretty bad. Abel wasn’t letting her go anywhere.
Abel had been right about Hector being lucky to get t
wo shots in on Andy before the guy went down. It was two shots exactly, one for each eye. Luckily for Andy, both Noah and Gio had been there to tear Hector off him. At first, Abel had laughed at the picture Noah texted him of Andy’s eyes swollen shut. But later, he worried Andy would press charges because, even though technically it’d happened in a boxing gym, neither of them had been in the ring and Hector hadn’t been wearing gloves.
Andy
was going to press charges, but ended up dropping them when Felix threatened to drop him as his agent if he didn’t. Felix told Abel that his contract with Andy would be up after his fight anyway. He didn’t want to deal with a new agent with such a big fight coming, but once it was over he’d be cutting Andy off and finding another agent. For now, he’d make him think everything between the two of them was still business as usual.
Since Felix was in town
, Nellie had assured Abel she’d be fine if he left her side for an hour or so to go have lunch with the guy. Her parents would be over anyway, and she knew that was the only reason he’d agreed to go. Her parents had hung out for a bit but had to go pick up Courtney at the airport. She’d gotten out of rehab today and was moving in with them.
Nellie
was surprised to hear from her sister so soon, and she almost didn’t answer her call, afraid of what to expect. She hadn’t heard from Courtney in months, so she gave in and answered.
“
Hey. How are you?”
“
Eh, the asthma is better, but now I’m dealing with morning sickness. So, okay, I guess.” She sat up on the bed, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear. “And you? How are you doing?”
“
Oh my God, so much better.” Courtney sounded so upbeat that it surprised her. “You know how they say that it takes you hitting rock bottom to really get you to open your eyes about how fucked up you really are? Well, that was definitely the case with me. Being in rehab opened up my eyes to so much. But forget about me, Nellie. Congrats. I hear you’re in love and that now you two have a baby on the way. And holy crap, you and Abel Ayala? Oh my God, you are
so
lucky. I can’t tell you how happy I am for you, but Nellie . . . I know right now is not the best time. You’re still recovering and you’re dealing with morning sickness. So once you’re feeling better, we really need to talk. There is a lot I need to say to you.”
Curious
, but at the same time a bit nervous, Nellie chewed her bottom lip. “I can talk now.”
“
I don’t want to get too heavy on you, and it’s a lot to dump on you all at once. Part of it I think you already know. I have major issues, Nell. Stuff I’m not proud of. I’ve been so jealous of you my whole life.”
They both went silent for a moment.
Nellie was speechless. She’d always known her sister was spoiled and, yes, selfish. But she just thought she was one of those people who were never happy no matter how much they had. This was news to her.
“
It’s true. You were always so complacent and sweet, and I was always such a brat, so deep inside I knew Mom and Dad loved you best.”
“
Don’t say that,” Nellie gasped. “That’s not true.”
“
No, it’s okay, Nell. I get it. Shit,” she laughed suddenly. “If I had two daughters like you and me, I’d love you more too. I was
awful
. But I’m really working on it. The old me would’ve been seething with jealousy right now that you’re with such a gorgeous, rich, and famous man. But, Nellie, I really truly am happy for you. There’s a lot more I wanna share with you about what I’ve learned about myself during this rehab stint, but not now. I know you need to rest, and you do sound a little tired, so I’ll let you go now.” She paused, and for a moment, there was an odd silence. “Nellie?” her sister’s voice squeaked, choking Nellie up again.
“
What?”
“
Please believe me when I say I love you. I really do, and I know I never really showed it, but there was a reason I was so jealous of you for so long. Because you were all the things I wanted to be: sweet, loving, selfless, and just perfect. I take back what I said about you being lucky. You’re not lucky to have Abel, sissy. He’s lucky to have you.”
N
ellie didn’t even try to hold them back anymore. Her tears ran freely down her face. “I believe you, Courtney, and I love you too. I never stopped loving you even after everything happened.”
They cried together and spoke a little longer before her sister said Nellie needed to rest. Nellie had just gotten off the phone with Courtney when she heard the front door open and heard Abel walking quietly toward the bedroom. As much as she wiped her tears away
, she knew she was a mess.
Abel pe
eked in, and his face was immediately alarmed. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
He rushed to her side and took her hand
, wiping her tears with his fingertips, searching her eyes.
“
Nothing’s wrong,” she assured him, but his worried eyes still stared at her. “I just got off the phone with my sister. She got out of rehab today.”
His worried expression turned to stone.
“What did she say to you?”
She smiled at him
, touching his rigid face, knowing what he must be thinking. “Everything I didn’t even know I’ve been waiting to hear from her for so long. It was a good call.” She sniffed. “I promise.”
He stared at her for a moment then hugged her
, exhaling. “I found a house.” He didn’t say anything else for a moment as if he were waiting for her to react. When she didn’t, he continued. “As soon as you’re feeling better, I’ll take you to see it.”
She pulled away to look at him. They
’d talked about the possibility of buying a house, but they hadn’t said it was a sure thing. He stared at her, and she could tell he was waiting for his reaction, so she smiled. “Really?”
“
Yeah, really.” He laughed. “Hector’s dying to move in here already, especially since he knows my aunt’s moving in next month. The house is in move-in condition, so if you like it, I’ll pay cash and escrow will take a lot less time to close.
And
it’s not too far from here, but far enough.”