Happily Ever After (30 page)

Jose
seemed ready to trounce him—not that Jack was particularly afraid of the
man, but it didn’t help his own cause that he felt Jose was justified in his
anger. Jack wasn’t honestly certain he could even hit the man back if Jose
decided to hurl a punch.

He
concentrated on breathing and gave up the struggle, hoping she’d notice on her
own that she was throttling him to death sometime before he passed out at her
feet.

His
Spanish was good, but not good enough to follow the heated discourse that
followed. At last she said something that calmed her father, because he took a
step backward, and Maria loosened her grip.

Jack
stood there uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his neck while Jose glared at
him. His malaise intensified as Sophie came over with her colorful basket of
peppers in hand, her attention obviously having been captured by the scene the
three of them had made. She cast him a curious glance, and then turned to
assess Maria.

Maria
stood defiantly beside him, refusing to give up her place at his side, and gave
Sophie the very same assessing look in return.

Jack
groaned and felt the pit of his stomach tighten. Christ, it was going to be a
long day.

As
best he could, he explained to Jose what had happened, in Spanish so Sophie
wouldn’t understand, taking full responsibility for his actions. He didn’t want
Maria to feel the brunt of her father’s wrath so he took all the blame, but
Maria apparently wasn’t about to allow it.

She
interrupted at once, making it clear that she was at an age where she had a
right to do what she chose... which led to a lengthy argument between father
and daughter about a daughter’s rights.

“What’s
happening?” Sophie whispered to him. Her brows were drawn together in
confusion. She obviously didn’t understand a single word, and for that Jack was
grateful.

Jack
shrugged. Now wasn’t precisely the time for explanations.

Sophie
gave him a frown.

Let
her be annoyed with him... he wasn’t the one carting around pictures of past
lovers.

And
it really didn’t matter that she hadn’t actually been Penn’s lover. She
apparently still had every intention of becoming just that. He grit his teeth
at the thought.

“Jose…”
He interrupted father and daughter. “Perdon. La culpa es solamente mio.”

“No!”
Jose exploded. “La culpa es de mi puta hija que no puede cerrar las piernas por
nadie!”

Jack
winced: Apparently he hadn’t been Maria’s only conquest.

Maria
turned ten shades of red at her father’s degrading remark and averted her gaze.
Jack wasn’t exactly sure if it was out of anger or embarrassment, but it
quieted her at once. He explained his reason for coming—not to cause
trouble but to ask for Jose’s help.

Jose
remained quiet, listening, his thick brows drawn together in a hefty frown. He
was much smaller than Jack, but his shoulders must have been twice as broad as
Jack’s, and they were tense now as he listened, giving Jack a sense of unease.

Jose
began to shake his head as Jack went on to explain exactly what he needed from
him, refusing him outright. He didn’t blame the man, but still he tried. He
didn’t know who else to ask.

Sophie
and Maria went back to inspecting each other.

In
the meantime, a man came up to the booth and asked Maria for onions. Maria’s
cheeks turned pink, and she shook her head briskly to say they had none. She
waved him away, eyeing her father warily, and then turned again to the smiling
customer. The two shared a brief look, and she tilted him a pleading glance. He
nodded and hurriedly left.

Jack
lifted his brows, wondering what else the man had wanted besides onions.

“What
did that man say?” Sophie asked Jack as Jose launched into a fervent
explanation for why he wouldn’t guide them. Jack tried to keep up with him and
listen to Sophie at the same time.

She
tugged at his sleeve. “What did that man say?”

He
frowned at her. “What man?” he answered impatiently.

Sophie
raised herself on tiptoes to whisper in his ear, while Jose continued
explaining that it was not only his anger for his daughter that kept him from
agreeing to guide Jack to the jungle ruins, but his sense of responsibility to
his family. He could no longer justify traipsing off into the jungles and
leaving his family to fend for themselves. It was his fault, he added, that his
daughter was so loose with her favors because he hadn’t been around to keep her
safe. He intended to change all that... beginning today.

“The
one who was just here,” Sophie explained, and pointed out the man in question,
who was now lingering at another booth trying to buy his onions elsewhere,
making flirty eyes at the woman behind the counter. “What did he say?”

Jack
blinked at her. “He wanted to know if they had onions for sale.”

Sophie’s
brows knit as she considered that, and Jack returned his full attention to Jose.

Sophie
tried to remember exactly how he’d worded it:
No tienes sayboyas? That was it precisely. No tienes sayboyas? “No
tienes sayboyas?”
she repeated to herself, trying to memorize the phrase.

She
tapped Jack on the shoulder. He turned to look at her, his expression somewhat
harried. She didn’t bother to remind him how rude it was to leave her so
completely out of his conversation. He hadn’t even bothered to introduce her.
Was she supposed to twiddle her thumbs until he decided to include her? “I
really hate to interrupt,” she told him, “but how do you say onions in Spanish?”

He
blinked at her. “Cebollas,” he answered.

Sophie
nodded.

All
right then... if sayboyas were onions... then no tienes must mean “do you
have.” She tried to remember that while she endeavored to ignore the woman who
was staring at her so rudely and so suspiciously.

Maria,
Jack had called her.

She
tried not to acknowledge the attraction Maria obviously had for Jack, and tried
not to notice the way her gaze shifted to desire when she managed to pry her
eyes away from Sophie to look at him.

But
she couldn’t help but wonder who the woman was.

And
she couldn’t help but be just a little jealous... even though she told herself
she wasn’t... not at all.

Though
whoever she was, she was someone Jack was obviously very familiar with...
judging by the grip she’d had on Jack’s throat. Sophie’s stomach turned at the
thought of Jack and Maria together in any form or fashion.

But
then... she really didn’t want to think of it, so she thought instead of
breakfast. She was eager to prove herself, and itching to begin. But first she
needed eggs. Should she scramble them or should she make them into perfect
little suns, with the yolks bright yellow and the whites perfectly formed?

She
patted her basket in approval. She had plenty of the colorful peppers and
intended to throw them into the pan along with ham. And she had plenty of
smoked ham from the ship’s pantry, but she needed bread as well.

Growing
impatient to return so that she could begin, she tapped Jack on the shoulder
again and whispered, trying not to distract the man he was talking to from his
explication, “How do you say eggs?”

He
gave her a curious look.

“How
do you say eggs in Spanish?” she asked again.

His
brows collided, but he answered. “Huevos.”

Sophie
mentally added that to what she already knew and practiced it to herself a few
times, committing it to memory.
No tienes
huevos? No tienes huevos? No tienes huevos.

She
kept repeating the phrase to herself, dutifully ignoring the glaring woman. She
tried to be patient with the interminable conversation going on between Jack
and the man, who, she now assumed through Jack’s conversation, was named Jose.
He was either the woman’s husband or her father... and judging by their ages,
she assumed father.

No
tienes huevos, she repeated mentally while she waited for her chance to speak.

She
really ought to ask Jose first, before looking elsewhere. It wouldn’t make much
sense to run around looking for eggs elsewhere if Jose had them to sell, but
their conversation was becoming tedious. She couldn’t understand a single word
they were saying and she was growing impatient... not to mention battling a
severe case of jealousy that was growing to monstrous proportions.

Never
in her life would she have guessed herself capable of such terrible envy, but
she was. She wanted desperately to put her hand possessively on Jack’s arm, but
couldn’t bring herself to do it, so she found herself standing so close to him
that she could smell the wonderful scent of his skin.

Her
body remembered, and warmed. It drew her nearer, despite her resolve not to
appear competitive with that woman!

She
refused to lower herself to such an unseemly level of behavior. If Jack chose
to be with her, then so be it. He wasn’t hers to command—and neither was
she his!

Still...
she had every right to stand as close to him as she pleased. She was the one
making breakfast for him after all!

She
cast the woman a baleful glare, though she really hadn’t meant to, and then
became annoyed with herself when the woman returned it.

What
on earth was she doing trading evil glances with a woman over a man who wasn’t
even hers?

It
was ridiculous, and Sophie was ready to go, but Jack seemed to be pleading with
Jose for something, determined to win his compliance.

Jose
shook his head, stubbornly refusing whatever Jack was requesting of him.

His
daughter’s hand in marriage?

Sophie’s
stomach twisted at the ridiculous notion. Her thoughts were running amok. Jack
was not the sort of man to make love to her one day and marry another woman the
next.

Still,
she decided they weren’t getting anywhere, and she wasn’t going to stand around
and watch them butt heads all day long like two stubborn bulls. She decided to
go look for her eggs now. At least that would while away some of the time while
they argued.

The
man continued to shake his head, not speaking, only staring at Jack, and Sophie
didn’t feel the least bit guilty about interrupting this time. She had shopping
to do. It wasn’t pleasant for her to stand here and listen to them argue in a
language she didn’t understand while that woman glared at her in a language she
couldn’t help but comprehend!

Sophie
didn’t like her, or her father, either, and it must have come across in her
tone. “No tienes huevos?” she blurted at the man, and was quite pleased with
the way it flowed from her tongue.

Jack’s
head spun about, and the man’s did as well.

The
woman gasped and put a hand over her mouth.

The
man glared at her, and his face began to mottle.

Sophie
peered up at Jack. “What’s wrong?” she asked, sensing something was terribly
wrong.

Jack’s
expression was full of something like horror.

Something was definitely very wrong.

Sophie’s
eyes went wide. Her belly fluttered nervously. “What! What did I say?”

Jack
had only time to open his mouth, when the man hurled a fist at Jack’s face. It
hit Jack’s jaw with a sickening thud.

Sophie
screamed as Jack went tumbling backward at the unexpected impact. She managed
somehow to catch him.

Maria
screamed, and then chaos erupted.

CHAPTER 28

“I demand to know what I said to cause that much
trouble!”

Sophie held a smelly piece of meat to Jack’s jaw. His
jaw was throbbing and the odor was nauseating him.

Randall and Pete both sported their own bruises,
but none as bad as Jack’s.

“Let’s just drop it, Sophia,” Jack persisted.
“Jose apologized after I explained what you really meant. Let’s just drop it, all
right?”