The Senator's Hispanic Bride (10 page)

She watched her grandmother and listened to her talking, realizing that the wise woman was speaking a truth she had never considered. Her grandmother sat her at the table while the food cooked and handed her some cool tea.

“Your Papi and I have not always had it so easy, but we had to treat each other with love. That’s why our marriage has worked and lasted so long. We always try to look at each other through the eyes of love. What you had with that young man, that wasn’t hollow and it wasn’t nothing, or you would have felt it. You would have known it much sooner. There was something real there and that’s what you felt. That’s why you fell in love with him and why you wanted to stay with him, because you felt what was real, deep down. That’s why you hurt. It doesn’t hurt if it wasn’t real, and you can’t lose sight of what is real. Keep that close to your heart, my dear.”

Isabella was weeping silently by that point. Her grandmother was right; she knew she was right. She just didn’t know what to do with it. “I don’t know what good it will do now, but I will keep your wise words in my heart, Nanna. Thank you so much.” She reached over to her grandmother and hugged her tightly, thankful she had her in her life.

The words her grandmother had spoken stayed with her, and as she slept that night, she dreamed of him, and in the dream they were on a boat out at sea. The waves were small and calm, and light played lambent upon them, but then the waves grew large and the boat rocked wildly, water splashed and sprayed into the boat, and as the boat grew dangerously close to capsizing, and she and Michael were both crying out in terror, clinging to the sides of the boat, all she could hear was her grandmother’s voice strong and gentle in the wild waves and wind, saying, ‘Hold tight to each other, not to the boat, or you’ll never make it’.

She cried out louder, telling her grandmother she couldn’t let go of the boat or she would surely drown, but her grandmother persisted with kindness and gentleness, saying to her, ‘If you do not hold to each other, you will not survive. The boat will not save you’. She struggled in her dream, trying to determine whether she should hold on to the boat or let go and grab on to Michael. Michael was looking at her with wide open eyes, waiting, and then he reached out one hand, and she panicked, knowing she had to make a choice, she shook her head no and he reached his hand out further to her, and finally she took his hand and closed her eyes tight.

Before she knew it, the waves subsided and she found that the boat had stilled and they were in calm water and warm sunlight. They were holding fast to one another, and neither of them was touching the boat. She marveled at the miracle and cried out again in thanks to her grandmother, and then she woke up and it was another new day.

***

Michael had gone everywhere looking for her except the restaurant, and he knew deep in his heart the entire time it was the only place he would find her. He opened the door with hesitation, took a deep breath and walked in, heading for the desk. Selena was standing there, and when she looked up and saw him, her face saddened in profound disappointment.

She caught his gaze and spoke first. “Hello, Michael. What can I do for you?”

He was surprised that she would ask if she could do anything for him. “I’m looking for Isabella,” he said humbly, pushing his hands into his pockets. “We have a lot to talk about.”

Selena only nodded at him. “She’s not here,” she said with a pout.

“Selena, I really need to talk with her. I have to fix this. Please, would you let her know I’m out here?” he pleaded.

Selena bit her lip and looked over her shoulder, then looked back at him. “Hang on. I’ll be right back.” She disappeared into the back of the restaurant. A long while later, she reemerged with Marisol. When Michael saw Marisol walking toward him, he was sure that his stomach had dropped out of his body right through the floor and a wave of nausea hit him. His palms grew damp and his heart raced madly as she strode toward him with purpose. Her eyes were intense and she spoke with a low voice when she reached him.

“You.” She jabbed her finger at his chest. “You come with me.” Then she turned and headed into a secluded dining room with him. The room was closed off except for banquet use, so it was cavernous and dark, save for the few lights along the wall that offered a dim glow. She flicked a switch and the lights over the door came on. She pulled a chair over for him and pointed at it.

“Sit,” she said firmly. He felt suddenly as though he was in an interrogation, sitting by himself on the one chair underneath the direct lighting. She pulled a chair up near him and sat in it but he felt no less comfortable.

“You’re lucky I didn’t kick you out of this restaurant on sight. Not that I need to ask this, but what do you think you’re doing here?” Her eyes were unblinking and they made his heart shudder with trepidation.

He took a deep breath. “I came to find Isabella. I have to talk to her. I have to tell her what is really going on.”

Marisol gazed at him for a long minute, and then said, “Tell me what’s going on.”

He felt like he wouldn’t get very far with a woman who had never liked him to begin with, but he also had the distinct impression that he wasn’t going to get to Isabella without going through Marisol first. He realized what a Herculean task he was really facing and it was daunting to him, but he knew he had to try.

“Well, the newspapers had it wrong. My ex-fiancée Kelsey leaked a story to them to break Isabella and I up and she only had part of the truth, not all of it. I want to make sure that Isabella knows the truth before she decides to leave me. She has to know all the facts.” He spoke with genuine honesty, and he hoped it was enough to show through for Marisol.

She studied him with piercing eyes and was as still as a statue while she regarded him. “What is the truth?” she asked him.

He took another deep breath. “The truth is, that it was a plot at the beginning. It was a plan designed by Glenn Todd who was my campaign manager. He had become aware that I was dating Isabella, which I was doing because I liked her, and he ran all the numbers and discovered if we could sway the Latin American vote, I would win the election, so he told me I had to ask her to marry me and I had to have the wedding before the election. We had to have a big splash of an engagement, which we did, and we had to have the wedding within six weeks of the engagement so that it would stay in all of the newspapers and media long enough to keep everyone interested in what we were doing. He wanted us to be the popular celebrity couple that everyone fell in love with, have the fairytale wedding, and then be voted into office by all of our voters, or I guess, they would be fans at that point.”

Marisol glared at him through narrowed eyes and he felt his soul shrivel under her gaze. He continued.

“I agreed to it, and it’s something that didn’t feel right when I agreed to it, but then it felt worse later because I fell in love with her for real, and the more time we spent together, the more she helped me, loved me, and drew me into her life and into the family here, the more I loved her and wanted to be with her, for real, for the rest of my life.

“When I proposed to her it was for business, and that’s the truth, but since then, she has come to mean more to me than any other person in my life, and I cannot live without her. I was so lucky to have her and I knew it. I was lucky to have all of you. I have grown to love your whole family, Marisol, and I don’t want to be without her or any of you, no matter what happens with the campaign. I realized how much she meant to me and all I could do was thank my lucky stars that we were already engaged and that she was going to be my wife.”

Marisol’s expression was unchanged. He kept going.

“Then something really stupid happened, which is what always happens anytime there’s a lie involved. Kelsey decided she wanted me back more than she wanted me to win the election or be happily married to the woman of my dreams. She tried to talk to Glenn about being with me and Glenn told her absolutely not, he told her to stay away from me. That wasn’t good enough for her, so she went back to see him again, and that time, she seduced him and slept with him. He wanted her and she knew it. She made him tell her what was going on with me and found out about the marriage plan and she was willing to screw him for it. He spilled his guts and told her everything. She ran to the newspapers and told them the whole story except the part about how she got the information, of course, and then she made a point of going to see you two and she told Isabella. Mission accomplished, except she ruined all of our lives in the process.”

Marisol smiled slightly at the corner of her mouth. “I punched her,” she said quietly.

Michael couldn’t help the grin that spread over his face. “I heard about that. Actually, there are photos of it all over social media. You’re a big star now in Manhattan. Everyone loves you. The thing is though, Isabella believed her and she believed Glenn, and now she’s gone.”

Marisol narrowed her eyes at him again. “She
heard
you saying that you had agreed to it, Michael, she heard you admitting to the whole plan!”

He shook his head. “She couldn’t have heard everything I said, then, because I admitted to it and then I found out Glenn had slept with Kelsey and I fired him on the spot. He left the office right then. Glenn said he didn’t see her there. Did she see Glenn?”

Marisol frowned and shook her head. “No, she didn’t see him.”

“Well, he was fired right then, and he left my office. I was talking to my biggest campaign supporter as well, and I told him how much I love Isabella and that I was going to make sure she didn’t believe that it was all true. I told him the truth, which is that it was a plan in the beginning, but then it was real, and that’s what it is right now. That’s what it will always be, real, true love.” He leaned forward and looked into Marisol’s eyes with desperation. “I love her, Marisol, and I can’t be without her. I’ll do whatever it takes to make her realize that. I have to have her. Please, help me Marisol. Tell me where she is, tell me how I can make it right with her, and I swear to you, I will love her with all of my heart for the rest of my life.”

Marisol’s face softened a bit, and she tilted her head. “I believe you’re telling me the truth,” she said with a keen gaze at him.

“I am. I’d never come and ask you for help if I didn’t really mean it.” He spoke with slight chagrin and she chuckled at him.

“I know that must be true, too. You chose to come and talk to the one person in the family who doesn’t trust you at all and who likes you the least. You must be serious about this.” She smiled a little at him and he felt a tiny seed of hope bud in his stomach. Maybe, just maybe, she would sympathize with him and help him. It would be worth anything he had to go through to get Isabella back, including begging Marisol for help.

Marisol seemed to understand that quite clearly and she nodded to him. “Alright. I’m going to give you some help. I almost never choose anyone else over my own sister, and you have to understand that, but I think it would be best for both of you if you two worked this out. I have never seen her love anyone like she loves you, and I’ve never seen her hurt as much as she hurts without you.”

“Can I talk to her? Is she here?” he asked as his hopes began to soar.

She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry Michael. She’s nowhere near here. She left the day it happened and went to our grandparent’s home. She wanted to go where no one would find her.”

“Where is that?” he asked, ready to go to her right then.

Marisol gave him a rock hard look. “I swear to God right now, Michael, if you ever hurt her again, I am going to torture you and you will know pain that you could never imagine. You will discover levels of hell that even Dante himself has never known, and I promise you that the only thing you will hope for when I am through with you, is death. But, you will be a long, long way from it until I am sure that there is no way to make you feel more pain, and then I will kill you. Am I clear?” She leaned toward him and stared straight into his eyes.

He swallowed the granite boulder in his throat and nodded his comprehension. “Crystal clear,” he said quietly.

She pushed her bottom lip out thoughtfully and looked at him with some modicum of sympathy. “She’s in the Florida Keys.”

He felt like the chair he was sitting on had been yanked out from beneath his body. “What? In the Florida Keys?” He gaped at her. “That’s… wow. That’s far.”

Marisol raised one eyebrow at him. “Do you still want to go after her?”

He nodded adamantly. “Absolutely. I’d better go pack some sunscreen.” He stood up and took a step toward her, holding his arms out. “Thank you so much for helping me,” he said quietly.

Marisol stepped toward him and embraced him. “Good luck, brother. You’re going to need it.”

He released her with a smile and lifted his chin a little toward her. “You need to get your matron of honor dress ready, because when we get back, you’re going to need it.”

She shrugged and rolled her eyes a little. “I hope so.” She wrote down her grandparent’s address and he looked at her and pursed his lips.

“Don’t tell her I’m coming, okay?” he asked tongue-in-cheek.

She nodded. “Good plan. If I tell her before you get there, she may run.”

He hugged her once more and then headed out of the door of the restaurant to his house to pack and get to the airport. He was on the first flight the next morning, before the sun began to soften the night sky. Michael’s nerves were a tangle of electricity, but he knew with every moment that he got closer to her, he was doing the right thing. The plane landed and he rented a car and started the long drive through all the Keys to get to her.