Armando Returns (Barboza Brothers) (15 page)

“
Oh.” Katie winced and groaned. “
That
. I wish you hadn’t seen it. My sister and her husband did it without my consent, as a gift. They’re dorks.”

Armando chuckled.
“It’s okay. No reason to be embarrassed. It told me everything I wanted to know about where you’ve been since high school. You went to a few colleges. Got a few degrees. Moved back here to Bexar County, and,” he inhaled dramatically and brought his hand to his chest in a sarcastic display, “found the dreamiest dreamy dreamboat hunk of a man you’d ever laid eyes upon, who’s a lawyer, like Daddy. And you found him just in time, too, because the whole family was holding their breath, afraid you’d still be single when you turn thirty in a couple years.”

Katie grimaced.
“I told you, they’re dorks. Most of it was written in jest.”

“
Most of it, huh?” Armando cocked his head to the side. “How much of it’s true? You don’t seem very happy about marrying this guy. Don’t let the pressure get to you.”

She looked down and gently nudged a rock with the side of her leather pump. Her voice was soft.
“I’m not. He’s a good guy. He works hard. We have a lot in common.”

“
So,
that’s
why you’re marrying him. Good guy. Hard worker. Common interests. It has nothing to do with the fact that he’s a lawyer who, according to the bio on
his
firm’s website, has some political aspirations? You know, like your dad, the district judge?”

“
Daddy and Mitch are nothing alike, aside from that.” Katie set her lips in a straight line and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at Armando. “Do you know how offensive that is? That you think of me as some weak, simple-minded girl who wants to marry someone exactly like her father?”

Armando
’s voice was deliberately calm. “I don’t think you’re weak or simple-minded. You sure weren’t in high school. It seems that maybe after what happened with me, you only dated guys you thought Daddy would approve of. And since Daddy’s a jerk, guys who live up to his standards probably don’t come along very often. That’s why you got engaged.”

She sighed, then bit the inside of her cheek and looked again at the rock on the ground. She took a long pause, then answered,
“No.”

“
Well, is it the pressure to get hitched before you turn thirty? Is that why you’re marrying this guy?”

Katie took a deep breath and met Armando
’s gaze. “There isn’t that much pressure. It’s mostly just Mom. She’s a little old-fashioned. She thinks I’m gonna shrivel up and die if I don’t settle down and start a family soon.”

Armando scowled.
“It doesn’t matter what she thinks. You need to do what’s best for
you
.” His face brightened with an evil grin. “Maybe you should remind her that you could’ve already had that, with me. Who knows where we’d be right now if they hadn’t stopped us?”

Katie drew in an unsteady breath and looked away, blinking fast to stop the tears that unexpectedly filled her eyes.

Concerned, he took a step forward, watching her. Waiting to see if she would respond. He gave her another moment, then gently asked, “Are you okay?”

She sniffled and wiped her palm across her eye.
“I don’t know.” She paused for a breath. “It’s like it’s all fresh again. Crazy. Feels like it happened last week, not ten years ago.”

“
I know.” Armando gritted his teeth. His own rage and sadness lingered much closer to the surface than he wanted to show. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to calm down.

Katie sniffled again and hesitantly said,
“A couple days ago I actually
did
mention it to Mom, for the first time in years. She went off on me and scolded me like a child.”

“
Oh no, I’m sorry. Did that scare you?”

Anger replaced the sadness in Katie
’s eyes. “No, it didn’t scare me. It pissed me off!” Katie groaned and wiped away a stray tear that lingered on her cheek. “I’ve been on an emotional roller coaster for days. I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’m supposed to be feeling.” She let out a heavy sigh. “And there’s no one I can talk to. No one who’d understand—”

“
I understand.” He placed a hand on each of her shoulders, staring deep into her eyes.

One side of her mouth quirked up with a hint of a smile. Her voice was soft.
“Yeah. I guess you would.”

Their eyes locked. The scent of her perfume was intoxicating. Her lips were so close, it would have taken little effort to tilt his head down and kiss her. And that
’s what Armando desperately wanted to do.

And he would have
...if only she wasn’t engaged.

But she was mine first!
he told himself. Unfortunately, he knew it was a weak argument. Although there was undeniable familiarity and an instant attraction, too much time had passed. They weren’t the same people they were when they concocted that crazy plan to run away after graduation.

And yet, there she was. His first love. The same beautiful girl who claimed his heart so long ago.

Would it really be so wrong to kiss her? Just one little kiss? Or maybe two. Or maybe he’d take her to that shady spot on the ground about twenty feet away where he could rip that pretty dress off and show her just how much she still meant to him and—

Shit.

Armando dropped his arms to his sides and turned his face up to the sky, then took a deep breath, trying to think about anything else.

Katie asked,
“Are you all right?”

“
Yeah.” He closed his eyes and took another breath, blowing it out slowly.

“
I’m sorry. Did I upset you?”

He kept his eyelids shut and shook his head.
“No, it’s fine.”

“
Okay. So...” Katie twirled her hair with her fingers. “Do you want me to go home then?”

“
No.” Armando looked in her eyes. “Please, no. I asked you to come out here because I wanted to finish our conversation from last night but…” his voice trailed off.

She giggled.
“But...you don’t know where to start?”

“
No. I sure don’t.”

“
Well, could we maybe start with finding a place to sit?” She shifted her weight from one leg to the other. “My heels are starting to sink down in the dirt.”

“
Oh, shit! I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about that.” Frantically, he looked around, wishing they could go back to the house, but there would surely be ears listening in every corner. “There’s a pond right over there. Or at least, there used to be.”

Katie nodded.
“I remember.”

“
Oh. Yeah.” Armando smiled at her and started in the direction of the pond. It used to be one of their favorite make-out spots. How could he have forgotten?

After a few steps, Katie stumbled.
“
Ooh
. No, my shoes don’t like this at all.”

Quickly, Armando bent down and put his arm under her shoulders.
“Does this help?”

Katie hobbled along through the field, with help from Armando. Her heart raced from the feel of his strong bicep against her back. She hoped he wouldn’t notice her labored breathing.

Damn it. The heat of his body awakened every part of her. Whipped her thoughts into a frenzy of rebellious desire.

Mitch had sure as hell never made her feel like this.

“
You okay?” Armando asked. “Is it too hot out here for you? You’re still all dressed up from work and I’m just wearing this T-shirt.”

Oh yes, you certainly are wearing that T-shirt
...
It was perfectly fitted but not too tight, nicely displaying the lines of his muscles. “You must work out a lot,” she said.

He laughed for a bit as he tightened his arm around her, then he answered,
“Yeah. Every morning. I’m addicted. Can’t start my day without it.”

Katie blushed, realizing she had ignored his question.
“That’s nice.”

“
Uh-huh. So, the heat isn’t getting to you? I wish I could take you inside the house but I really don’t want them listening.”

I wish you could take me, too. Yes, take me
...
She breathed deeply and tried not to appear distracted. “It’s not that hot. It’s actually kinda nice.”

“
Good.”

A few more steps and they reached the pond. Or, rather, what was left of it.

Katie eased herself down to sit on one of the large rocks that served as benches. She scanned the pond.
“Geez. It’s kinda sad to see it like this.”

“
Yeah it is,” Armando said. “Ramon could have some water hauled in but,” he sighed, “he’s Ramon.”

“
Remember those cute little baby ducks? And there were rose bushes over there,” she pointed, “and some really pretty trees—”

Armando groaned and sat down beside her.
“I know. Henry prided himself on the landscaping around here. Ramon thinks it’s all a waste of time. He just let it all go.”

“
Why can’t Mr. Platt just have it done anyway?”

“
He doesn’t live here anymore. He’s off traveling the country or something. Ramon owns the whole place now.”

“
You mean, you don’t even know where he is?”

“
No. He calls Ramon once in a while.” Armando shrugged. “Last I heard he was at a campground near the Grand Canyon for a few weeks. Before that, he was in Reno. And he apparently took the housekeeper with him. Elsa. That’s why the house is such a disaster.”

Katie chuckled as she gave the ground a light kick.
“Well, I hope they’re having a good time.”

“
Me too. He’s earned it after all these years.”

“
So, you don’t keep in touch with him? He was like a father to you, wasn’t he?”

“
Eh…” Armando winced. “It was a strange thing. We all respected him but we never really crossed that line to father-son relationship. And, of course, we knew he and Mama had something going on but there was never any talk of marriage as far as we know. So, he was always just the nice man who moved us to Texas and let us live in his house.”

“
And you never asked if he and your mom were together?”

Armando
’s eyes widened and he shook his head, rapidly. “No. Mama made it very clear right away that it was none of our concern.”

“
Oh!” Katie gasped. “Remember that time you sneaked me into your room really late at night and we had to go past Henry’s bedroom and we heard—”

Armando held up his hand, quieting her. He groaned.
“Please don’t remind me. It was bad enough living there, pretending like nothing was going on.”

“
Well, for what it’s worth, your mom always seemed happy, to me. Maybe she was the one who didn’t want a commitment, but Mr. Platt wanted more.”

He let out a pensive sigh.
“Yeah, maybe.”

Before they veered off to another subject, Katie knew it was time to bring up something.
“Speaking of Mr. Platt.” She gulped and fidgeted with her hands for a moment. “I sorta hate to bring this up because I don’t wanna start crying again but…”

“
What? Tell me.” Armando’s brown eyes flashed with interest.

She hesitated, then said,
“Well, Mom told me back then, right after we got stopped at the gas station, that they didn’t want me dating you because of some kind of family history.”

“
What exactly?”

“
She wouldn’t tell me. But she made it sound like our family would be devastated if you and I got married. Said that’s why they tried to keep us from dating in the first place.”

“
What’s Henry have to do with it?”

“
I don’t know for sure. The next few days there was a whole lot of arguing in our house. Usually me versus Mom and Dad. But a few times, it was just Mom and Dad arguing with each other, always behind closed doors. They’d even turn on the radio to try to keep me and Chelsea from eavesdropping. But they had this one argument in the den where Mom screamed loud enough to hear. She told Dad he never should’ve taken money from Henry Platt. Said it was like making a deal with the devil and it’d follow them the rest of their lives as long as they stayed here in this part of Texas.” She sighed. “Then they went back and forth for a while with some words that would’ve gotten my mouth washed out with soap if I’d said ‘em. And right after that, Dad opened the door and found me listening and we started arguing again. They would never answer me when I asked about Mr. Platt.”

“
So, you never asked them later? Like, days or weeks later after they calmed down?”