Rogue Diamond (33 page)

"De nada," he mumbled, thinking he might melt on the spot. He touched her chubby golden cheek affectionately, and she bashfully ducked her head against Alex's shoulder.

He spoke gently to Jenni but his words were directed to Alex
. "You'd better get used to hav
ing me around, Jenni, because I expect to be your adoptive father, if I can persuade your adoptive mother to marry me."

"Nick
?
" Alex
looked up at him
, startled. They had never discussed what would happen when they found Jenni.

"Sorry, I didn't have time to plan all this with you, Alex. But I can see this little kid needs a father."

"Not half as much as I need a husband," she said softly, with a happy smile.

"Is that a proposal?"

She nodded, her eyes glistening with fresh tears.

"I accept," he murmured. "I thought you'd never ask." He kissed her lips until a small chubby hand pushed his face away.

"My mamacita!"

“Yes, she is. But I hope you’ll share her sometimes. Like at night.”

Alex laughed, still somewhat giddy. "
I can’t believe this. All this.
Today.
"

He wiggled his eyebrows. "She gets the teddy bear at night and, mamacita, I get you!"

Alex smiled warmly, tears still evident in her indigo eyes. "Nick, thank you for not giving up on her ... on us."

"I wouldn't have missed th
is moment for any
thing in the world, Alex. Now both of you have me in your clutches, which is exactly where I want to be. Come on. We have a date with the local police and
the FBI. You have some identify
ing to do. File some charges.
Si
gn papers. Then we can go home."

"Where's home, Nick?"

"First, I figure
we'll have to return to Hermo
si
llo to start proceedings to adopt Jenni legally."

"While we're
there, do you think Padre Ramo
n would be willing to perform a wedding?"

"I think he would be glad to make all this legal . . ." Nick smiled as they started downstairs. "And to give this child some parents. Then we'd both better con
si
der settling down. After all, we're a family now. I'm tired of apartments and moving around and living out of boxes. It's time we had a house."

"And a decent car!" Alex laughed. "My, my, how domesticated you've become in just the last few minutes, Mr. Diamond."

"See what you do to me, woman? I won't be satisfied until you're Mrs. Diamond. There'll be no more holding back on love, Alex ... for the
three of us." His lips sought hers again and his long arms embraced both Alex and Jenni. This time, the little girl hugged him back.

Email from
Hermo
si
llo, Mexico

To: Carol M

From: Alex
J Diamond

Subject: Happiness
is. . .

Nick and I were married last week.
Jose
and my friend Rosemary were our witnesses. I'm sorry you missed the wedding but I'm sure it's one Padre
Ramon
will always remember. It was very emotional, but not for the usual reasons.

Jenni was a darling little flower girl but she wet her pants halfway through the ceremony and was so embarrassed she cried the rest of the time. We had to shout our "I do's" above her wailing
.
Family life is a wonderful challenge, huh?

The adoption w
ill take some time
in the next few months
, but our law
yer sees no problem. Meanwhile, Nick and I are having a honeymoon for three
.
! Thank God for Rosemary and her husband Sam. They've been baby-
si
tting with Jenni to give us a little privacy. Believe me, though, we can't stand to let her out of our
si
ght for long, now that we finally have her back
.

We'll be seeing you soon when we move to Phoenix. Nick has sworn off guns. He'll do FBI recruitment and special forces training ses
si
ons for both state a
nd federal governments. I've al
ways wanted to run my own pre-school and now seems to be a good time to do it. I am a
n overnight
wife and moth
er now. And I've never been hap
pier!

Love, Alex

The End

Alex
and Nick
enjoyed these foods while in Mexico:

Pollo en Mole

1 tsp. olive or salad oil

1 onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

¾ cup chicken broth

1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce

¼ cup ground peanuts or peanut butter

1 Tbsp. each chili powder & unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp each ground cinnamon & ground cumin

¼ tsp. each black pepper & cayenne

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

3-4 prunes (liquefied in blender w/chiles)

To a skillet, over medium high hea
t, add oil, onion, and garlic.
Cook, stirring until onion is tinged
brown;  add 1 Tblsp. broth.
Then add tomato sauce, remaining broth, chili powder, cocoa, cinnamon, cumin, pepper
, cayenne, and ground peanuts.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat,
cover, and simmer 10 minutes.
Add chicken; continue to simmer until chicken is firm, about 15 minutes longer.  Serve chicken and sauce on rice with corn tortillas on the side.

Pargo a la Veracruzana

1 ½ lb. red snapper fish

¼ cup vegetable oil

½ cup flour

½ tsp. salt

2 large tomatoes, cubed

2 stalks celery, sliced

1 red bell pepper, cut into rings

1 green bell pepper, cut into rings

1 medium jar salsa

Put flour and salt in a plastic bag, then coat fish in this mixture.  Heat oil in a large frying pan, add fish and brown on both sides.  Reduce heat to medium low and add celery, tomatoes, peppers, and the jar of salsa.  Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.  Serve over rice.  Beautiful and delicious!

2 large avocados

½ cup onion, diced

¾ cup tomatoes, chopped,

2
jalapeño
chiles, diced

¼ cup cilantro, chopped

2 limes, juiced

1 small clove garlic

salt to taste

Peel avocados and remove pit.  Mash well with a fork, stir in diced onion, tomatoes,
jalapeños, cilantro
and garlic.  Squeeze juice of limes into mixture and salt to taste.  Some people like to add a small amount of cottage cheese in their guacamole to make it go further. Serve with corn chips for dipping.

Galletas de Bodas

Traditionally served at weddings, but also at Christmas time.

1 cup butter (or margarine)

½ cup powdered sugar, sifted

1 cup pecans, finely chopped

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour,

¼ tsp. salt

sifted more powdered sugar, enough for rolling cookies (approx. 1 cup)

Cream butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until well blended.  Add flour, salt and nuts gradually to creamed mixture.  Mix thoroughly.  Shape into two long rolls about 1 ¼ inches in diameter.  Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate several hours.  Cut into ¼-inch slices and place close together on ungreased baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven at 350º for 15 – 20 minutes or until lightly browned on top.  Remove from baking sheet and roll in powdered sugar immediately.  Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Recipes from
Corazon Contento – Sonoran Recipes and Stories from the Heart,
by
Madeline Gallego Thorpe
and Mary Tate Engels. Available on Amazon.com and Texas Tech University Press.

Mary Tate Engels, author of more than 30 romance novels, soon to be on ebooks at Smashwords, also has two non-fiction southwest history books with Texas Tech Univer
si
ty Press:
Tales from Wide Ruins, Jean and  Bill Cou
si
ns, Traders; and Corazon Contento – Sonoran Recipes and Stories from the Heart,
co-authored with Madeline Gallego Thorpe. She has three sons, two granddaughters, has raised a wolf in her back yard, and has adopted two blac
k cats for good luck.

Discover other titles by Mary Tate Engels at
www.marytateengels.com
/

Loves Dawning
:
http://www.amazon.com/Loves-Dawning-ebook/dp/B004DCB8W0

A Lasting Love
http://www.amazon.com/A-Lasting-Love-ebook/dp/B004D4ZX10

A Rare Breed
http://www.amazon.com/A-Rare-Breed-ebook/dp/B004HZXT9S