The Feria (17 page)

David and his wife, Lorena, turned out to be very pleasant to be around. They were a great match, as she was as kind and humble as her husband. But Soledad had to ask the uncomfortable question.

“
Señor
David, the trees look beautiful, plentiful. What could be going wrong with my father’s business?”

David was hesitant, as if trying not to offend her with his answer. “My dear, I have never been involved in the financial aspects of this business. I was given charge of the trees, and I have done my very best.”

Sensing there was more he wanted to say, Soledad pressed. “Do you think my brothers are at fault in the failings? You can answer honestly. I promise I won’t hold your words against you. I just need to find out what is happening.”

“With all due respect to your brothers,” he started, then paused. “I honestly don’t think they’ve done anything wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve seen them work. I’ve sat in on business meetings because they’ve asked me to serve as a witness. They hold themselves highly accountable. I tell you, they even go out and work in the trees. They’ve learned everything from the bottom up. Your father would be proud.” David slumped back in his chair, as though everything he’d said had taken all of his energy.

Soledad exhaled. “I knew it. I have never lost my faith in them.”

“They are away on business now, are they not?”

“Yes, yes they are.” His point was taken well.

Soledad rubbed her fingers over the crease in her forehead. “So now I have to find out what is going wrong.”

“Or who.” It was a simple statement. She could tell that David instantly regretted saying it.

“You are correct, David.”

“Emmanuel,” Xavier said quietly.

The silence around the tiny breakfast table spoke thunderous volumes.

Anger churned in Soledad’s stomach. Once again, Emmanuel was at the very pit of evil and distress. She wanted to kill him. Could it be possible that such an evil man, the devil incarnate, could walk the earth? Why had he cursed her family so badly? He wasn’t so horrible when they were living together. How could she have lived with the devil in disguise and never known it?

As Soledad climbed into the soft bed, the fresh linen, a gift from David’s wife, embraced her, and so did Xavier. They were exhausted from the long drive, but he couldn’t seem to resist touching her. His hands wandered across her curves over the satin gown she wore. He stuck his face into her hair and neck and inhaled deeply. She turned to face him and pressed her mouth to his. Even tired, their passion, their need for each other could not be exhausted. She reached her hand between his legs.

He gently caught her wrist. “We have the rest of our lives for this,” he said.

“Indeed.” Feelings hurt, she pulled her hand free, feeling rejected. “I suppose you want to talk about Emmanuel.” The taste of his name on her tongue made her want to spit.

After a few minutes of strained silence, they both spoke at the same time.

“What do I do?”

“What do you want to do?”

“Kill him.”

“I know,
mi amor
.” Xavier stroked her shoulder.

“I’ll contact the boys in the morning and see what they know. I need to go through the house, find paperwork that the boys might have left around, even anything Emmanuel has left around. He’s been in here, too. Probably more than even my father these past few years.” From what she knew, the house had become makeshift headquarters with the luxury of living conditions if needed. “Eventually, if I find anything I can use, I’ll work with my brothers and go over numbers and records. There’s got to be discrepancies somewhere.”

“Unless he’s hidden anything suspicious. It’s quite easy to manipulate facts, numbers, records.”

“I’m sure you’re right, and I’m sure he has. I honestly don’t know what to do. I feel like there’s no way to win this.”

“There is. We just have to figure out how. It will come to us.”

Soledad loved how Xavier said
us.
For the first time in a long time, she truly felt that she was being taken care of, protected. Ironically, the last time she’d felt like this, had been the last time she’d been with him.

Soledad didn’t know when she’d fallen asleep. All she knew was that she was awake and breakfast had climbed up the stairs and into the loft.

“It smells wonderful!”

“Come down and join me, then.”

“I’ll be right down.” As she put on her robe, she realized that she had draped it over the chest sitting in front of the bed. Her attention was suddenly, urgently, on this new object.

Xavier stared up at her as she knelt down in front of the chest.

“Don’t take too long. Breakfast will get cold.”

She nodded, then opened the chest.

Inside were stacks of photographs. She decided to save these for later as they would probably make her sad, but she wanted to give them the time they deserved.

A few business receipts turned up. She decided to save those for her research. To the right was a stack of papers bound together. They looked important. The paper was already yellowing. She lifted the stack. It was heavy. Then something happened. When she lifted the stack from the right side of the chest, the right side came up like a seesaw. She put the stack back down, and the bottom of the chest was once again balanced. She lifted the stack again and once again the left side became heavier. She realized at once that what she thought was the bottom of the chest, was not really the bottom of the chest.

“
Amor
,” she called down to Xavier, her eyes not leaving her discovery.

Xavier, as if noting the urgency in her voice, quickly climbed to the loft two steps at a time.

She pointed at the oddity. “There’s a deeper bottom. This is a cover-up.”

He lifted the bound stack of papers on the left. “These may be nothing more than the balance for the false bottom.”

They pulled out the bound stacks from the chest and Soledad reached in and lifted the false bottom. Underneath, several more papers were revealed and more photos. But something else stunned her. She plucked out a document and scanned it. Her marriage license. She gasped, and Xavier put his arm around her waist.

“Oh my God.” The words came out a choked whisper. “The priest never signed. And it’s here, not filed.” Her initial anger dissolved as the meaning of her discovery became clear. She spun to Xavier.

“You were never legally married,” he blurted.

“I’m not married.”

“You’re not married!”

Soledad threw her arms around Xavier and kissed him freely.

“I’m yours. I was always yours.”

They both sang out, tears mingling with joy.

No news could have pleased her more except to hear that Emmanuel was lying dead somewhere. She didn’t want to waste her thoughts on him, nor on the reasons why her father would hide this secret for so long.

Reading her mind again, Xavier said, “Don’t be angry at your father. I’m sure he did what he thought was right. I don’t think he could bear the guilt of what he’d done to you. This was the best he could do. He knew that one day his secret would be discovered. He knew, and he was right.”

Soledad realized she had been grinding her teeth in anger. Fury still threatened to erupt in her. For all these years, she had been tied to a man who was not even her husband. For all these years, she simply could have walked away had she found the courage. Her father had led her into a life of dishonesty, sinful in the eyes of the church. Had anyone known, she would have been a shunned woman with yet another dagger pierced into a life she had wrestled with putting back together.

She chose her words carefully, and spoke slowly, still trying to convince herself to agree with Xavier’s evaluation of the matter. “You’re right. You really are.”

A big smile made Xavier’s eyes light up. It was reward enough for her.

“My sweet Cholita, I know what we’re doing today.”

Soledad felt like a teenager running away to marry her true love. The difference was that she wasn’t a teenager. She was a woman, a single woman. She didn’t have anyone to answer to about marrying Xavier, but she did have one person she was accountable to. Abril. She kept replaying Abril’s letter over and over again as they waited to be married.
Be happy. Be happy
. Abril would be happy knowing that this would be the most joyful moment of her mother’s life. With the exception, of course, of the day Abril was born.

Soledad did not at all expect to wake up this morning and get married, but it was happening. The day seemed unreal, fantastical, but then again, when had anything that had involved Xavier been normal? This was the day she’d been waiting for for the last two decades. This was the day she had pushed out of her mind and tried repeatedly to push out of her dreams because she feared it would never happen. But today, today she was conquering that fear. Today she was standing next to the man she loved with her entire soul; her very being lived to adore him. She stood next to this tall, beautiful man who looked like he was on top of the world, his blue eyes gleamed like sapphires. She held the hand of the man who she would be with for the rest of her life.

They exchanged vows in the simple chapel, but there was nothing simple about what was happening. Fate had finally come full circle. The power of that was so incomprehensible, so indescribable. And then, without any forewarning or previous indication, Xavier pulled out a ring. Soledad’s eyes jumped from the ring to his face. She didn’t know which was more beautiful or appropriately adorned for this moment in time, this moment when time actually again stood still, just for them.

She’d been right. This trip to California had seemed like a honeymoon, and now it was. Everything was official. There was no enormous wedding; it was even simpler than her small ceremony to Emmanuel in her parents’ living room. There was no family present, no gifts, no one to call. It was just the two of them, and that was good enough. She didn’t want to worry about telling Abril or anyone at that moment. The moment belonged to her, and it belonged to Xavier, and everything at that point revolved around them.

She and Xavier took in an intimate dinner in the loft. They had promised to put the paperwork and investigation aside for a short time. The chest that had given them such a beautiful gift remained open, books and papers on the floor where she and Xavier had stopped mid-investigation upon discovering the freedom-winning certificate.

The blanket, still smelling like the sun, covered them like a great white cloud. As Xavier lay on top of her, his wife, their fingers intertwined, their tongues danced. Their lovemaking was different this time. There was so much force, power, intensity in it. It was beautiful.

Soledad’s eyes opened to black. She had no idea when she had fallen asleep. She couldn’t see Xavier, but she could feel him. His arms held her close. His breath fell on her bare shoulder. There were glimpses of the dark night teasing through drawn blinds of the large window. Soledad had an urge to go out and look up at the beautiful sky. It was one of her favorite things to do. It no longer held the pain of her memories of Xavier. He was here, right beside her. He was finally hers, by every standard society and spirit could ask of them. The only pain she felt now was that she was leaving Xavier’s arms, but she calmed herself knowing that they would always be there from now on.

Wrapping herself in a robe, she descended the stairs and slipped out the front door and stared at the sky. The prize was worth the brief absence from Xavier and the bed in the loft. The dark outlines of the cherry trees stood tall and proud. She planted herself a few feet in front of the house, to get out from under the porch. She wanted the full effect of this night sky. It seemed as though the stars knew a celebration was called for. They obliged with the best beauty they could afford. Their majesty held her gaze. She smiled when she heard approaching footsteps. Xavier must have felt her absence. She was glad. It was only right that he would be here to share this magnificence. From behind, he placed his hands on her cheek. She froze. Something was different. There was no gentleness in this cold, angry hand. She gasped and tried to turn to see who had approached, but the rigid hand restrained her, closing painfully on her cheekbone.

In an instant, she was fully aware of what was happening to her. “Please don’t hurt me.”

“Don’t scream then.” Sarcasm lined the voice that pierced her like a long, slow sword. It was a voice she had sworn to purge from her mind, even if it meant working at it for the rest of her life. Emmanuel.

“You’ve been sinful, my wife.” He sneered like the slither of a serpent he was.

“I am not your wife, you son of a bitch.”

His fingers dug into her cheek. She cried out as she felt his nails penetrate her tender skin, followed by the feeling of her warm blood falling like teardrops.

“You’re nothing but a little bitch. You have ruined me, and now, you have ruined yourself.”

“Emmanuel, take your hands off me. Now.” She kept her voice firm, strong.

He laughed. It was truly the devil in him.

Without so much as a word of warning, he took his hand off her face, but used it to bind her loose hair, weaving it around his wrist, maintaining a grip so close to her head she couldn’t even move. Pain exploded along her scalp as he picked her up by the hair, then threw her back onto the ground, before pouncing on her. She felt two devilish hands wrap themselves around her neck like two snakes. Suddenly, her throat was being pushed into the back of her neck. She clawed at his hands, trying to get him to release his grip. Her vision started to blur. He was killing her.

She opened her mouth and tried to scream. She slapped at his face, but Emmanuel easily dodged her futile attempts. His smile enraged her and she kicked, trying to throw him off balance.

The devil was enjoying killing her. Sound began to fade, but his low laugh, while sounding far off, persisted. Her vision blurred again.

She thought of Xavier, so close, yet too far to help her. She thought of how she was being robbed once again. She thought of Abril. Her face, her eyes, her voice. Suddenly, still in the grasps of death, revolt filled her. With one final swing, she miraculously, almost as if she were being pushed up by a thousand angels, grabbed at Emmanuel’s eyes, clawing at them with everything in her. She heard his screams, much louder than hers, break the night’s silent witness. She clawed with such force that she jerked when she realized skin hung trapped in her fingernails. Still desperately gasping for air, she fell forward onto her knees and pushed herself to all fours, once again assisted by angels. She turned to crawl to the house, but Emmanuel, not yet recovered from her counterattack, grabbed at her heals, pulling her back to him so fiercely that her chin slammed into the earth. Something sharp snipped her throat as she swallowed. She was fairly certain it was a tooth. She felt blood overflowing warmly down her chin and neck. She drew in a ragged breath, shocked at the whistling sound.

No. This would not be her end! Not tonight, and not at the hands of Emmanuel. She would escape this nightmare.

She let out a scream, which came out a low cry, as Emmanuel flipped her over, once again grabbing at her throat, but the blood on her neck made it difficult for him because his hands slid over her injured flesh. As he worked to regain the grip he’d once had on her, she did the only thing she could think of in what she believed might be her last seconds of life. Squirming until she could reach out far enough for his scrotum, she grabbed hold and squeezed whatever she could. She squeezed with such force, she felt her fingers snap, but she did not let go. Emmanuel screamed, a blood-curdling scream that would have once filled her with guilt but now filled her with hope. He released his grip on her, rolling onto the ground cursing. The front door burst open, and as Soledad succumbed to unconsciousness, she heard two gun shots ring out.