As You Wish (The Summerhouse 3)

Alejandro’s voice. He was here!

Elise looked at herself in the mirror. With no makeup on, she was pale, but she knew Alejandro liked that.

With her hand on the doorknob, she took a deep breath. She reminded herself that at the time of her wedding she’d never met Carmen’s brother. She needed to act that way now.

Quietly, she opened the door. Carmen and Alejandro were on the far side of the room so she couldn’t see them, but she could hear them clearly. They were talking rather loudly in Spanish.

“You want me to take care of her?” Alejandro’s voice was disbelieving.

“I want you to look after her for two or three days, that’s all. Is that too much to ask of my own brother?”

“You’re up to something, aren’t you? You...” He paused. “You want me to do what? Seduce her? So you can steal her husband?”

“He is not her husband.” Carmen sounded angry. “You don’t have to do anything with her. Just feed her. She’s so skinny she probably eats a peanut a day. Just keep her hidden for a few days, then put her on a plane to wherever she wants to go.”

“What the hell am I supposed to do with her? Can she dig flower beds? Spread mulch?”

“No,” Carmen said. “She can’t do anything. Kent says she is an absolutely useless person!”

Elise leaned against the door, her eyes closed, trying to take in the hurt.

Carmen’s voice sweetened, was cajoling. “I know you don’t like this whole thing, but Kent and I love each other.”

“He’s marrying someone else.”

“He was, but after this humiliation I don’t think he will. And Kent may lose his job because of her. Why did she have to destroy everything? Stop looking at me like that. You’ve seen this girl. She’s so shapeless I’m not sure she’s a woman. And Kent said she’s really cold. There’s nothing between her and him except business and she knows it.”

“If she wants the marriage, then why did she run away?”

“Who knows? Maybe she wants more money. I know she thought that by coming to me I could get Kent to forgive her.”

Elise gasped at that great lie. “What was that?” Alejandro asked.

“Nothing. It was in the hall. Will you do this for me or not?”

“I don’t know. Where’s she supposed to stay?”

“I’m staying with Diego, so she’ll be with you. In your bedroom.”

“What?” Alejandro half yelled.

“Shhh! She’ll hear you. Not that she’d understand, but she’ll hear. If you think I’m going to sleep in the same room as a crazy woman, you’re wrong. She ran away from her own wedding. Who knows what she’ll do next?”

Elise stepped back into the bathroom and silently shut the door. You’re afraid to go to sleep around me? she thought. So much for her compassion for Carmen. It looked like it wasn’t reciprocated.

She stood up straighter. Right now, she thought, I need to think about how to take care of myself.

Since she’d seen the extent of what her parents and Kent would do to get her under control, she had to act wisely. She knew that if she showed herself to them now she’d either marry Kent or be taken away to...to... She didn’t like to think about that.

She needed food and shelter until she could figure out what to do. Surely there was someone in her life who could help her. She just needed time to think about it all. Even if she could get to Warbrooke, Maine, she didn’t know if she’d find help there. It was years before she’d met Olivia, and years before she got back together with Kit.

“One day at a time,” she whispered. At the moment, she needed to take care of the necessities, like food and shelter, and the rest would have to follow.

She opened the door again. Carmen and Alejandro were still arguing. “You’re sure she doesn’t speak Spanish?” he was saying.

“Absolutely. She’s American. She can barely speak one language, certainly not two. And it’s none of my business but if I were you, I wouldn’t let her know you speak English. Kent says she’s the world’s biggest whiner. She complains all the time. She says no one ever pays any attention to her or spends enough time with her. You’re so softhearted you’ll probably begin to believe her. You might even fall for the skinny girl.”

“After the mess I just got out of? I’m staying away from all females. I’m going to let Mom choose a wife for me. Some village girl with a hairy upper lip.”