“No,” he said firmly. “I will do that.” He stood up straight and met Sophia’s gaze. “I will do more than that. I will take you to Iguazú.”
He was aware of Maria’s mouth dropping open and the smile blooming on Carlos’s face. And he was aware of the consternation twisting Sophia’s features. This was not part of her plan, and he was damned glad to complicate things for her. She’d certainly done enough complicating of her own. She’d waltzed in here and turned his whole life upside-down.
“I don’t recall inviting you,” she replied. She kept her expression friendly but he heard the vinegar behind the words.
“You didn’t. But you’ll waste a lot of time going to Buenos Aires, then finding transportation, then sorting out touring the park on your own…it’s just easier if I take you.”
Every single word he’d said was true. She would face those difficulties, but his reason for going with her had nothing to do with travel time at all.
He refused to let her go. Even if it meant leaving the estancia and driving across country to the waterfalls that attracted hordes of tourists, he’d do it.
Because he was in love with her.
The knowledge seeped into him like rain into dry ground, making everything expand and grow. What a hell of a situation. He did not know what he was going to do about it, but he knew to say goodbye now would be a mistake.
He stood his ground. For long moments their gazes clashed—his determined, hers resisting. He was
vastly relieved when she relented, dropping her gaze to her handbag. “All right, fine,” she said irritably. “I’m ready when you are.”
“Ten minutes,” Tomas replied, disappearing back into his room to throw some clothing in a bag.
When he came back out, Maria and Carlos were waiting with Sophia. Maria gave him a hug and her eyes were suspiciously bright. “You come back to us,” she said, and Tomas had to pull away. He knew why. Sophia had been right when she’d accused him of hiding out at the estancia. For him to volunteer to leave for even a few days was unusual behaviour. Maria understood him more than most. She knew that taking Sophia there himself was important. And it was more important than any of them knew.
“Don’t worry,” he murmured, accepting a bag of alfajores for the road. “I’m just taking a few days off.”
But it was a few days with a woman—something he’d never done before. Not since Rosa, and they all knew it.
Maria hugged Sophia. “You have the recipe, yes?”
Sophia nodded, and Tomas watched a curl droop over Sophia’s cheek as she hugged Maria back. “I sure do. Thank you, Maria.”
Carlos shook her hand. “You come back any time,” he said, his accent thick, but his smile more easy than Maria’s had been, not quivering around the edges like hers.
Tomas’s stomach clenched. He knew as well as they did that Sophia would not be back.
“We’d better get going,” he stated, moving past the group to load the bags in his truck. “It’s a long drive.”
They were halfway down the dusty lane when Sophia spoke up.
“You do not have to go with me. Just drop me in the city and I will be fine.”
“You don’t want me to come?” He kept his eyes on the road, knowing if he looked at her now he might just pull over and kiss that stubborn set of her mouth until it was pliable beneath his.
“I…”
“You what?”
She huffed out a gigantic breath of air. “I didn’t want to have to say goodbye twice, all right?”
“Maybe I am not ready for you to leave,” he said, turning on to the main road in a cloud of dust. “But I am leaving, Tomas. We both know it.”
“Not yet,” he replied. “I know what you said last night, but not yet, okay?” He reached over and turned on the stereo. “Let me show you Iguazú.” And what else, he wondered. What more did he want? It was all impossible. They were from two very different worlds. If he had to content himself with forty-eight more hours, then that was what he’d do.
He would simply keep his feelings to himself. She never needed to know. Sophia had been so angry with him last night, and as much as he would not admit it, he knew she had a right. He hadn’t been totally honest with her. She would never love him, he was sure of it. He’d worked too hard at making himself unloveable.
So he would love her, for the last moments they had left together.
Sophia finished the last of her coffee and put the empty paper cup in the cup holder as Tomas pulled into the parking lot at the Iguazú National Park and killed the ignition. “This is the best time to get started, before all the tour groups come in,” Tomas said, sliding out of the driver’s side and hefting a day pack on his shoulder. “Later this morning it’ll be packed.”