“Señor Bovio, Edward is a grown man, and I am a woman, not a little girl. We have a right to remain close and friendly. Tía Isabela is simply a spoiled, mean-hearted woman. I won’t let her do this to us. She doesn’t have that right.”
“Delia, Delia, Delia,” he said, shaking his head. “You are a young woman, yes, but you are not yet strong enough or mature enough to battle in this world. Your aunt, as you must know, mixes with the same powerful people I do. She knows many of the same politicians, government officials. She learned about my attempts to help your friend Ignacio Davila, and now she is threatening to interfere. I fear she has the power to do that, Delia. If she should call the father of the boy who was killed and tell him of my efforts, for example…well, you can just imagine what he would do and what would happen. They would stop any parole hearing, and Ignacio would remain in prison to the very last minute.”
I looked away, biting down on my lower lip. He was right. In this world of the rich and the powerful, I was helpless. I might as well be a child.
“What should I do, Señor Bovio?”
“For now, you must not leave the estate, especially to be with Fani. I have called her and told her it would be better if she stays away until you give birth.”
“That’s not fair, señor. She was only trying to make me happy.”
“I know, but there would be less chance for another mistake. All of this tension and nastiness when you are so vulnerable and our baby is in such a dependant state is very, very dangerous. Dr. Denardo agrees that you should be kept from any more turmoil. Mrs. Newell told me she served a pregnant young woman not much older than you are who had a nervous breakdown and miscarried. What a horror it must be to come this far and lose a child.”
I was quiet. In the back of my mind, I wondered if Mrs. Newell had been talking about herself and not some patient. Was Señor Bovio aware of her past? Should I mention it now, or would that only cause more trouble?
“Will you still be able to help Ignacio?” I asked.
“I was making some headway. I think I can keep Isabela from doing any damage, but you absolutely must listen to me this time.”
“Okay, señor.”
“Good. Now, please, rest and take care of yourself,” he said, rising. “We’ll take better care of you. I promise you that.”
I thought that was a strange thing for him to say. How much better care of me could they take? He left, closing the door softly behind him. Despite what I had promised, I couldn’t help but be worried about Edward. Did he even know yet that his mother had found out about us?
I went to my purse to get my cell phone to call him. I could warn him if he didn’t know yet what had happened. At least, he would be somewhat prepared. However, when I looked in my purse, I couldn’t find my phone. I paused, wondering if I had taken it out. I looked everywhere in the suite where I might have put it but didn’t see it. When I recalled Edward and me saying good-bye at Fani’s, I was positive I had put the phone back into my purse and closed my purse after he had punched in his cell-phone number. I was just about to call for Teresa to ask her if she knew anything, when Mrs. Newell returned.
“I want to check your pressure,” she said, carrying her blood-pressure monitor.
“I feel fine,” I said, “but I’m having trouble finding my cell phone. Do you know where it might be?”
“I’m sure I have no idea. People spend too much time on those phones, especially teenage girls. Everyone’s babbling on one whenever I go to the mall. Everyone’s private business is easily overheard, too.”
She took my pressure and lifted her eyebrows.
“As I expected, it’s higher than usual.”
I could see in her face that she just loved being right.
“If you stay calm, it should go down.”
“I’d like to know where my phone is,” I said as she packed up her monitor to leave. “Would you ask Teresa to stop in, please?”
She sighed and dropped her shoulders, as if I were asking her to carry fifty-pound bags of potatoes up the stairway. Then she grunted and left. I waited and waited, but Teresa didn’t come up. Finally, I went downstairs, thinking that maybe it had fallen out of my purse somehow and Teresa had located it. However, Teresa was nowhere in sight. I was about to go look for her in her quarters, when Señor Bovio emerged from his office and came down the corridor.
“Delia, why aren’t you in your bedroom resting? Is anything else wrong? Why aren’t you dressed?”
I didn’t realize I had come down in my nightgown and was barefoot.
“Oh. Yes. I can’t seem to find my cell phone,” I said.
“Your cell phone? Yes, I took it earlier.”
“You took it? Why?”
“It was part of the deal I made with your aunt, I’m afraid, and besides, you should keep focused now on the baby’s birth. People will put crazy things in your head. I don’t want you made nervous or overly excited again. We’re too close, too close. Besides, you’ve agreed not to contact Edward, and you won’t be seeing Fani Cordova.”
“But there could be a time when I would need to call you or—”