Salma and Alejandro arrive just before 8am and tell us that they have an address for Carole Barkley’s cousin and they want to go there and check out if Summer is there. Preston and his team return just after 8am, to Aiden’s annoyance, but just as we all go to leave, Alejandro takes a phone call and the look on his face as he moves to the kitchen to take the call makes my stomach feel like it’s filled with lead.
When he comes back in, he asks Aiden for a quick word and then when they come back in together, Alejandro tells us there has been a change of plan. Aiden and his team are taking control of the rescue and he and Salma must attend to other important business that cannot wait. Sal looks as shocked as I feel at the sudden change, but she goes willingly with Alejandro. I notice them holding hands and I hope she has finally decided to give him a chance.
With Salma and Alejandro gone, Aiden takes charge of the group. We are going to a house out in the countryside. We are going to stake it out and then Preston and another wolf-man called Doug will knock at the front door while Aiden and the others case the place. I am to remain calm so that if and when we find Summer, she doesn’t freak out.
Aiden pulls me to one side before we leave. “How well do you know Salma’s father, Shortie?”
I smile at my nickname. “He’s a lovely man, he and his wife have hosted Summer and I for the past two Christmases and they are so loving towards us both. Why?”
He seems to blanch at my words. “Shortie, sweetheart, listen to me. Jose Morales died this morning, from a massive heart attack, apparently. That was the news Alejandro just got and that’s why he and Salma had to leave.”
I gasp in shock. No. My poor friend will be devastated, and just when she and Alejandro seem to be falling for each other too. Aiden passes me a glass of water and I notice I am trembling again.
“Come on, Shortie, it's time for you to get your head in the game, we need to go and get Summer.” I nod to him, and a new resolve takes over me. First, I must get Summer back, then I will help Salma get through this.
We arrive at our destination some forty minutes later and my heart is back to racing. Aiden kisses me on the cheek as he goes to do the perimeter check. “Stay calm, okay? Your baby is going to need you!” I nod to him, unable to find my voice.
I am expecting to be waiting around for hours until I can get my daughter, but Preston and the other guys run towards the house almost immediately. She was playing in the back garden. I hear Aiden’s roar and him shouting about Summer not belonging to them and that he was taking her back where she belonged.
I don’t know how I got there but as I reach the garden gate, I hear my baby crying and Aiden striding towards me with her in his arms.
“Summer?” I cry out to her and in response she turns to look at me, her tears instantly stop, and she struggles to get out of Aiden’s grip.
“Mummy!” she shouts. “My Mummy!” Aiden has a massive smile plastered across his face as he sets her down and Summer runs on her little legs towards me.
I hold her tiny body to mine as she giggles and cries and babbles away and look at Aiden. He has an intense look on his face, like a longing from deep down inside has come to the surface.
“Aiden? Thank you… thank you for bringing my baby back to me.” He strokes my cheek and I lean into his touch.
Our blissful moment is broken by an irate woman demanding Summer is returned to her. Rage fills me, but Aiden shakes his head at me. “Get Summer in the car now. I will deal with this idiot.”
He rubs Summer on the head, causing her to giggle again before striding away to confront the person who was keeping my daughter from me.
*** Salma ***
“Sal, did you hear what I said?” My ears are ringing and I feel like I am separate from my body. This cannot be happening. This cannot be true.
“Bebe, please look at me, I am so sorry. Your mother found him this morning when he didn’t wake as usual.” I hear his words, but they don’t make sense, it can’t be real. I shake my head at Alejandro, the man my father chose for me and the one I had resisted until last night when we finally had sex and I agreed to marry him. And then my father, the man who orchestrated this very union goes and dies just as it began.
He can’t be dead; he is the strongest person I know.
Alejandro had insisted on us getting back into his car when we left Eva’s house and he drove us a short distance away to an empty car park. He shut off the engine and took my hands in his as he told my father had passed away.
“No, he is not dead. He can’t die.” I see the torment in Alejandro’s eyes and the truth starts to dawn on me: my papa is really gone. I hear a distressed cry all around me and it's only when Alejandro holds me close to him and tries to comfort me that I realise I am the noise, it's coming from me. In my distress, I try to pull away from Alejandro, I am not used to showing my vulnerability to anyone. I am a Morales. I am strong.
“Ven aqui, mi amor. Yo te cuido.” (“Come here, my love, I’ll take care of you.”) I hear him whisper to me and at this moment in time I know my father brought Alejandro to me because he had foreseen I would need a strong yet compassionate man to guide me through this. I allow him to comfort me in my hour of need because I know my papa thought he was the best match.
I don’t know how he knew we would be a good match but right now Alejandro feels like my father’s final gift to me before he left this world. I wish I hadn’t been so stubborn, and he could have seen how amazing his match truly is.
“Oh Ale, I don’t want him to be dead, I need him. What will I ever do without him?” My loud and annoying papa, who made a fuss of me and displayed me proudly like his star prize. He had taught me to lead, to fight and defend, to protect myself and others and mostly how to be strong. I should have trusted him when he tried to bring Ale into the fold. My father never steered me wrong, and I was a fool to doubt the reasoning behind his match.
“I’m here, bebe, I’m here. We will get through this. We will make him proud.” As I hear my fiancé’s words, a mixture of feelings swell up inside me. Grief, love, shame, loneliness, vulnerability. Fear. Yellow-bellied, chicken shit fear like I’ve never felt in my life. My pig-headedness has put my family, my firm, everything at risk.
“Salma, I know this is hard, but they are going to circle like famished sharks. We need to act fast. We need to present a united front, a strong, united front.” I nod my agreement. “We must move faster than we anticipated so no one gets any ambitious ideas to make a move on what is ours now.”
I should have trusted my father; he has trained Alejandro well.
“What do we do, Ale? Did my father tell you what should happen?” I think I already know the answer, but I am trying to see how sure Alejandro is about how fast we must move now.
“Salma, mi amor, we have to marry as soon as possible. I know you agreed last night, but we need to do this sooner rather than later so there is no doubt in any challenger's minds that if they attempt to take on you, they take on me too. I am going to drive us to my parent’s house right now to get your ring, it should not leave your finger, okay?” I nod.
I wonder internally what will come first, my father’s funeral or my wedding day. There is nothing romantic about being frog marched down the aisle and as much as I have agreed to marry Alejandro, I wanted it to be on our terms.
However, I accept that I was born into this life of privilege and danger, and with it comes opportunity, responsibility, and expectations. I will embrace my destiny and trust my judgement as well as my father’s. My future lies with Alejandro and yes, more time would have been great, but right now we don’t have time.
When we arrive at the Suarez home, I offer to come inside but Ale says no, the ring needs to be on my finger first. So, I wait in the car by myself until he returns and when he does, he opens my car door and drops to his knees.
“Salma Morales, will you marry me?” I look down at the box, my grandmother's engagement ring sits snug and sparkly in it. My father must have given it to Alejandro in case I changed my mind. His sentiment brings tears to my eyes.
“Yes, Alejandro Suarez. I want to marry you more than anything in the world.” I have never been more certain of the right path in all my life.
As he secures the ring on my finger, tenderness and love fill his eyes and I send thanks to my father’s soul, wherever it may be now.