****
A few hours later, after the sleepless night she’d had, Erin was sitting in the atrium gazing out the window and trying to understand the man she’d married. There was no question that he’d been upset when she’d ‘gone missing.’
When he’d asked about ‘the fairytale,’ she’d been struck mute as panic had caused her stomach to twist into nerves. She couldn’t let him see inside her head. He’d already taken over her body, and she wasn’t prepared to give him anything more, at least, not yet.
As she studied the green fields without really seeing much of anything, she heard the low timbre of Max’s voice as he approached from the hallway. It was a deep rumble with intermittent pauses between words as he came closer to the room where she sat.
She sank down into the couch, not trying to hide exactly, just not prepared to face him yet. Looking into the gilded mirror that hung on the wall, she had a clear view as he paused in the entryway behind her.
A cell phone was glued to his ear as his words became audible to her. Yes, I want the program expanded. I want every child in the province to have the chance for university. As he paused to listen, Erin watched as his gaze slid around the room and there was little doubt in her mind that he was looking for her.
The next second, their glances connected in the mirror. His dark eyes narrowed as he studied her, even as he continued to speak into the phone. Find more tutors—I’ll make available whatever funding is needed. Understand this, though—it must be impressed upon the kids from an early age that education is mandatory. I want to see an uptick in university enrollment and I want to see it by next semester.
His voice trailed off again as he listened to the other end of the conversation. As he held the phone to his ear, his eyes left hers and slowly ran down the length of her body before connecting with hers again. He briefly cocked one mocking eyebrow before turning away and walking from the room, all while continuing his telephone conversation.
The brief interplay left her more shaken than before. There was no question that he’d been looking for her—not to speak to her, simply to check up on her. It was as if he needed to know her location—but why, exactly? Because he’d been unable to find her for a few hours earlier in the day?
She was still pondering the situation some moments later when Marisol walked into the room with a tray of fruit and cheese.
“Are you trying to make me fat?” Erin asked, only half-jokingly. The woman was constantly appearing with food.
The housekeeper laughed. “Señor Maximo has requested that we take care of you—so we take care of you, yes?”
What Senor Maximo wanted, Senor Maximo got; that seemed to be the rule of his land. “Gracias, Marisol.” As the other woman smiled and began to turn away, Erin rushed to ask, “Do you happen to know about Max’s involvement with advanced education for the children?”
The woman paused only a moment before answering, “Si. It is of much concern to him. The children of the gauchos, they tend to follow in their parents’ footsteps and that is not such a bad thing—but Señor Max—he wants them to have an opportunity for more. He wants that they should finish school so they can apply to university instead of dropping out. But this is not always easy, not with family obligations and the work that must be done in the fields. I don’t know all about it, but I know he loves the children and it is like a vocación for him, you see?”
“Yes, I see. Thank you, Marisol.” As the housekeeper dipped her head and walked from the room, Erin was left with even more conflicted emotions than before. Max loved children? The new knowledge made a sweet, tempting ache form in her stomach. Who knew?
****
Max took to looking for her during the day, at least twice that Erin was aware of. She was usually in one of three places—on the balcony of their suite, in the atrium, or in ‘her’ sitting room. All he ever did was glance around, locate her, and then turn and leave just as silently as he’d come upon her.
On one particular day, she’d been about to go crazy with her thoughts, so to escape them, she went to find Marisol in the kitchen. Cook had taken the afternoon off, going to visit her daughter and grandchildren. That left Erin alone with Marisol, and some time later, they were laughing and talking, Erin’s hands covered in dough.
Marisol was happily humming, although she obviously couldn’t find everything she was looking for. As one cabinet slammed after the next, and the housekeeper’s frustration became apparent, Erin asked, “Is something wrong?”