Santos straightened up. “Yes, I believe they do.”
She opened the door. “We can’t wait for the limo. Would you cancel it, please, and we’ll go in your car. We’ll meet you downstairs in fifteen minutes. Don’t forget to wake Fox.”
Santos leaned down her kiss her cheek and murmured, “I’m so glad Father got to meet you.”
Maggie shut the door after he left and leaned back against it. “I’m going to use one of the bathrooms across the hall and leave this one for you. We can curse Carmen the whole way into Zaragoza, but I don’t understand how she could be so mean that she’d change the time of the funeral to cut us out. How could she have done that to Santos?”
“Something must have eaten her soul.”
Carmen might have found her husband’s letters and poems for Simone, but it was no excuse for hurting Santos. Maggie used the borrowed bathroom and showered and dressed before Rafael had finished tying his tie. His dark gray suit fit him as handsomely as his traje de luces, and with a white dress shirt and maroon tie, he was the image of a prosperous businessman. He even had the Italian loafers.
“You look so good,” she told him.
“Thank you. Couldn’t we go in my car?”
“Santos knows the way, and we don’t want to get separated. Do you carry a knife?”
“Not usually. Will you need one?”
“No, I wanted to make certain I wouldn’t be tempted to borrow yours. I know swear words in Spanish Carmen has probably never heard, and I hope to use them all. Very softly, so no one will hear me but that selfish bitch.”
He placed his hands lightly on her shoulders. “Have I said I love you?”
“Yes.” She led the way down the stairs. “But we’ll have to make time for romance later.”
Anita Lujan was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. She was dressed in her best dress and riding to the funeral with Refugio. “You look so lovely, Magdalena. Do you have a hat or mantilla?”
“No, I’m not Catholic and forgot I’d need one.”
Anita handed her a beautiful, black lace mantilla. “I thought not. Here, take this one. It’s new, and I have others.”
“Thank you so much. I’ll take good care of it. I’ll see you later.”
Santos came limping down the stairs with Fox trailing. They were dressed in dark suits they often wore to dinner at the beach house. With their shirts barely tucked in and their ties loosely knotted, they looked as though they’d dressed in the dark. Maggie didn’t say a word.
Santos’s white SUV was parked in front, and Rafael held out his hand for the keys. “You shouldn’t be driving. Fox, get into the backseat with him.”
“I can make it into Zaragoza,” Santos insisted. “I drove all the way here.”
“Fine, but you’re not driving today,” Rafael insisted. “Did you remember to change the dressing on your leg?”
“Yes, do you want to check?”
Maggie raised her hand to shade her eyes and watched a car approach. It was low and sky blue. “It looks as though Ana is joining us.”
Ana bounded out of the Porsche and handed Maggie a large manila envelope. “I’m glad I caught you. Here are the photographs I promised. Hi, Fox. You want to ride with me?”
Santos swore softly under his breath. “We’re on our way to the reception at the Tibur. Drop him off there.”
Ana’s eyes widened. “Isn’t it too early for the reception?”
“Don’t ask. Now let’s go,” Santos urged. Ana and Fox got into her car, and she drove away as quickly as she’d arrived.
Rafael dropped Santos’s keys into his pocket. “If I’m driving, we might as well go in my car.”
“Stop it!” Maggie shouted. “We don’t have time for a pissing contest. Let’s go. People will expect us to arrive in a limo. They won’t notice a SUV. Besides, the SUV will give us a higher view of the road and crowd, and we’ll be less likely to run over anyone.”
“A valid concern,” Santos agreed. “I’m sure Rafael would rather not go to prison a second time.”