Delia's Crossing (Delia 1)

“Oh, she was, was she?” She smiled and nodded. “Good. Maybe it will seep into her thick head that if she acts decently toward me, I could be very nice to her.”

That would be like buying your love, I wanted to say, but I pressed my lips shut.

“Then what?”

“She left to do her homework, and I saw Edward was falling asleep, so I left,” I said. I was still speaking the truth. I had just not spoken all of it. Finally, I dared to add, “If you yell at Sophia because of what I told you, she will know I told you, and she will not trust me near her. I will not be able to tell you anything else.”

I could see her consider and then nod.

“Don’t worry. That’s not enough yet for me to reveal our confidence.” She smiled coldly. “You’re smarter than you pretend to be, Delia.”

I started to protest, but she put up her hand.

“Don’t bother denying it, Delia. I know you better than you think. It’s all right. I’m not upset about it. In fact, I admire you for it.”

I nearly dropped my jaw. She was giving me a compliment?

“A little deception goes a long way,” she told me. “It’s never good to reveal everything. Sophia, who has lived a protected, soft life, doesn’t know how to be subtle, shrewd. She’s too obvious, because she’s not in any danger, and she couldn’t care less about pleasing me. Or anyone else, for that matter.

“You and I grew up in a different world. Even at a very young age, we had to live by our wits. Just don’t try to fool me, Delia. I’m an expert when it comes to deception.

“Now, then, tonight, after everyone has gone to bed, I will come for you. We will go to Edward’s room. He won’t know I’m there. You will enter and pretend you’ve come to see how he is and if he needs anything. Before we go, I will tell you what to do.

“That’s all for now,” she said, waving me off and turning back to her papers.

I started to turn away.

“Oh. Don’t worry about what you’re to wear when you go into his room. I’ll be bringing you one of my sheer nightgowns. That’s all you’ll wear,” she added, and looked down at her papers.

All I’ll wear?

My heart stopped and started, and then I fled from her office.

16

“The Ojo Malvado Lives Not Only in Mexico”

Right after dinner, Sophia called me into her room to give me the party dress.

“Try it on,” she told me. I was hesitant, but she kept insisting. “It’s a Valentino. I forgot. This one was more than a thousand dollars.”

“A thousand dollars!”

I held the stretch jersey knit in my hands, actually terrified about wearing something that cost as much as some people made in a year back in my village.

“Go on,” she urged. “You’ll be the hit of the fiesta.”

Slowly, I took off my skirt and blouse.

“You have a great body, Delia,” she said. “No wonder Bradley went crazy. I’ve just got to lose some weight,” she muttered, gazing at herself in the mirror.

The dress had a mock turtleneck with three-quarter-length sleeves. There was white lace at an empire waist, with a straight skirt. It was a beautiful shade of yellow, but it was much shorter than I had expected, barely reaching two inches above my knees. There was too much material around my torso. But she acted as if it was nearly a perfect fit.

“You have the right-size boobs for the top, Delia. Just take it in a little here,” she said, squeezing the material together behind me to make it fit snugly around my waist.

I held the material where she had held it and turned to look at the dress in the mirror, especially the back of the dress.

“Cómo me inclino?”