Page 194 of From Rivals to I Do

“I mean it. Look, whatever you want. Just stick around for a few minutes in the kitchen. That is all. Just a few minutes.”

She bit down on her bottom lip. She should not trust him. She just could not.

And yet…

“Okay, fine. But only for a few minutes,” she said. “I am serious. Then I have to go home.”

“Right. Of course.”

She walked away from him and in the other direction, towards the kitchen. Once there, she looked around the empty area and the memory of Abel’s first day came to mind. The way he’d taken to making pizza like he’d been doing it his entire life. How good he smelled when she was standing next to him, showing him the ropes. The way he seemed to enjoy being contrary to her just to get her goat. Standing at the stainless steel table in the middle of the room, Camilla realized that her time with Abel hadn’t been all bad. Before everything happened, it had actually been kind of nice. Even before she knew what she felt for him.

It didn’t erase what he was, of course, but it did make her stop and think. She’d taken him in without asking what he’d done for a reason. She wanted to do a good thing. Give a job to an ex-con. Most people would have turned him away at the door and she had not wanted to be that kind of person. Now she wondered if she was really any different than anyone else. What were the limits to one’s level of forgiveness? Did she really owe him anything?

Maybe, she thought. But not tonight. And probably not anytime too soon. She’d gone all these years without her father in her life because of a stupid bullet from a gun that Abel held. She just wasn’t ready to forgive and forget.

She heard the door jingle go off and she was pulled out of her thoughts. She glanced at her watch. He had said only until they left. How long was that going to be? She wondered. She assumed a few minutes, but was there something that she was supposed to be waiting for?

She walked up to the window between the kitchen and front desk and looked out. Abel was standing there as Rafael came walking through the door, stopping half in and half out, looking at him expectantly. “You ready to head out?”

“Just a second,” he said. “I am running out the clock. Boss got on me for leaving early the other day.”

Rafael nodded and came all the way into the dining area. “You alone?”

“Yeah,” said Abel. “Well, Camilla’s in her office, but she’s in a meeting, so it’s whatever.”

Rafael nodded again and they were both silent for a minute. Camilla was beginning to feel funny about eavesdropping. What had her mother always told her? It was a rude practice. Camilla felt her face flush and she started to move away from the window.

“Raf,” said Abel, “I need to know something.”

He sounded conflicted. Even a little tortured. As much as she wanted to keep walking away, her feet stayed frozen to the floor.

“Abel…” Rafael took a deep breath that sounded long and cumbersome. “I don’t want to go into this right now, okay? Let us just go—”

“Was it an accident?”

Rafael did not say anything. Camilla frowned, listening carefully.

“Was what an accident?” Rafael answered, his voice lowering.

“You know what. Camilla’s father.”

“Hey!” he hissed. “Keep your voice down, huh?”

Camilla heard Abel’s feet move. She wanted to peek out the window to see what was going on, but she dared not. She should not be eavesdropping…she really shouldn’t…

“I told you, we’re alone,” Abel said. “Just…just tell me you didn’t plan to shoot him. That it was just an accident.”

Rafael didn’t say anything, and Camilla’s stomach tightened. What was happening? Was this some kind of joke? Was Abel trying to make it look like Rafael was her father’s true killer? How sick was that? She started to get angry. It was taking everything in her not to run out there and give him what for. This whole thing had gone too far.

Curiously, though, Camilla did not move from her spot. She leaned against the wall, listening.

“I was thinking about it all,” Abel went on, “and I think I could understand you doing what you did if you had a good reason. I mean…things happen, right? People like us, we know that better than anybody. Things happen. Tempers get heated and accidents go down. It is nothing to be ashamed of, so…if the whole thing was an accident…”

He trailed off. The room filled with silence between them and Camilla thought that Rafael was going to turn around and walk away. Come on, ‘mano. Quit playing around. That is what he would say. He’d rebuff his brother and the two of them would leave and whatever stupid plan this was would backfire.

The silence felt like it was going to go on forever, but finally, Rafael said in a thick voice, “Why are you asking that all of a sudden? Does it matter?”

“Does to me,” said Abel. “I just want to know. Yes or no.”

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