Page 20 of A Sudden Romance

“Careful not to step in the snow.” He let her go first because there wasn’t enough room for them to walk side by side. If her ankle boot submerged in the snow, he’d be forced to ask Paulina to loan Iris shoes. Martina had big feet, so Iris would need Paulina’s shoes. But he’d rather not have to talk to her today.

As they approached the door, Iris took in the neighborhood, admiring the simplicity of the cadet homes with tan siding and single-car garages, not too far apart from each other. “It looks exactly like the small community I remember.”

Not that she hung out here, but with her family involvement in community projects, chances were, they brought her along whenever the Stones planned an event or something of the sort.

“It is nice.” He scuffled snow off his shoes on the porch. She would find something positive about everything.

After he rang the doorbell, the wooden door swung open, and Leo’s wife stepped out, eyed Iris with a knowing grin, then arched a brow. She leaned in and kissed both his cheeks before hugging him. “Hi, Sabastian!”

“And this must be Iris.” Short and stocky, she shook Iris’s hand, then tipped her head. Her Spanish accent lilted as her long ponytail swung along her back. “She’s even more beautiful than you described.”

“Oh.” Iris stifled a nervous laugh. “I—”

“I told them I was coming with you today.” Stepping behind Iris, Sabastian eyed Martina with a murderous glare even as heat flared in his neck. The last thing he needed Iris to assume was that he was a creep. Well, in all due reality, he sort of was. He’d talked a lot about Iris whenever Leo told him how crazy his sister was about Sabastian. Not that Martina cared. She was busy complimenting Iris’s dress and the highlights in her hair.

She then took the carrier and led them into the house. “Alba is going to think she died and went to heaven.”

They stepped through the door into the living room, and Iris was already crouched to take off her shoes.

“The house is a mess. Please keep your shoes on.” Martina waved her free hand, but Iris ignored their hostess.

“My wet shoes will make it messier.”

He found himself smiling as he looked down at Iris’s feet. She was wearing white ankle socks with gray elephant print. He slid off his high-top dress boots and put them next to Iris’s shoes on the plastic boot tray.

Martina offered to take their coats, so Sabastian stepped behind Iris to help her ease her arms out of the coat. Her tantalizing scent of roses and his fingers brushing against her petal-soft neck had his hands shaking. His breath hitched when she turned to thank him and her breath dusted his neck. That’s when he realized how close he was standing to her. He barely registered Martina taking Iris’s coat from him.

He couldn’t remember what he was supposed to say, so he gestured for Iris to walk ahead of him. She looked stunning in the fitted embroidered midi dress.

Alba and her two siblings ran from the kitchen squealing as they gathered around the carrier their mom set on the gray Berber carpet. Toy swords, superhero figures, and costume outfits littered the floor.

“Is this mine? Is this mine, Mama?” Alba’s eyes sparkled as she reached into the carrier, but her mom told her to greet Sabastian and Iris first.

“Uncle Sabastian, you brought me a kitty.” Alba ran to him and wrapped her little arms around his legs.

While Martina was introducing the three-year-old boy and five-year-old girl to Iris, Sabastian lowered himself to seven-year-old Alba’s level and asked if she’d been on her best behavior.

“Except for when Diego turns my Barbies into swords.”

His heart warmed as he chuckled at her genuineness. He cupped a hand on the back of her glossy head and turned her to Iris. “I want you to meet my friend.”

Alba walked to her brother and sister in front of Iris, who was kneeling on the carpet. She was asking the toddlers about their favorite food and superheroes. Even Diego, usually a restless three-year-old, was still for the moment.

Iris then high-fived Alba, but the girl threw her arms around her instead.

“Alba, you have such a beautiful name.” Iris ruffled the girl’s dark hair.

“And you look like an angel.” Alba touched the cross that dangled on Iris’s diamond necklace.

“That’s the sweetest thing anybody has ever said to me.” Iris pressed a hand on her chest.

At least Alba was unafraid to express her thoughts as she fiddled with Iris’s studs, the glittering diamond earrings sparkling beneath the fluorescent lights.

While Iris and Martina surrounded the carrier with the kids, Sabastian wanted to ask where Leo was, but he didn’t want to interfere. He took in the living room with sage-green walls and a mounted TV displaying a muted soccer game, likely broadcasting in Spanish.

He’d met Leo during his annual volunteer days in the family shelter in Denver six years ago. Leo, his pregnant wife, and Alba had been living in a temporary family shelter after his contract had ended at the construction company, and they couldn’t afford rent. As expensive as rent was in Pleasant View, Sabastian had paid the first six months for Leo in a trailer home, and Leo worked at the country store until he started a house cleaning business two years later.

The business took off, impressing Sabastian with his friend’s ambition and bravery to start a business. Having a family probably motivated Leo.

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