Page 141 of The Problem with Dating

“It does. And it’s not fair what they did to you.”

They.

As in plural.

“It doesn’t matter,” I repeated.

“It does,” she said once more. “Why didn’t you tell me about what happened? Or why didn’t you tell Noah? He’s your best friend, and he heard about it through Catie’s sister. Why didn’t you mention it to us?”

“Why didn’t I mention that my girlfriend denied my engagement because she was cheating on me?” I huffed; a bit too cold with my words toward Teresa.

“Yes,” she said, not taking insult from my harsh attitude. She had a way of knowing when I didn’t mean harm with my bad mood.

I began picking at my fingernails and shrugged. “Sometimes the worst things in life are the hardest to speak on,” I muttered.

She smiled at me. She then patted my cheek. “Sweet boy.”

I smiled back before it dropped away, and I stared across the street. The streetlamp flickered in and out, affecting our pool of light. “What kind of restaurant are you thinking?” I asked her.

“A fusion of sorts. Maybe Caribbean and Spanish. Peter told me he loved Caribbean food.”

“You think an uppity fusion restaurant could make it in a small town like this?”

“The way I believe in you, I think you could build a restaurant on Mars tomorrow and have a line that wrapped all the way around Jupiter.”

I laughed. My biggest cheerleader. “Well, you know what they say. Whatever Teresa wants…”

Her grin widened as she placed the key into my hand. “Teresa gets. Besides…maybe you, too, will find love within these streets someday.”

“I’m not looking for love, Teresa.”

“Yes,” she agreed. “That’s normally when it decides to show its face.”

I lowered my head. “What did the doctor tell you today? How long did he say we have?”

She smiled. “We can’t worry about the future so much, Alejandro. It spoils today. And today, I’m still here. Besides…” She leaned in and patted my hand. “I’ll never leave you, Alejandro, even after death, because we are family. We are connected by something bigger than life alone. You’ll feel me everywhere you go because your breath is my breath, your heart is my heart, and your love is my love. Therefore, I am always with you. When you can no longer see me with your eyes, then find me within your soul.A donde vayas, yo voy.”

CHAPTER45

Yara

Present Day

The following morning, I woke in Alex’s arms. It was exactly where I was meant to be.

As I sat up slightly, my phone dinged on the drawer. As I reached over to check it, I noticed a collection of text messages from Tatiana and my sisters.

Tatiana

I know you and Alex are probably chatting it up or doing things I don’t need to know about. But I need you both to get down to city hall by ten.

Avery

Dude, where are you? Answer my calls.

Willow

Earth to Yara, where are you? Get to city hall by ten this morning. It’s going to be a circus. The town is turning on Cole.

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