Page 55 of The Road Sometimes Taken

1 short for hermanito which means little brother

28

CHASE IT

A DIFFERENT WAY, LAUV

Cara

As we driveup the hill, we see a small cottage with the warm summer sun casting an amber hue over the land next to it. There are rows of grapevines shimmering under the clear sky and that’s when I see the sign that reads Arrington Vineyards. Laughter fills the air as Roe finishes telling a story about a tattoo, she just did on a frat boy. We pull up to the entrance, and Manny, forever the gentleman, gets out and opens our door, and helps us out one at a time.

“Just wait until you see the view from the terrace,” Manny says, his hands tucked casually into his pockets as soon as he closes the door. We weave our way through the entry room of the wooden building which looks like a mix of a tasting room or a barn. It smells like a mix of grapes and berries and something sweet. As we walk through the entrance it’s eerily quiet, as if the place is closed and we’re the only people here. When we step out onto the terrace, the scent of fresh grapes minglingwith the warm breeze shocks me. Or maybe I’m shocked from seeing Jake standing in the middle of the paved courtyard, a confident smile on his face as he waves at us. At Allie, I should say, since his eyes are only on her.

“What’s going on?” Allie asks, her brows furrowed in confusion.

Jake grins wider, his eyes sparkling but before anyone can react, he reaches for Allie’s hand, gently pulling her away from us. “Come with me,” he says, leading her to the edge of the vineyard, where the vibrant green vines stretch endlessly behind them.

As they reach the perfect spot, Jake turns to face Allie, his expression shifting from playful to serious. The laughter fades into the background, and the world feels like it shrinks down to just the two of them. He drops to one knee, pulling a small velvet box from his pocket. “Allie,” he begins, his voice steady and filled with emotion, “I wish I could say that my life has been filled with only joy since I met you but the truth is that’s not really life. Life is messy and sometimes painful. It feels like we’ve been through so much already, not only together and in our time apart,” he says and Allie is already a mess of tears. Her curls cover half her face and she tries to tuck some strands behind her ear. Even though it doesn’t work, it’s keeping her hands busy with the task as the love of her life proposes to her. “I could go on and on about why I think you’re the woman for me but I think we both know, and all of our friends know, that the day your eyes met mine, I knew you were it. Even in the ten years we were apart, there was no true happiness without you. I’m done waiting. I’m done giving it time, waiting for something that we both know deep down is what it’s supposed to be. I belong with you and you belong with me so, could we make it official? Will you marry me, honey?”

Allie’s hands fly to her mouth, eyes wide with disbelief.The moment stretches, the anticipation thick in the air. The rest of us stand frozen, unable to contain our excitement. “Yes! Yes, of course, I will!” she finally breathes, her voice breaking with joy. Jake slides the ring onto her finger, creating a memory that will linger forever. She pulls Jake up from his knees and throws herself into his arms, kissing him deeply. They don’t care that we’re all here, that we’re all cheering and clapping, they get lost in their kiss.

I look around at the semi-empty vineyard, asking myself how the hell this even happened. And what I find is Manny looking at his sister with pride in his eyes. No tears but definitely pride. I walk toward him, leaving Allie and Jake to their moment. “How on earth did you pull this off, Manny?”

“It’s a long story but I didn’t do it all alone,” he answers, pointing at the back area of the vineyard where I see his brother Gus, Santiago, and Nick.

“How in the world?”

“A lot of frequent flier miles, a few text messages, and wanting to see my sister get her happily ever after sooner than later. Really it was all Jake’s idea. When Allie messaged me to tell me she wanted to surprise you for the weekend, a few hours later Jake messaged to tell me he wanted to surprise Allie and propose. It was a lot of coordination and keeping things from my two favorite girls.”

“Two favorite girls, huh?” I ask him, raising my eyebrows at him and smiling because no matter what he says next, I love the sound of that.

“You two have always been my favorite girls, Cara,” he replies as we stand together, eyes on each other, suspended in time, until a voice breaks the spell.

“Cara mi amor?1, how’s it going?”

“Gus,” I say, turning my body around, kissing his cheek and giving him a side hug. It’s crazy to me how these two look almost the same but I can tell them apart by miles because of how different they are. When they were kids, they looked even more alike than they look now. With the years Gus' skin has darkened more turning into a terracotta brown when Manny is more of like tawny brown. Gus wears his hair short and Manny wears it longer, with his ringlets free when not carefully styled with gel. Still, their eyes and features are the same. Two drops of water split evenly in half, and even though the reflection is the same, they feel and sound different. Even their essence is different. Their voice, their disposition, and even their likes are different, but now that I’ve been closer to Manny, now that I’ve had his body on mine, I can tell that even in the way Gus’s arms feel around me, they’re different. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Only once in a lifetime your sister gets engaged, I had to be here, Carita.”

“Don’t call her that,” Manny snaps at the same time I flinch at hearing the nickname I’ve started to associate with lust and comfort in these past couple of weeks. They’ve both used it in the past and it never bothered me, until now. It has become our thing, Manny and me, and it feels wrong coming from Gus’s mouth.

“She’s our Carita. Of course I can call her that,” Gus says, winking, pulling me to him and hugging me. The eternal flirt but this time, I don’t think Manny is too happy about it.

“She’s not and I said to not call her that,” he snaps. Gus tries to open his mouth but the look Manny gives him is enough to prickle my skin. I’m sure they have their own secret twin language because Gus backs up with his hands up and shakes his head, showing us both he got the message.

“I’ll let you two alone so you can figure out whatever thehell it is you have going on.”

“Gus–” I try to say but I get interrupted quickly.

“Don’t, Cara. Not my business,” he adds, looking between us and taking a deep breath. “I have enough business of my own to be minding someone else’s. Just be careful, both of you,” he says, shaking his head and then adding, “It’s not onlyyourhearts on the line here.”

He looks over where Allie and Jake are taking pictures. I knew this whole thing was messy but damn it if I didn’t think how it could affect Allie. Nothing will happen though because this is just a road trip fling and then things will get back to normal. He’ll go back to his corporate world and I’ll go back home.

“What was that?” I ask Manny after Gust walks away to hug his sister.

His eyebrows furrow and he lets out a breath before saying. “What was it that you called me the other day, caveman? Clearly, I turn into one when it comes to you.”

“Are you always this honest?” I ask because what the heck?

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