Page 31 of Finding Love on the Slopes

Enrique’s brows knit together in confusion. “What? How?”

“When I came to the chalet to check on you, your housekeeper fed me. It was delicious by the way. On my way out, she asked if I wanted freshly baked cookies or pie. I thought that was a strange thing to have in a vacation house. Most folks stick witheasy stuff, maybe packaged cookies or something. I figured you must have a serious sweet tooth if you made your housekeeper prepare fresh baked cookies for you.”

“That was very observant of you,” he commented thoughtfully as he accepted the metal mug wrapped in one of their socks. “Is this my sock or yours?”

Shrugging her shoulder, she smiled mischievously at him, “Smell it and let me know if you can tell.”

Enrique’s head shot up from where he had been blowing into the piping-hot liquid and scrunched his nose at the very idea of smelling someone’s dirty socks. “No, thank you. It isn’t that important.”

Leigh laughed. “If your nose has gotten that close and you don’t smell anything, I think you’re safe. For the record, I know my feet don’t stink, and yours must not either because I haven’t noticed. Trust me, living with my brother, the outdoorsman, all these years, I know smelly feet. He has had some funky stuff in his boots over the years. Now, he is a professional and knows how to take care of his feet, but during that learning process, man, when he took his shoes off, it would just about knock you over.”

Enrique was looking a little squeamish. “That is nice to know. The next time we speak, I will call him stinky feet. Can we change the subject now? This one is making my beef stew stir.”

Leighann chuckled again and then carefully pulled a deck of cards from her pocket, trying not to upset the hot chocolate she held in her hand. She had slipped her hand inside hersock, fearing that she would drop the whole cup in her lap if she continued to hold the sock around the outside, but it was still precarious and awkward. “Whoever thought these metal cups were a good idea might have been right economically, but they also must have had seriously calloused hands not to be burned every time they drank their coffee. Okay, according to concussion protocol, you need to stay awake a while longer. Do you know how to play any card games? I’m exhausted, so I was thinking of something simple like Go Fish or War.”

“Go Fish? I haven’t played that since I was a kid, and we had special cards for it.” An amused smile lifted his lips, making him look so handsome in a very approachable way.

“We can keep it simple and just play without the suits. Just use the number or whatever is in the corner. Let’s start with that and warm up. Maybe bring back some happy memories of days gone by.” Leigh dealt each of them seven cards and spread the rest between them.

“That is actually one of the few happy memories from my youth. My brother Fernando taught me how to play it. I razzed him for being a baby, but he just kept pushing until I gave in and played. It was fun.” Enriques’s voice softened as he shared the memory.

“Is your brother that much younger than you?”

“No, actually, he is only six months younger. But he was softer than the rest of us, so I assumed at first that he was much younger. It didn’t take me long to figure out that he was muchwiser than the whole group. He has an old soul. You would like him.”

“How did you not know how old your brother was? Is he a stepbrother or something?” Leigh asked, confused.

“Adopted, actually. We met in the boy’s home. Fernando was nine, and I was ten. He had already taken my brothers Julio and Gabe under his wing, and they had formed a little family. When I got there and kept getting into trouble, Fernando figured he would have to take me in, too, or I wouldn’t make it. It never made any sense to me because I was nothing but mean to the kid, but he, Gabe, and Julio helped me through it. If it weren’t for them, I have no doubt I would be dead right now. My brothers saved my life in more ways than one, and I will forever be grateful to them.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Leigh wasn’t sure how to proceed after Enrique shared that piece of information, so she simply played the game in silence for a few minutes. Finally, her curiosity and desire to better understand the man sitting before her got the better of her, and she pushed to explore the topic.

“When you say they saved your life, what do you mean?” Her words were gentle and a bit hesitant. Enrique knew she wasn’t trying to pry but genuinely wanted to know. If he wasn’t comfortable sharing, he just had to say so, and he knew she would back off.

For some inexplicable reason, he wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her it all, so that Leighann would know him as well as her brother Curtis did, better even.

He continued playing the game, giving his hands and eyes something to do while he told his story.

“When I first arrived at the boy’s home, it wasn’t under the best circumstances. The nuns and priest who ran it didn’t want me there and made that perfectly clear. I would put fuel on the fire of some of the other boys they had finally wrangled into order and they didn’t need another one like me tipping the scales. Child services reminded them that they received public funds and had room, so they had to take me. I heard all of this, and on top of everything else that had happened, it made me angry. It’s pretty bad when even the nuns don’t want you. Aren’t they supposed to try and save everyone?”

Enrique shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t care but Leigh could see that it still bothered him, her heart ached for him. She didn’t even know the full story and yet she wanted to hug him and tell him that he was wanted now.

“Anyway, my past as a thief got out, and it was used against me. Some of the other boys had sticky fingers, and when things turned up missing, they pinned it on me. It was easy for the nuns to believe, given my record, so I regularly got the switch or ruler, depending on which nun was administering the punishment. I never snitched, but whenever I had the opportunity, I got revenge. Eventually, the other boys got together and decided to put me in my place. They gave me the beating of a lifetime. The only problem was that it wasn’t my first, and I had survived far worse. There is no beating like that administered by the gangs on the streets. If you can survive that, no schoolboy beating you in the locker room is going to kill you. So, I gave as good as I got, paid attention to who delivered what, and plotted myrevenge again. Things kept escalating until, eventually, Fernando declared that I was one of his brothers, and if anyone tried to mess with me again, they would answer to all of them. That included my brother Gabe, who was massive even as a kid, so the threat was real. All the boys were terrified of Gabe due to something that happened when he first arrived. So, my things were moved to the corner of the dorm my brothers occupied, and they welcomed me into the family. The only problem was they didn’t ask me, and I wasn’t interested. I didn’t need the protection of some snot-nosed kid and his jolly green giant. No thanks. Well, that rejection didn’t sit well with my brother Julio, who, unbeknownst to me, grew up on the same streets I did. When he decided to beat some sense into me, it was for real, and he fought like I was used to, dirty and for blood. So, we scrapped. Fernando let it go on for a little while until he realized we were evenly matched and equally angry for different reasons, and we were likely going to kill each other. He had worked hard to reform Julio, and I was bringing the street out in him again. Gabe broke us up and pretty much sat on me until I calmed down. Fernando talked my ear off about family and a bunch of other nonsense, but it was in one ear and out the other. Julio and I scrapped at least a dozen more times, each one broken up by Gabe. I thought for sure those idiots would get the hint and leave me alone, but it didn’t happen, and one day, when the other boys came after me, Julio, Gabe, and even Fernando stood by me. When we were all hauled down to the priest’s office for our punishment, I thought for sure they would rat me out andsay good riddance, but they didn’t. They took the punishment right along with me. This time, it wasn’t just a whipping, but service hours too. They made us dig a ditch out behind the home. It had to be a hundred degrees that summer, and yet every day, they were out there with me swinging a shovel, never complaining. Well, Julio complained. He let me know loud and clear that the whole thing was my fault and I needed to fall in line. It still didn’t make a significant impact until later that week when I overheard the priest and head nun talking to Fernando. They told him that he was a good kid with a bright future, but if he kept associating himself with the bad boys, then he was going to wind up just like them. He thanked them for their concern and wisdom, but you never turn your back on your family and those boys were his family now. He believed we could change and have a bright future, and he would appreciate it if they didn’t give up on us because he didn’t plan to, and someday, they would all see what good men we would become. The priest laughed, but the nun blessed him for being an honorable child and said she would pray for him. It was at that moment I decided I liked the kid and would be proud to be his brother. That night after dinner, I told them all I was in, but our little band of misfits needed a name. Julio understood having come from the streets... where being part of something meant colors and signs and tags. You weren’t anything until people recognized those things and respected or feared them. So, I decided we were going to be called the Bad Boys Club, BBC for short. Fernando instantly balked, Gabe didn’t care either way, and Julio and Idug it, so no matter how loud Fernando squawked, the name stuck. We were already halfway to our recognition because the entire staff had already referred to us as the bad boys. Now that would have meaning and be a point of pride and validation.”

“Poor Fernando,” Leigh exclaimed. “He was working so hard to reform you guys, and you just found a way to solidify your difficult behavior.”

Her empathy was showing, and Enrique loved that she instantly felt for her brother Fernando. “Looking back, Fernando was a saint for putting up with us. You’re right; it gave Julio and me something from our street days to hold onto, and yes, I think Fernando was worried we wouldn’t come around, but he had a secret weapon.”

“Your brother Gabe?” Leigh asked confused.

“Well, yes. Gabe always agreed with Fernando. Gabe is loyal to a fault—we all are, really. Fernando would have made an excellent Gandhi or King. He is patient, peaceful, wise, kind, and really the best human being that I know. But in this case, I am referring to Colin McKenzie, the fireman. Colin was the fireman who found Fernando the day he was abandoned on the Firehouse steps. Over the years, they formed a powerful bond, and he was Fernando’s father figure. As Fernando took more and more boys under his wing, so did McKenzie and his fire squad. Every Saturday, he signed us out and fed us pancakes at the firehouse. We learned how to do simple tool repair and maintenance, we helped wash the trucks, you name it. Those men demonstrated what goodness was. I, for one, had neverexperienced it. McKenzie always took Fernando off to the side for a little one-on-one, no doubt catching up on all the problems I had caused, and then at some point during the day, we would talk, and he would give me some advice. I was resentful at first, but over the years, I grew to appreciate it. Over time, the street ran thinner and thinner in my blood, and my BBC brotherhood ran thicker. Soon, I didn’t want to do anything that would hurt them or bring them shame, but it took a great deal of time and patience to get me to that point.”

“That is amazing! And you are all still close now that you are adults?” Leigh had stopped playing the game halfway through the story, her attention squarely on the man in front of her.

“Yes, we are legally brothers now,” Enrique replied, pride resonating in his voice.

“What? But how? Did some wonderful family actually adopt all of you? That is amazing!” The joy on her face was contagious. The fact that it made her so happy to think such a thing could occur for him and his brothers warmed his heart.

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