Page 3 of Finding Love on the Slopes

“Junish, if everything goes well. I am not exactly a spring chicken, so you never know. Forty makes things much higher risk. My doctors will be monitoring me carefully, and I will be sticking close to home for the next six months.”

“That is great news. I am really happy for you both,” Gabriel replied, retaking his seat at the other end of the table, across from Anthony. “If that was her news, what in the world could you possibly have to share?” he quipped, directing his gaze at the older man.

“Well, before we knew about the newest addition to our family, we had made a decision and have decided to stick with it. We all have a lot to thank this town for. We would not be the men, and woman, we are today without the people here, but it’s notperfect. You all know I have always held firmly to the belief that you shouldn’t complain about something if you aren’t willing to do something about it, so- I’m doing something about it. I will be running for mayor in the next election.”

Claps and cheers went up from around the table. No one was really surprised by the news. Anthony had always been a leader. Never shying away from hard work and doing what was necessary to make a change. From the time he entered the boy’s home, he had been making their lives better. He took a rag-tag band of misfits and unwanted boys and turned them into a tight-knit family of successful men. The fact that he wanted to have a greater influence on the town that both made and almost destroyed them made sense. If anyone could make a difference, it was Anthony with Hannah by his side. They were a team to be reckoned with.

“I’m going to need your support. This is a big endeavor and work that I feel is important. I’ll be honest with you: I’ve already been approached about running for Governor in the next election. Hannah and I have mixed feelings about that. I feel the work that needs to be done right here is important, and I don’t want folks in the community to think that being mayor, should I win, was nothing more than a stepping stone.”

“Being Governor would be huge, though. You are the least political and most honest person I know. If anyone deserves to be Governor and a chance to make a positive change for the people, it would be you. With all four of us behind you, it would be hard for you to lose due to super PAC’s and less honorableopponents,” Fernando urged, excited at the prospect of his big brother becoming Governor.

“That is still a ways away, but I wanted you to know as it could impact all of you and your businesses. Okay, let’s cut this cake, and we can finish the discussion over dessert.” Anthony took the cake knife from Hannah and, slicing generous portions, passed the pieces around the table as Hannah placed rum pudding in front of everyone.

Conversation stopped briefly as each man savored their desserts. Coughing erupted from Enrique, drawing all eyes to him. His face was beet red as he gulped the contents of his crystal water goblet and Julio’s from across the table.

Passing him her water glass as well, Hannah asked, “Enrique, you okay? Pudding go down the wrong pipe?”

Enrique gazed at her with tears in his eyes, “Very funny, Hannah. What did you do to my pudding?”

“Oh, that,” she replied innocently, lifting one of her delicate shoulders. “That’s just a few drops of Carolina Reaper juice. Our chef promised it wouldn’t really hurt you but would definitely leave a lasting impression.”

Silverware clattered on plates as several of the men stopped eating. “Oh, don’t worry,” she reassured the others, “Only Enrique needed to learn this particular lesson. I made sure only his pudding cup received the extra ingredient and was very careful with cross-contamination. Trust me. If you haven’t felt the sting yet, you’re fine.”

“Sting? More like a five-alarm fire in my mouth!” Enrique complained loudly.

“Well, I made sure to serve oxtail at dinner and added it to your pudding; it would have been much worse without those oils coating your mouth. Here, eat some more pudding. Our chef said starches, fatty, and cold food help,” Hannah added, pushing her pudding cup over to him.

“Forewarned is forearmed, Enrique. I did try to tell you,” Anthony chimed in, a hint of laughter in his voice.

Gabriel slapped him on the back, “Tardiness has always been one of your worst and most annoying traits. Perhaps now you will reconsider your stance on fashionably late.”

The others resumed eating their dessert, taking turns lobbing questions at Anthony about his campaign and future plans. Enrique remained silent, trying to endure the pain like a man, wondering how long his mouth and throat were going to feel like a blow torch had been taken to them. This would be a pretty effective method of advanced interrogation, and he contemplated whether or not Hannah had help hatching this plan. He had always been late to family functions, and such extremes had never been taken before to curb behavior. Julio returns to the family after twenty years in the Marines, with like ten years spent as a black-ops commander, and his face nearly gets burned off for being an hour late. Julio had to have had something to do with this, and he was going to return the favor.

Chapter Three

After the final crumbs were licked from forks, the family once again cleared the table and adjourned to the living room for the final approach to midnight. Hannah poured champagne into long-stem flutes, and Anthony distributed them around the room.

“This brings us to the part of the evening’s festivities that we have all been waiting for,” Anthony announced, clasping his fingers around the stem of his glass. “As you all know, there will be two pacts this year –”

“Hold on,” Enrique frowned in confusion, cutting Anthony off. “I didn’t know that. Why are there going to be two?”

“Anthony sent a message last night in the family chat,” Fernando answered. “Did you check it?”

Enrique sighed. He was on a second date with the model he’d escorted to a red-carpet event two weeks ago. It was another failure, of course, because just like all the women Enrique hadencountered, she had revealed over an extravagantly expensive dinner that she only hadonegoal in the relationship... what he could give her. Her time in front of the camera and strutting down runways was coming to an end, and she needed a plan B for maintaining her lavish lifestyle. She thought he would be the perfect man to bankroll it. She was very mistaken, and that meant he arrived home in a bad mood and went to bed without checking in on his family.

Enrique rubbed a hand across his jaw. The short, coarse hairs tickled his palm, alerting him that he had forgotten to shave before dashing out the door this evening. “I was busy,” he mumbled, glaring at his brother. Fernando was six months younger than him, but he always managed to seem much older and wiser than the rest, sharing leadership of the family with Anthony.

“Anyway,” Anthony continued. “There are two pacts this year because of Julio’s return. Due to his deployments, he’s missed his opportunity to propose pacts over the years. And now that he’s back, it only seems right that he gets to pose one this year.” Turning to Enrique with a mischievous grin on his face. “Enrique, drumroll please.”

Rolling his eyes, Enrique responded, “Really? I haven’t done that since I was a kid. Can’t a man live anything down in this family?”

“Oh, come on, Enrique,” Hannah laughed, “You know it’s all in good fun. Hyperactive tapping is nothing to be ashamed of, and for the record, you have not stopped; you just modified your tapping to a more professionally acceptable level. It got youinto lots of trouble as a child, so naturally, your brothers will remind you of it now and then.” A wink softened her subtle reminder not to be overly sensitive.

“Fine,” Enrique muttered begrudgingly, handing his champagne glass to Gabriel before tapping his fingers in a fast staccato on the top of the table beside him.

With a tender smile gracing her lips, Hannah whispered, “See. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Enrique smiled in return. She was right; performing the drumroll before the pact announcement had been his job as a child. He should be honored that Anthony had asked him to resume his role in the BBC tradition after so many years of trying to prove that he was too old and mature for such things.

“Julio, you have the floor,” Anthony said, gesturing to the dark-haired man, who nodded in response as all eyes focused on him.

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