Page 31 of There Are No Words

Maria blew bubbles, looking skyward as she clearly reminisced on days she probably wished she could have forgotten. “Dom practically lived at the grocery store while Ilived on crackers and ginger ale. I saw the inside of the toilet more than anything.”

“I remember.” I chuckled as the memories flooded my mind. It wasn’t funny to see Maria sick, but the way Dom took care of her. . . now that was nice. There was a time when Dom had bought Maria so many ginger ales, I imagined he’d bought all the ones the store had. Anything for Maria, though. “Oof, he was so upset you didn’t feel good.”

She widened her eyes, a smile playing at her lips. “He would insist on staying over just to watch me sleep.”

I laughed. “Little creepy, if you ask me.” But it was very Dom. He could be. . . intense, especially when it came to Maria. That was a level of friendship none of us had achieved with any friends we had, but then again, none of them were Dom Deluca.

Maria nudged my arm, and I swayed a bit to the side. She laughed. “It was sweet.”

“Seems like you have something on your mind,” I hedged. Whenever Maria got nostalgic like this, she got a look in her eye like the one she had now—it wasn’t a sparkle so much as a glimmer of hope, or longing, I wasn’t sure.

Maria rolled her lips. “Nah, just work and this shoot. You know me.”

“Yeah, I know you,” I agreed. Then I nudged her. “Which is why I know there’s something more behind that look.”

Maria wasn’t secretive, she just didn’t like to burden people with her problems—her words, not mine.

“Things with Pedro are going really well. We have another date tonight.”

Pedro.She would never hear this from me, not unless I felt like she was ready to hear it, but I didn’t see Pedro being her forever. Maybe I was wrong, but that was how I felt. It didn’t change the fact that she was my sister, and for whatever reason,she liked him, so I’d be supportive. Even cheer them on. “Nice. Where’s he taking you?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure. It’s a surprise.”

I gasped, placing a hand on my chest. “You hate surprises.” Detested was more like it. Structure, organization, routine, now those were things Maria loved.

“I’m trying something new.”

Seemed like a horrible idea. “Does he know you hate surprises?” I questioned, arching a brow.

“No,” she answered simply.

“Dom knows you hate them.”

“Maybe, but that’s not relevant because Dom and I aren’t going out tonight or any night.”

I shrugged. “Yet.” I’d said I’d support her with Pedro, and I would. I just so happened to also be rooting for her and Dom. There was no way I was alone in this. Even Dad agreed that Maria and Dom were going to happen. Knowing Maria, she wasn’t going to make it an easy road, though.

Then she threw me for a loop, turning the tables on me. “Like you and Brady.”

Brady and I were. . . well, we were what we were. I frowned. “That’s not fair,” I finally said.

“You two are having a baby together,” Maria pointed out the obvious.

“And that’s all,” I practically screamed, widening my eyes and staring at her as though to saylet this go. I didn’t need any moreagita.

In a sing-song voice, Maria replied, “Okay.”

* * *

“Allie?” I could recognize my sisters’ voices in my sleep. It was Perla, coming to check on me in the bathroom. Probably because I ran out of a trends report meeting to become better acquainted with the toilet on our floor in the building. It seemed horrible nausea ran in the family. First Maria and now me. Remind me to inflict pain on Brady the next time I saw him.

I didn’t get a chance to respond to Perla and tell her I was, in fact, here because another bout of nausea rolled through me. I clutched either side of the toilet and rolled forward on the balls of my feet (thank heavens I’d worn flats today) and heaved. I’d been doing nothing more than dry heaving, but I felt better knowing a toilet was in front of me in case it turned into something more. Truth be told, if it would get rid of this nausea, then I wished it would be more than dry heaving.

“The meeting’s over, and I called Brady,” Perla said, her voice filled with hesitation. For good reason, too, because I never asked her to do that.

I pulled back and decided this position was killing my legs, so I stood up. “You did what?” I yelled, opening the stall and coming eye-to-eye with her.

Perla crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “Don’t make me out to be the bad guy, sis. You don’t feel well, and he should know what you’re going through.”

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