Page 13 of Dina's Favorite Mistake

“And I want to believe her! Ihatethat I can’t trust my own child.”

“I’m sorry, Dina. I don’t know what to say that will help,” Lola admitted uncertainly. “I wish I could wave a magic wand and fix everything.”

“So do I.” Feeling overly emotional with her hormone levels all out of whack, Dina confessed, “It’s the vitriol that hurts me the most. The things she says to me Lola?” Dina shuddered and blinked back tears. “I think she actually hates me.”

“She doesn’t!”

“She does!” Dina stopped trying to hold back the tears and let them come. “She blames me for everything to do with Diego. She thinks it’s my fault he’s in prison. She believes everything Mirta tells her. She’s convinced he’s innocent and was framed.”

“Then maybe you should tell her the truth,” Lola said carefully. “About what he did to her and to you.”

Dina’s stomach churned violently. “I can’t.”

“He almost killed her, Dina.” Lola spoke softly. “She believes all this crap Mirta tells her because she doesn’t know what he was really like.”

“I can’t do that to her.” Dina shook her head. “I can’t. It would destroy her to find out how little she meant to him.”

“But it might save her from the heartache of finding out too late,” Lola warned. “How is she going to feel if it’s twenty years down the line and she finds out the truth after she’s alienated herself from you?”

“I could never be alienated from her. She’s my daughter. I love her even when she’s telling me she hates me.”

“Oh, Dina,” Lola said pityingly.

Dina waved off her sister’s concern and inhaled a steadying breath. She snatched tissues from the box on the table and dabbed at her eyes and face. “Is my makeup running?”

“No, it’s fine.” Lola obviously wanted to keep talking about the Camila situation, but she seemed to understand Dina simply couldn’t without having a full breakdown. “You look beautiful.”

Dina snorted indelicately. “Now, I know you’re buttering me up for something big.”

“I’m not!”

“Really? Then why are you here in the offices instead of out in the fields?” Dina might be new in the role of CEO, but she had plenty of experience in management. “You’re not the first person who has come to me with a request that Rafa wouldn’t entertain.”

“How do you know that Rafa told me no?” Lola didn’t deny she was there to ask for something.

“Because Rafael is conservative when it comes to business,” Dina said candidly.

“He’s boring and doesn’t see the future like we do.”

“He sees things clearly,” Dina defended their brother. “He took control of this company when he was basically a kid. Everyone expected him to fail. All of them. We were teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, and he saved us. He took this business from a Mexican secret to a global powerhouse, and he did it without making us sellout and lose control.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Lola muttered with a dramatic roll of her eyes. “He’s so wonderful. We’re so lucky. Blah, blah, blah.”

Dina scowled at her sister. “I’m going to remember this when he asks me what to get you for Christmas.”

“He already knows what I want for Christmas,” Lola replied. “It’s the same thing I’m about to ask you to give me.”

“And that is?”

“A thousand acres of farmland in Australia, a few hundred agave plants from our private stock, and enough money to staff a farming operation for ten years,” Lola said quickly.

Dina blinked at her sister. “Are you...? You’re not serious, Lola.”

“I am.” Lola grabbed her handbag and removed her iPad. “Look, I have it all planned out right here. Agricultural reports. Geological reports. Weather patterns and climate reports. I have forecasts and ROI and—.”

The office door opened suddenly, startling them both. Ximena, Dina’s assistant, entered without so much as a hello.

“We’re working,” Dina snapped in frustration. “You didn’t even knock.”

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