Page 26 of Dina's Favorite Mistake

The likelihood that he would end up in a Mexican prison was very low, but it wasn’t zero. The likelihood that he would catch a bullet was much, much higher. Almost a certainty, all things considered.

“You okay?” Lola cautiously called out as she emerged from behind a dense hedge.

“I’m fine.”

“Uh-huh.” It was early yet, and the rest of her family was still having breakfast. Not Lola. Her well-worn khaki overalls had green stains across the knees, and her boots had an inch of mud caked on the soles. She wore a baseball cap emblazoned with thefamily’s tequila logo, and her dark hair poked out the back in a peppy little ponytail.

“What are you doing?” He noticed the utility belt slung low on her hips and all of the gardening and landscaping tools tucked into it.

She lifted a dangerous looking crimper tool. “Broken sprinkler head and pipe that’s been flooding this section for weeks. I finally had an opening in my schedule to handle it and take some of the load off of our gardeners.”

“You like working with your hands.”

“Beto and I are more comfortable outside than inside an office.” She holstered the tool and gestured toward a bright green UTV parked under one of the courtyard’s arches. “You want a tour of the grounds? I’m headed out to my flower fields.”

“Your flower fields? I thought you only grew agave out here.”

She smirked impishly. “You’d be surprised at all the interesting things that grow out here.”

He realized what she meant and laughed. “It’s always the babies in the family, huh?”

“My parents were so exhausted after raising Rafa, Dina, Jaime and Beto that they basically let me run feral out here.” She waved for him to follow. “Come on. I’ll tell you all the juicy family secrets on the drive.”

Figuring that was an offer he couldn’t refuse, he trailed Lola to the UTV and hopped into the passenger side. Of course, she drove like a bat out of hell. As he gripped the roll cage on the vehicle, he grunted, “Shit, if you’d been driving last night, those idiots wouldn’t have ever gotten close enough to fire a shot.”

Lola cackled like a witch. “Beto taught me to drive.”

“I believe it.” He pressed an imaginary brake as she took a turn onto a gravel pathway and kicked up a cloud of dust. “Are you two pretty close?”

She nodded. “Rafa, Dina and Jaime were really close. Beto and I were like two mischievous peas in a pod.”

“I’m sorry about your brother and sister-in-law. That must have a terrible shock.”

“It was awful.” Lola shook her head and eased off the accelerator as they hit a particularly rough patch. “He was a gifted pilot. He’d been flying since he was a teenager, you know.”

“I didn’t.”

“Yeah, he learned on crop dusters out in the fields and then moved up to bigger and faster planes and jets. He probably would have been happiest as an airline pilot, but the family business needed him. Family always comes first to a Farias.” Lola smiled sadly. “He wanted to do something romantic and beautiful for Maddie. It was their first vacation since having Jasper. After all the infertility and the miscarriages, they were so happy when he was born—and then...well.”

“It’s not fair.” Steve couldn’t even imagine.

“We’ve had more than our fair share of heartache in this family,” Lola said, “but we’re still luckier than most.” She let the UTV roll to a stop as they crested a hill. “I always think of this as our Pride Rock.”

Steve has spent enough time with his nieces to recognizeThe Lion Kingreference. “Everything the light touches, huh?”

“And more,” she said, her gaze fixed on the gently rolling hills and valleys that stretched as far as the eye could see. The neatly laid out rows of agave formed a satisfying pattern. Here and there, barns and other buildings occupied squares of space. Far off on the east, there were neat and tidy stripes of tract housing.

“Do all of your employees live out here?” He didn’t like the idea of having to vet every single one of them as possible accomplices to Diego.

“Anyone attached to the farming,” she confirmed. “Back when my grandfather was in charge, it was mostly families. Now,though, it’s hard to get people to stay, even with free housing and other perks. We have a lot of turnover and a very young workforce.”

“I imagine the work is tough.” He didn’t think he could hack a shift in the blazing sun, swinging a machete or hauling plants.

“It is.”

“You’re the only one in the family who works out here?” He had a hard time imaging Dina, Beto or Rafa in the fields.

“Rafa likes to come out and get dirty a few times a month.” She made a face. “Well, he did before he handed off the business to Dina and decided to move to San Antonio with Sky and Jasper.”

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