Page 40 of Pax

“I’m off at midnight,” he said quietly. “If they don’t fire me before then.”

“Let us handle that,” said Conor. He stood and walked toward the female manager who’d yelled at Raul, asking for a manager above her. Raul’s eyes grew large, and he stared at the men.

“She’s going to be very angry about that. She wants to hire her nephew, and they won’t let her.”

“Firing you won’t change that,” said Patrick. “How about four iced teas, four bottled waters, and bring us the house specialty.”

“You don’t want the house specialty,” he said with the first sign of a smile they’d seen. “Not unless you want to spend your time here in the bathroom. Get the grilled fish tacos. They’re decent, and they won’t make you lose weight.”

“Great advice, brother. Great advice,” laughed Moose.

Christopher, Patrick, Conor, and Moose killed time until midnight when Raul was off his shift. They met him further down the beach near a small bar on the sand. It was crowded with young people overindulging, but they grabbed a few chairs on the beach and ordered some drinks.

“Who was it that approached your brother?” asked Conor.

“I don’t know. They never approached him when we were together, or I would have stopped it. I loved my brother dearly. I loved him just like he was and wouldn’t have changed anything about him. He kept telling me about all the things these men were promising him, and he asked if he could borrow five thousand U.S. dollars.”

“Five thousand?” frowned Patrick. “That’s not a lot of money for something like this.”

“That was one of many things that made me nervous. We’d been hearing about boats sinking and people dying, but my brother wouldn’t listen. The man kept telling him that because they were taking so many people, they weren’t charging as much.”

“Why not just drive across the border?” asked Christopher. “It’s easy to do.”

“The man wouldn’t tell my brother the name of the doctor who could help him. He said it was part of the deal that no one could see this special doctor without approval. They wouldn’t even give us his name, but they convinced him that he would be normal. Th-that we would be identical,” he sniffed.

“It’s not your fault,” said Patrick. “He was using your brother’s love for you against him. He knew what he was doing, and he’d done this before.”

“But how can we stop him or them?” he asked.

“You let us worry about that.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“It’s so good to be home,” smiled Alice. “Even without the boys.”

“I know what you mean,” laughed Deanna. “I didn’t realize how much I was already thinking of this as my home. I was here so much as a child. Then, as a teenager, I guess I always felt a particular affinity to the land and the people here.”

“That’s usually how it works,” smiled Alice. They were all seated in the grove as dinner was being served. The beautiful spring evening was warm and bright, no signs of the heavy summer rains yet to come.

Seated around them were many of the other women whom Deanna would rely on in the coming months and years as they grew together. Clark, Amy, Ellie, Elena, Daphne, Emelia, Maddie, Nell, Macie, Khloe, Jill, and Katelyn were all around the same age as Deanna. She knew some of them because they were raised at Belle Fleur. Others she was getting to know quickly.

“Hi,” said Stephanie. “Are the guys back yet?”

“No, not yet, honey,” said Annie. “They’re still trying to figure some things out in Coronado. Would you like to join us for dinner?” Annie could see that Stephanie was struggling with the idea of sitting down for a meal with them all. She bit her lower lip and looked away, then back at the tables.

“No. No, that’s alright. I have some things I need to do. I need to think – I need to think about some things,” she said with a sad expression.

“Stephanie, don’t do anything just yet, sweetie,” said Alice. She noticed that Marilisa was standing behind her and tilted her head to see her better. “You too, young lady. Don’t do anything just yet. Men are stubborn and hardheaded. They’ll come around.”

“But I might not,” whispered Stephanie. Annie and Alice looked at one another, then at the other young women as Stephanie and Marilisa walked away.

“Damn. You call our sons,” said Annie. “I’ll go speak with them.” Alice nodded, leaving the women to eat their meal.

“How are you feeling, Dee? Better?” asked Maddie.

“Much,” she smiled. “I’m sorry I left so suddenly and didn’t tell you all. I was feeling terrible and just couldn’t face everyone.”

“It’s understandable,” said Clark. “You were attacked, injured, in pain, and I would suspect a sprinkle of confusion about Pax.”

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