Page 53 of Unspoken Promises

He nods as if to ask if I’m all right. I give a thumbs-up, and unfortunately that’s his cue to turn back to Luis’ animated symphony of everyday conversation.

The sun beams down on the pastures filled with horses with shiny coats and big appetites. Only one looks up from the morning grass I imagine is still dewy in the patches of shade where they munch. I smile to myself thinking how lucky I am to have landed in all of this. I never expected this much when I first plotted my escape in the library. That seems like years ago now, but it really wasn’t.

I thought falling in love takes a long time, but it took amere moment for me to feel at home here. For Echo Valley to burrow into my heart. I can’t lose this. I really can’t. I glance at Enzo’s back again. Maybe I should tell him about the hacks when we get there? I don’t want him to be mad at me for keeping it longer than necessary.

Or is that just me being selfish? I could ruin Luis’ club just because my guts are starting to twist again. Patience, Ava, patience, I tell myself. In a few hours, Enzo and I will be one step closer to making progress on the hacks, and I’ll be one step closer to making sure Father can never find me again.

I need to start working on that goddamn birth certificate soon, because somehow, swooning over Enzo and worrying about getting caught are an ugly, inbred thought that likes to visit these days.

A guard lets us through a back gate that exits out onto trails through the foothills, but instead of heading deeper into the mountains, we ride through the bottom Valley. Santi tells me it’s the one the town is named for, Echo Valley.

It’s a magical place made of silence despite its name. Maybe that’s just it. Echoes don’t actually make a sound without another source. Until now, I’ve only ever been an echo. I’ve never had a voice. Finally, here, I’m finding mine.

We come to a fork in the trail and hitch a left toward town, eventually riding down a quiet street to Julia’s small pastures where we leave the horses to graze in one of her fields. I cannot believe this is their life. Horse rides into town. Pool parties. Spicy book clubs. This life is something else. I’m desperate for it to be mine, too.

We wander up the Main Street to the bookstore. Pages and Perks is at the end of a wide alley coming off the Main Street and is the epitome of a perfect California bookstore.There are shelves outside, which would never have worked in Oregon where it rains too much. The owner, James, put out one of those free-standing, hanging egg chair things and even a wooden-framed hammock.

An hour later we’re all inside. We’re all sitting in a circle of chairs where Luis is at the head next to Penelope and Callum. Plenty of people, all women apart from Callum, Arthur from Town Hall, and the Mendez boys, came to see what this new excitement was all about in the foothills of the Diablo Range. At first, Luis was visibly nervous moderating, and now I see just how special his sons are to come and support.

It’s clear Luis’ sons all came prepared to say something and read the book to inject the conversation in case other people didn’t. Of course, they possibly didn’t know there would be so many people show up from both Echo Valley and that Penelope is quite the smut enthusiast. There’s plenty of girlie chatter, and Luis, having attended a club in Starlight Canyon before, soon comes into his element.

We’re nearing the end of an hour full of serious topics as much as laughter, and Luis reaches into the fishbowl he put out at the start where everyone wrote down a question they wanted asked. He digs around as if there isn’t only one left, mixing up the one white piece of paper comically, while readers giggle until he finally snatches out the last question.

He opens the piece of paper and drops his head with a silent laugh, and his body quivers with amusement. When he comes up, his eyes are full of tears and he pinches the bridge of his nose.

He shakes his head and waves his hand like he just can’t bring himself to say the words. Luis coughs a couple of times, and somehow it slows his laughter. “I’ve been verybrave today with my sons here.” He lifts the paper toward them. “You guys can’t come next time.”

Penelope takes the paper from his hands with a huge grin on her face. “Spit or swallow?”

The room laughs it off like a throwaway question.

My mind races to having Enzo’s dick in my mouth again.

Penelope darts her eyes to Callum and crumples the paper. “We’ll save that for next time when the Mendez boys fuck off, eh? Refreshments, anyone?”

The room is youthful and energized with drinks in hands and name tags on, and I figure now I won’t ruin Luis’ moment, so I glance around for Enzo.

The cowboy leans against a small slice of wall at the end of a bookshelf, drinking from a red plastic cup. Damn, I hate to destroy the relaxed country boy thing he has going on. I like this side of him. Equally as much as the other. But I think he’d want me to tell him. Maybe he’ll even be mad I didn’t tell him earlier.

“Hey…” I suddenly wonder whathethought of the spit-or-swallow question. I really need to get that out of my head.

“Hey.” He tips his cup toward the crowd. “Did you enjoy that?”

“Oh yeah… I mean…” I glance behind at the room full of people, all smiles, nibbling grapes. “How can you not? Think you’ll come again?”

He lets out a puff something like a laugh. “No.” He drinks. “But I might read the next in series.”

“Seriously?” I can’t tell if he’s joking. Enzo has never joked, that I know of. But I don’t wait for his answer, both because he won’t give me one and because even though I’ve already read book two and I’d love to tell him about it, there are bigger fish to fry.

“I need to talk to you about something. I tried to text andcall you before we came.” I drop in the comment for context in case he’s likely to be annoyed with the delay. Maybe I misjudged that. Maybe he would have chosen this information over his dad’s book club.

A serious gaze lands on me. “My phone died, and we already had the horses tacked up.”

“It’s about work,” I keep my voice low. “I found more suspicious activity.”

He puts his cup down on a nearby shelf.

“It’s tracing to Mexico.”

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