Page 130 of Sombra
“He’s not even eighteen. Putting the entire operation on his shoulders is a huge step.”
My mother overhears. “He loves those trees, Tavo. I think he can do it.”
Abuelo nods in agreement. “We talked about this, Tavo. I think he can do it.”
“I can help him,” says Antonio, sitting by me, overhearingus. “I can run the books.”
They’re right. While Guillermo may be a gawky kid as far as girls go, he loves our orchard and is more responsible than I am about taking care of the trees. And Antonio is our brain.
I let out my breath.
“Oiga, Guillermo,” I call.
“What?” he asks, chewing a forkful of food.
“Do you want to be in charge of the harvest this year?”
My brother looks like I just crowned him King of Spain. “Really?”
“Really. I think you could do it. We all do.” I gesture at my mother, abuelo, and Trent and Dani.
His smile is so wide, it’s worth it. “Thank you, Tavo. Yes. I want to. I want to take care of it.”
Dani claps her hand. “Now, that’s settled.” She and Trent exchange a look. They’re always talking silently.
Trent clears his throat. “Tavo. How long have you wanted to go to America?”
My gut sinks. “Always.”
“How much do you love Kim?”
“There are not enough words in the language to say it.”
“What the fuck are you waiting for? Sometimes you have to travel across an ocean to get someone you love.” He looks at Dani and then back to me. “Stop being a pussy and go get yourdamn girl.”
Later that night,I’m in Madrid. While I’m in Departures, I can’t help but take the escalator down to Arrivals. I take a picture of the area just past customs where we met and post it on Instagram. “This place will always be special to me. The lights and sirenswent on when I met you, because you were all I could see.”
When I get to my gate, I take a picture of the sign to New York and post it. I thought it would be months and months, before I got to go to the United States. Not hours.
I don’t know how she’s going to take this. I don’t know if this is going to work.
But my heart is on the line and all I want to do is … win her overentirely. I’ve got a little box for her in my jacket pocket.
When I board my red-eye flight, I sit and spend the time drawing Kim’s face on my napkin and singing under my breath to calm myself. The little box I bought for Kim is in my jacket pocket. I know one thing for sure.
I’m all-in. All-in, and this is what it feels like to have everything on the line. Everything for the womanI want.
But I have to go to her, fight for her, and tell her how much I love her. I cannot hold anything back, or my life won’t be worth living.
I play a video on my phone over and over again. It’s one that Kim took of me singing, but she’s in it at the end.
The slim, mid-thirties, blond woman in the seat next to me sighs. “Ugh. Coach. Too bad they overbooked. I can’t standcoach for an international flight. Can you let me out?”
She puts up her tray table, and I go into the aisle to allow her to get out to go to the bathroom, and sit back down in my seat. When she returns, she’s lost her grumpy look and smiles at me.
“What are you watching?”
“A video of my girlfriend.”
