Page 65 of Secretly Loving my Cowboy Best Friend

“I have to find him.” Sofi started out of the stock room, but a Tía clamped onto either arm.

“Maybe not yet,” Tía Rosa said mysteriously.

“What does that mean?” Sofi asked but it was Tía Melinda who answered.

“You’ll know soon. But let him do this for you.”

Sofi glanced from tía to tía before turning to her mom in exasperation.

Darla nodded. “I know more time isn’t what you want, but take it. Be sure of what you’re feeling. Push aside all of your fears and make sure you’re truly ready for what’s next.”

Her mom was right. The last thing Sofi wanted was to take more time. But Darla was also right in thinking that maybe Sofi wasn’t quite ready for Austin yet. Yes, she’d worked through some of her emotions, but if he was taking this time to learn Spanish, she knew Austin well enough to realize he’d be bettering himself in other ways as well. She should do the same. And then when all the parts of his plan, whatever it was, fully came together, Sofi would be ready. Her stomach flipped as she faced the idea. Ready to start on a path together.

But even as she felt the happy butterflies of anticipation in her tummy, little tingles of apprehension threaded through her chest, warning her that she wasn’t quite ready to be in a relationship as serious as one with Austin would be. She sighed as she realized she probably did have a few more things to work out. But she had no doubt she’d get through them. And when Austin came for her she’d be ready.

She bit her lip, excitement leaking into every part of her body. Yes, she’d be ready.

Thirteen

Tía Rosa glancedright and left before ushering Austin into the Castillo home with quick, furtive motions. Austin wasn’t sure who she was looking for. It seemed like she was hiding that he was there, but Tía was aware that his giant red truck was parked right in front of the house, wasn’t she?

“This one spilled the beans.” Tía Rosa jabbed a thumb toward Sofi’s mom.

“I did not. I told her we made a promise. That was all I said. Then she said Austin and learning Spanish . . . ” Darla’s voice trailed off.

“You also mentioned you didn’t tell her who we made the promise to,” Tía Melinda added.

“Oh, that’s why she said Austin.” Darla began putting the pieces together but Austin was still lost.

“Bash came to visit Sofi and they hid out in the stock room together,” Tía Rosa began to explain and Austin went from lost to jealous in about zero-point-two seconds.

“Who went where?” Austin needed clarification ASAP.

“We were hiding in there with them. Nothing happened,” Darla promised as she put a hand on Austin’s arm and he felt some of the tension leave his body although his confusion only grew.

“Has anyone told you your jealous face makes you look a little psychotic?” Tía Melinda asked, cringing.

Austin didn’t doubt it. He’d felt a little out of control at the thought of Bash and Sofi alone in a stock room together.

But no one had ever mentioned it, maybe because Austin hadn’t often been jealous in his past, so he shook his head to answer Tía Melinda’s question and then turned to Tía Rosa.

“You were saying?”

“Oh right,” Tía Rosa said as the four of them gathered around the dining table where the Tías had collected their supplies for that evening’s Spanish lesson.

Austin’s Spanish was getting better. His texts to Sofi had stepped up since he’d started, but he still wasn’t fluent. Maybe if he was dropped into the middle of Mexico without a translator he’d be able to speak enough to find his way around, but he wasn’t confident beyond that.

But what he had been able to do? Write most of a song for Sofi . . . all in Spanish. The Tías weren’t aware of that part of his plan. They knew that Austin wanted to use his Spanish to show Sofi how much he cared for her, but beyond that they weren’t privy to the way he planned to show Sofi how much she meant to him. At least not yet. Partially because Austin was still developing his strategy. He knew he wanted to write a song for Sofi but he wasn’t sure that he’d have the guts to sing it to her. He hadn’t sung since his father had passed and Austin thought he’d buried that part of himself with Mitchell. But now, after almost losing Sofi, he realized he could do anything when it came to her. So maybe he could find the strength to sing what he’d written? He kept going back and forth, especially because he wasn’t sure he was the kind of guy to show up on Sofi’s front porch and just start singing until she noticed him. But how else would he find a way for her to hear his song?

So for now he was focusing on learning Spanish and completing the song. He’d deal with the rest later. The Tías had asked him what he’d wanted to learn in Spanish and he had started with what he would need for song lyrics. He’d asked for terms of endearment, then rhyming words. He’d moved on to translating some of his favorite country songs and then food words—there was no way to write a song for Sofi without including food. The Tías had played along with every weird lesson and hadn’t even acted like his requests were not normal. Granted, the Tías were pretty out there themselves, so maybe they respected Austin’s unique approach to learning Spanish.

“Bash was trying to get Sofi back.” Tía Rosa’s words interrupted Austin’s thoughts as she offered the promised explanation.

“The psycho face is back,” Tía Melinda warned.

Darla’s hand was on his arm again and Austin tried to ease his rigidity. If Tía Rosa moved on in her story, maybe he could too.

“But she told him she wasn’t interested,” Tía Rosa said.

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