Page 18 of For the Love of Animals

“The puppy’s yours? I love the pink sparkles.”

“We got it together.”

Should I kill Nate now or later? A joint puppy implied a relationship, and we definitely didn’t have one of those.

“Why are we hiding behind a tree?” I asked.

Teo focused on me, and I knew that look all too well. I’d first seen it aged six, when a four-year-old Teo confessed he’d cut my favourite doll’s hair because Juliana, our older sister, told him it would grow back longer, only it didn’t.

Whatever he had to say, I wouldn’t like it.

“There’s a small problem.”

See?

“How small?”

“About this size.” He held his thumb and forefinger about three quarters of an inch apart.

“Go on.”

Please, don’t let it be a disaster. I’d had enough of those already that week.

“I’ve been with Pasqual for almost a year now, and I love him. I really love him. So I bought him a promise ring.”

“That’s great.” Of course it was—at least one of the Hernandez siblings had found happiness. “And you’re gonna tell our parents? And Grandma? Is that what the difficulty is? Because you know I’ll back you up.”

“Not exactly. Grandma got cold and borrowed my jacket, and she found the ring in the inside pocket.”

“So she knows already?”

“I couldn’t tell her, Carmen. Not when she’s only got a week left. I didn’t want to upset her.”

“That psychic was talking shit, you know that, yes?”

“What if she wasn’t? Grandma’s so convinced…”

Teo trailed off, and I began to get a bad, bad feeling.

“What did you tell her, then? About the ring?”

“I told her I was holding it for you. That you planned to propose to your boyfriend at the end of her birthday celebration.”

“You did what?”

“I panicked.” Teo backed away out of arm’s reach, rummaging in his pocket. “Here’s the ring. All you have to do is pretend for a few days.”

“A few days? Have you lost your mind?” I glanced at Nate, expecting him to be horrified, but instead he was trying not to laugh.

“We can fix it up next Tuesday when the deadline’s passed. If Grandma dies, then she’ll never find out, and if she doesn’t die, I figure she’ll be so happy it won’t matter when you call the engagement off.”

“You’ve really thought this through, haven’t you?”

“It’ll work; trust me. Besides, you owe us. Remember last year when that creep wouldn’t stop sending those pleading messages and Pasqual pretended to be your boyfriend for two whole weeks?”

“What creep?” Nate asked.

“It doesn’t matter. He’s gone now. Teo, there’s a difference between this and what Pasqual did. He was a willing participant.”

---