The Spanish Love Deception novel Chapter 133

At the same time, my dad answered, “No. Not that one.” He scratched the side of his head.

“Short?” offered Gonzalo. “Clumsy?”

My head whipped in his direction.

Aaron hummed. “Ridiculously stubborn?”

Not bothering to turn toward him, I rammed my elbow into his side. He gently grabbed my arm and laced our fingers together, placing them on top of the table. I stared at our linked hands, all outrage immediately vanished.

Then, Aaron dipped his head and told me in a low voice, “I didn’t want to be left out.”

I looked over at him and found yet another of those smiles that made me weak in the knees. Something fluttered low in my belly. Dammit.

“Gracias, all of you,” I murmured.

My dad kept searching his mind for whatever word he didn’t seem to remember. “It isn’t any of those words. Just let me think.”

Daniel cleared his throat, finally taking part in the conversation. “What if you tell us the word in Spanish, and we can translate it, Javier?” he suggested.

My mom nodded her head. “Claro, usa el Google, Javier.” Use the Google, Javier.

“Papá,” I told him with a sigh, “just let it go—”

“Firecracker,” he blurted out. “Our Lina is a little firecracker.”

All right. That was actually not that bad.

“So, she can be too much to handle. Often.”

Oh. I deflated a little in my chair, my hand remaining in Aaron’s.

“She’s always chattering like she has too much to say and not enough time to do so. Or laughing like she doesn’t care she’ll wake up the half of the world that’s sleeping. She can also be a littl

e defiant, and God knows she is stubborn as they come. But that’s all fire. Passion. That’s what makes her our Lina. Our little terremoto.” Our little earthquake.

My dad’s eyes started shining under the light of the few lamps that had switched on as we entered the night. Something in my chest constricted.

“And for a while there, it wasn’t like that. All that lightness faded out, and seeing my daughter going through something like that wasn’t easy. It broke our hearts. Then, she left, and even if we knew it was what she wanted and needed to do, our hearts broke a little further.”

Tears were rushing to my eyes by then, the pressure behind them increasing with every word from my father. With every memory he unearthed.

“But that’s in the past. She’s here now, and she’s okay. Happy.” My mom reached out, taking my dad’s hand in hers.

Not able to hold myself any longer, I stood up on shaky legs and walked around the table. When I reached my dad, I wrapped him in a hug and kissed his cheek. “Te quiero, Papá.” Then, I did the same with my mother. “A ti también, tonta.” All the while, I held my tears in as if my life depended on it. I wouldn’t cry. I refused. “Now, stop it, okay? Both of you. Save something for tomorrow.”