Broken Soldier: A Novel (23 page)

“You plan to hit every pothole on the mountain, or just the big ones?” Em asked.

“Just the big ones,” Rafa said. “I’d flip you the bird, but...” He held up his right arm.

“You talk an awful lot for a guy with one leg.”

“The guy with one leg just smoked you over the last two miles of that trail.”

“Show off.” Emily stuck her tongue out at him.

“I do my best.” He laughed as he swung the truck over another pothole, rattling her teeth with the impact.

Emily was opening her mouth to give him more crap, but his phone started ringing.

“Can you get that?” Rafa said.

Emily checked the caller ID. “It’s your mother. You want me to answer?”

“Let it go to voicemail.”

She swiped the faceplate, canceling the call. Outside the truck, long shadows stretched from the mountains down into the valley where Boulder nestled snug and bright. “It’s kind of late for her to be calling, don’t you think? It’s what, two or three in the morning in Spain?”

Rafa frowned. “She could be with dad in DC.”

He didn’t sound convinced. Just then, the phone started ringing again. “It’s her,” Emily said. She swiped the phone again, but this time to answer it.

His mother said something in Spanish, though all Emily could understand was Rafa’s name.

“Hi, Mrs. Carpenter, this is Emily.”

“Emily? I called Rafa’s number, no?”

“He’s driving. I answered for him.”

“Then put him on.”

Emily pulled the phone from her ear. “She wants to talk to you.”

“I’m driving,” Rafa said.

“I know. I just told her that.”

“So see what she wants. I can’t steer and hold the phone at the same time.”

Emily held the phone back up. “Mrs. Carpenter, he can’t talk right now without driving us both off the side of a mountain.”

Em thought she detected a hiss of frustration from the other end of the line. Or maybe it was just static.

“Very well. I just landed in Denver and I need to know your address.”

“Uh...” Emily looked over at Rafa, staring in shock. “Your mother is in town.”

“What?” He drove the truck over another pothole, sending the phone flying from Emily’s hand. It bounced off the dash and slid to a stop almost under Rafa’s feet.

“Crap,” Emily said, diving for the phone. She clawed it out from under Rafa’s foot and held it back to her ear, still bent sideways. “Sorry, the phone fell.”

“Your. Address.”

Em took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay calm, and gave Rafa’s mother the address to her apartment. Rafa pulled off the road and parked at an overlook.

“I will be there soon,” Maria said.

“Can I talk to her?” Rafa held out his hand.

Em passed the phone over, nearly dropping it, her hands were shaking so much.

“
Mamá
?” Rafa said. “You’re at the airport?”

Em couldn’t hear his mother’s half of the conversation, but it was easy to guess what she was saying. “I’m here to see you, son, and that fiancé of yours was just so rude to me.”

“Don’t take a cab.” He paused. “That would be ridiculous. We will come get you. Yes right now.”

He dropped the phone into the seat and started the truck back down the mountain. “Do you want to go with me to pick her up?”

Emily didn’t know what to say. Getting along with Maria in Spain had been nearly impossible, but they’d ended on a positive note, and now she wanted to just come crash at her place out of the blue?

“Your parents aren’t having marital problems or anything are they?” Emily asked.

“Not that I’m aware. I’ll call Dad on the way to Denver.”

“If she wants to stay with us, that’s fine.”

Rafa’s eyes narrowed. “We will find her a hotel. How about I drop you off at the apartment? I do not think squeezing her into this cab would be a good idea.”

“Alright.”

That woman had to be out of her mind. There was no other way around it.

#

E
MILY stood with Christa by the front bumper of her Lexus, waiting on Rafa’s mother to join them. Emily had picked Maria up at her hotel at noon to go dress shopping, and the day was already turning hot.

Christa fanned herself, nearly panting. Her blouse had the top couple of buttons unbuttoned, revealing her undershirt and a wide expanse of bosom.

“You alright?” Em asked.

“I don’t know.” Christa wiped her breasts. “Is this sweat or milk? I swear, I think I’m lactating already.”

“Just sweat, I think.” Em was wishing she’d worn something lighter, too.

Maria slammed the door of the coupe and stalked toward them. “Are we ready?”

Emily smiled, trying to make it look as natural as possible. “We are.”

Shopping with her future mother-in-law hadn’t been on her list of things to do with her Saturday, but now that she was in town, it wasn’t like Em could turn her away.

The first shop was one Christa had used before her wedding, a little bridal boutique in Boulder. A bell on the door jingled as Emily pulled it open. Christa and Maria preceded her inside, Maria’s mouth turning to a frown as soon as she cleared the threshold.

An attendant came to meet them from the counter at the front. “What can I help you find today?” she asked, smilingly pleasantly.

Emily took the lead, sliding around Maria. “A wedding dress, mostly. Maybe something for a matron of honor, too.”

“You are the bride?” the attendant asked. She looked to be somewhere between 35 and 45, with makeup that had to have taken a half hour to get so perfectly applied.

“I am.” Emily indicated Christa. “She’s the matron of honor.”

The attendant’s eyes flicked to Christa’s belly, clearly visible well into her second trimester. “How soon are you getting married?”

“November.”

The attendant nodded. “Well, our wedding dresses are over here. Are you looking for something traditional or more contemporary?”

“Traditional,” Maria said. “What do you have in black?”

The attendant nearly tripped. “Black?”

“It is very traditional in Spain.”

“The wedding will be in Denver,” Emily said. “I’d prefer to go with white.”

“You must at least consider black,” Maria said. “I would offer you the dress I wore, but I do not think it would fit you.”

Emily blinked, not believing Maria just called her fat, but Maria kept going.

“She needs something snug that can make her waist look thinner. And a heavy veil.”

“Maybe she should try on a few of the white dresses,” Christa suggested. “Just to find something that fits. I’m sure we could get it made in black if necessary.”

Maria’s eyes narrowed. “Very well.”

“Mrs. Carpenter, do you want to look at bridesmaid dresses with me while she changes?” Christa inched toward the other side of the store. A second attendant emerged from the back and went over to join her. “I’d appreciate your opinion.”

Maria huffed over to Christa, leaving Emily alone with her attendant.

Emily felt like her blood pressure dropped 10 points with each step Maria took the other direction. She wondered how Rafa had ever made it through childhood.

Em looked through a few dresses and found one that looked interesting. It had heavy embroidery down the bodice, and small pearls sewn into rows along the train. “Can I try this one?”

“Sure.” The attendant took her to a changing room and helped her into the dress. “Do you want to show your mother-in-law?”

“Not really, but I do want to show Christa.”

The attendant laughed. “I don’t know that you can do one without the other.”

They went back out into the store and Emily stopped in front of a mirror that showed her from all sides. Christa joined her, whistling quietly as she eyed the dress.

“You make that look amazing.”

“I don’t know.” Emily sucked in her stomach, checking how the embroidery altered her shape.

Maria and another attendant came over, each with a dress draped over their arms. Maria shook her head when she saw Emily.

“Too much belly, not enough breasts.”

Emily looked at it again. “It does make me look a little fat.”

Christa laughed. “Babe, if you think that’s fat, you’ve got another thing coming. Try being bloated all the time. And gassy. Good lord, the gas. I just blame it on the person behind me, though.” She turned, looking at the attendant with the bridesmaid dress. “You really should get that checked out, you know. It can’t be healthy.”

The attendant blushed, and Christa started laughing. Emily waited, expecting her to stop, but the laughter kept going and turned into tears.

“I’m sorry,” Christa said. “This just happens. The dumbest things make me all emotional.”

Maria shook her head and left them standing there.

“I’ll try on some other dresses, I think,” Emily said.

The attendant helped her look through half a dozen more dresses, but Em didn’t really find anything that caught her fancy more than the first one.

“What’s wrong, dear?” the attendant asked.

“I like the first one, but it just doesn’t fit me right.”

“We can alter it, if you like. Here, let me get your measurements.”

“Okay, but can I think about it before I commit to it?”

“Of course.”

The attendant was helpful and pleasant, making it a painless experience beyond Maria’s occasional disapproving looks. The other attendant looked after Christa and Maria, and from Emily’s side of the shop, it seemed to be going better over there. They had three or four options hanging from a row of hooks.

“I think I’m going to go check on them,” Emily said, leaving the attendant to make notes about the alterations. She headed over to Christa. “Finding anything?” she asked when she reached her friend.

“I like the cut on this.” Christa held up a pale yellow, sleeveless dress. “The color is up to you.”

“I haven’t decided on colors yet. I like it, though.” It had clean, flowing lines, tasteful and elegant.

“How many bridesmaids do you plan to have?” Christa’s attendant asked.

“I’m not sure yet,” Emily said. “None so far.”

“Two,” Maria said. “From Rafa’s side.”

Em wanted to tell her that it wasn’t her wedding, and that the bride got to make those decisions, but it wasn’t worth making a scene.

“Well, I’ll just make note of this particular dress,” Christa said. “And we can come back some other time when we know how many we’ll need.”

“Great,” the attendant said, taking the dress. “You ladies have a pleasant day.”

If only that were possible, Emily thought. “Shall we go try another shop?” she asked once they were outside.

“No,” Maria said. “I have seen enough of your American dresses. You must come to Madrid. We will find you a dress for a proper woman.”

“If you’d like me to drop you off at your hotel, that’s fine,” Emily said. “Christa and I can shop alone.”

Maria glowered, but nodded.

It was an uncomfortable drive, though Christa tried to make small talk to keep things pleasant. Maria got out of the car at her hotel, wished them a very perfunctory goodbye and disappeared through the front doors.

“So that could have gone worse,” Christa said once she moved to the front seat.

“Not really.”

“She could have talked you into a dress you hated. At least you can still go shopping with your mom, pick out a dress you actually like and present it as a
fait accompli
.”

“I guess.” Emily squeezed the steering wheel. “She just gets under my skin without even trying.”

“I think she was trying.”

“No, that’s the thing. I honestly don’t think she dislikes me. She’s just that way. Rafa will always be her baby, and so she sees me as a child by association.”

“That sucks.”

Emily sighed. “I try to look on the bright side. She lives halfway around the world.”

“That’s true. Are you actually planning to go look at dresses in Madrid? Maybe you could talk her into a diamond necklace instead. If you do, I want one, too.”

“I don’t know, Chrissy. I’ll talk to Rafa about it, but I think I’m done shopping for the day. I’d say we should get a drink, but...”

“After I have this baby, we will get drinks, I promise. I’ll pump enough milk to last a whole week if I have to.”

“Deal.”

Em dropped Christa off at her new place, and headed home, exhausted after just an hour with her future mother-in-law. 

E
MILY was snuggled into the corner of the couch, glass of wine in hand and book open in her lap when Rafa’s phone rang.

“Is that your mother?” She had been gone for a little over a month, but she’d called practically every day since she’d left.

“No,” Rafa said, looking at the phone with a puzzled expression. He answered it and introduced himself.

Emily looked back at her book, still listening with half an ear.

“Yes, sir,” Rafa said. “Today? One moment. Emily.”

She looked up, not fully paying attention. “Who is it?”

“Colonel Rogers. He was wondering if he could stop by. Tonight.”

Her attention snapped to Rafa. “From the Army? Tonight?”

“Yes.”

She pushed the book aside and sat up, kicking her wineglass over in the process. Pinot Grigio poured across the carpet. “Crap.” She scooped up the glass and hustled to the kitchen for a rag. Telling the colonel ‘no’ wasn’t really an option, she knew that well enough. He’d just find Rafa at work again, and then she’d only hear the parts of the conversation that Rafa thought she’d care about.

“When’s he going to be here?” she asked when she got back.

Rafa asked the colonel and came back with “7:00.”

Emily frowned as she soaked up the wine. And what if they’d had dinner plans? “Fine.” She went to get another rag, not looking forward to having another guest on short notice.

Rafa’s conversation ended quickly and he slid his phone back into his pocket.

“What was that about?” Emily asked.

“Said he needed to talk with me in person again.”

“Did he say why?”

Rafa shook his head.

“Do you have any guesses?” She took her rag to the kitchen and tossed it into the sink. Rinsing it could wait.

“I’m not sure. Maybe the timeline accelerated?”