Clutch Hit Faith O'Shea (red queen free ebook txt) 📖

door letting in the late-afternoon sun and the sounds of the bustling city below. There was no mistaking where she was. It wasn’t Boston, with the strait-laced, puritanical ethic. Men and women were, quite literally, dancing in the street.

She went to the open space, to stand beside Mariposa, who was chuckling. “We are a gregarious people. With nothing better to do, we congregate, interact, make friends with everyone we meet. It is the network we build that helps us get things done here. It is changing, but slowly.”

“Mateo seems so serious. I can’t picture him out there, so open and engaged.”

Mariposa took hold of her arm and she turned to see a look of sorrow on her face.

“What are you saying? My Mateo is not smiling?”

She’d been gifted with a few, but they were precious.

“Does he usually?”

“Always. He is genuinely interested in people, getting to know them. If someone asked him for directions, he would take them to where they needed to go, chatting all the way. He used to be content here. It was I who insisted he go. Only when he saw what was available in the world did he agree. Is freedom there not what I expected it to be? Is he unhappy with your culture?”

Allie was dumbstruck. She never would have described Mateo as gregarious. She’d seen his willingness to help his teammates, and he was inquisitive, but talkative?

“He asks a lot of questions and I think he’s more surprised at what he’s finding rather than unhappy with it. He’s made friends, has a beautiful condo, a new car, and he is doing what he loves. Maybe he’s more overwhelmed than I thought.”

“Nothing overwhelms my son. He takes everything in stride, adjusts when needed. He is calm and level-headed. A Cuban.”

He was all of that. It was the main reason she’d thought he was acclimating well. If she’d taken more of an interest when he’d first arrived rather than keeping her distance, maybe she could have eased him in better. She had to no time to wallow in her guilt, because there was a rap at the door.

Jelani.

As soon as she opened the door, she apologized, invited her in, and said, “I’ll only take a minute.”

After unpacking a sundress and flats, Allie closed herself in the bathroom, stripped out of her jeans and shirt, kicked away her flip-flops. After washing off the sweat that had accumulated in the humidity, she dressed quickly, but when she stepped back into the room, Mariposa was crying.

She rushed over to the woman sitting on the edge of the bed, Jelani beside her.

“What? What is it?”

“I am just feeling sorry for myself, hija. I miss my boy so much, and to think he might be unhappy… It is too much for my heart.”

She slid down to the other side and hugged her. “He is not unhappy, Mariposa. He lives by the sea, sits outside on the deck so he can smell the ocean. He has made new friends, and they have become known as the triumvirate because they have such chemistry. Rique is one of them. You might remember Mateo stayed with the dos Santos family while waiting for his visa to be approved. In fact, he is helping Rique with his batting technique. He will make everyone around him better.”

“And you? Is he happy with you? You mention everything but that.”

Allie sucked in her breath. Their relationship should have been top of the list. What newly married woman wasn’t happy? She brought back remnants of their conversation about the marriage. What had he told his mother?

She licked her lips, wanting to calm any concerns. There was a moment of hesitation before she said, “Mateo and I are still getting to know each other, but your son lights up my life.”

As soon as the words were out, she couldn’t call them back. Nor did she want to. So busy fighting the attraction, she’d completely missed the truth of that statement.

Not wanting to dwell on that private revelation, she added, “My job entails helping the players in any way I can. I’m not sure I’ve done the best by him because of our relationship. I’m the one who rented the condo, bought the car, taxied him around, took him shopping. It’s what I do. Let me assure you, though, he is not just any player to me. I married him because I fell for him. I hope he hasn’t given you the impression he made a mistake.”

Mariposa was quick to assure her, “No. No he hasn’t. He has made your marriage sound almost mystical.”

Allie was beginning to think that maybe it was. What she was going to do with it, though, was anyone’s guess. She didn’t trust those existential winds any more than she did men in general.

“Is this an American trait? Hiding your feelings from the world?”

“Not so much an American one as one of mine. Jelani here shouted her love to the whole world.”

Jelani gave her a smile.

“It’s in our genes.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Mateo paced the living room. Alicia should have arrived in Havana by now and he was anxiously awaiting her text. She’d promised to let him know how his mother looked, seemed, acted. And he desperately needed to know how the women were getting along. He knew Mariposa was traveling from their village to Havana to meet her, as well as their lawyer, from one of the texts exchanged over the last week. There’d been dozens. His mother still didn’t understand how he’d fallen in love so quickly. Especially in light of her own disastrous union. Mateo had always told her he’d take his time making that kind of decision, knowing it would impact his whole life, and yet he’d jumped into a union with a stranger not a week after meeting her. He could have told her he’d done it for her benefit, which had a foundation of truth, but nothing could have gotten him to agree if he hadn’t felt something for the woman who’d become his