Rio Grande Wedding Part 21

Alejandro lifted his chin and let the pride of five hundred years of culture fill him.

In him ran the blood of the Aztecs and the conquistadores, who had done as much damage as good, but had been first even on this land under their feet. What his education had given him pride in his language and his people could not be stolen by the evil eye of a man who was afraid.

"Please," Molly said again, more urgently.

Abruptly, Josh gave up his aggressive stance and spun toward the house. Molly looked up at Alejandro, and he glimpsed the worry in her face. He held out his hand, smiling wryly. "He will not hurt you."

"Not intentionally," Molly said bleakly, but she accepted his had and they walked to the house.

Inside, the usual chaos greeted them. Toys were strewn in no particular trail through the living room trucks, plastic blocks,doll clothes.

Josh cursed as he made his way through the minefield. "Lynette!" he roared, "makethese kids pick up their stuff!"

Lynette came out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel. "Don't be such a grouch, honey!" Only then did she spy Molly and Alejandro, who hung back a little. Her eyes widened.

Molly knew she had to hit exactly the right notes in front of her friend. They had been best friends since kindergarten. For a while last night, she had even considered telling Lynette the truth, but realized in time that the confession would put Lynette in a difficult position. So, although it pained her to lie to her friend. Molly intended to convince Lynette she was besotted.

To that end, she looked up at Alejandro and smiled, and tugged his hand. "This is my best friend, Lynette, Alejandro."

Josh snorted. "They're engaged," he said in a nasty singsong.

"What?" Lynette's face was a study in bewilderment. First shock, then a sliding glance to Alejandro, which turned her expression to one of consideration, then a glance at her husband, before she looked back to Molly with amazement.

"Oh my G.o.d," she finally said, and sailed through some uncanny mother instinct over the toys and into Molly's arms. "How wonderful!" she screeched, her arms a vise.

Then, in one of the gestures that had made her Molly's best friend for all of life, she turned to Alejandro and hugged him, too. "Welcome to the family!" she cried. "I'm amazed, but I'm so happy for you! I think I have some champagne somewhere. Come in the kitchen and let's have a toast."

She led the way, and shooed the children out of the kitchen. "Go pick up your toys, guys, and you can come back and take a peek at your new uncle."

Both children dropped their mouths. "New uncle?"

"Yep, right there in front of you." She shooed them with her fingers. "Go pick up the toys first. p.r.o.nto, p.r.o.nto." She glanced up and gave Alejandro an abashed expression.

"Sorry! I wasn't making fun of you, I promise. I mean, you are Mexican, aren't you? Oh, I'm only making this worse!"

Alejandro laughed, that low, s.e.xy sound, and shook his head. "It would be a mean man who was offended with you."

"Thank you. Sit down." She swept the children's dishes from the table.

Through it all, Molly kept her attention on her brother. He flung himself against the counter, arms crossed, and waited for everything to settle, his eyes hard on Molly. "No way," he said at last. "This is just bull-"

"Josh," Lynette warned.

"Bullc.r.a.p," he said instead. "I don't believe this is some big love match, Molly Sheffield. How long have you known him?"

Alejandro spoke. "It has not been long, it is true. But time is sometimes not needed."

"How long?"

Molly looked at Alejandro, urging him silently to field this one. She had no idea when he'd arrived at Wiley Farms. He acknowledged her urgency with a nod. "I came here only three weeks ago."

Josh rolled his eyes. "Molly, I want to talk to you. Alone."

Alejandro half rose, but Molly shook her head silently. She'd known how hard this part would be, and with Josh in his current temper, she didn't particularly want to subject Alejandro to any more of his raving.

Josh strode into his bedroom and closed the door. In a low, tight voice, he said, "What the h.e.l.l do you think you're doing, Moll?"

As calmly as possible, Molly replied, "I knew this wouldn't be easy for you."

"You're d.a.m.ned right." He paced toward the window, then back. "How could you?"

"How could I what? Fall in love? It happens all the time."

"He's afriggin ' alien! I can't believe you have anything in common enough to fall in love." He licked his bottom lip, his eyes narrowing. "I knew there was something wrong that night you bought me a steak at the cafe. Like you had a guilty conscience."

"Come on, Josh. I've done it a hundred times. It gives me pleasure to help you sometimes. I don't have to have an ulterior motive."

"Not always. But you were weird that night. Asking about the kid I suppose it's the little girl they found on Wiley's land."

She nodded. A knot of discomfort made her stomach ache. She didn't like to lie, and it seemed she'd done little else the past few days.

But was lying to save someone's life really a sin? In this case, she felt justified, though her brother would certainly disagree. The thought made her utter a swift prayer: G.o.d, please never let him find out the truth!

"From what I hear, she's pretty sick," he said. "Same age as Roch.e.l.le. Makes me sad to think of her out there for two days, scared and alone."

"Me, too, Josh. We were both worried to death about her. And she is very sick. She has TB.".

He shook his head. Some of the anger drained from his face and softened his shoulders.

"Moll, I know how you are. I can see why you'd take in some lost kid, why you'd want to help these two. But don't you see? If you do, you give every other illegal for two thousand miles an excuse to keep trying."

She sighed. "Josh-"

"Don't say it, Molly. I don't want you to have to lie to me anymore. Let's just let it stand you're marrying this guy to help his little girl, and we both know it." His jaw went hard. "If I can prove it, I'll deport him so fast you won't even know what happened."

Anger burst in Molly. "You go ahead and try. I'm in love with him and I'm going to marry him!" She sighed. "Can't you just be happy for me, Josh? I've been so d.a.m.ned lonely since Tim died."

"I know. But what has this guy got to offer you? Some poor Mexican illegal with a third-grade education?"

She scowled, hearing in his a.s.sumptions a reflection of her own early expectations.

Shame touched her again. "Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions about who he is."

He rolled his eyes. "I've seen enough of these guys that I don't have to make a.s.sumptions. I deal with them, remember?"

"Who do you deal with, Josh? Do you know anything about them? Have you ever had a conversation with even one of those guys? About their lives, about their educations, about their reasons for being here?"

"No! And I don't care. They don't belong here. They're making it hard on the rest of us. I pay my taxes and pay my insurance and as far as I'm concerned, they're taking money directly out of my pocket!"

"Josh-"

"No, I don't want to hear it. We'll never agree on this."

A pang of separation struck her. If she chose Alejandro, she was going to lose her brother. How could she make that kind of choice?