“Yeah, a little. I’m not sure if it’s an aftereffect of the anesthesia or my mother’s visiting me.”
“I’ll go tell the nurse,” Jesse said, and hurried out.
Edward held on to my hand again. “Be careful, Delia,” he whispered. “You know what is careful?”
“Sí, Edward.”
“Good,” he said. “Good.” His fingers weakened, and he turned away. “You’d better go,” he said. “I’m feeling sick, and it might not be pleasant.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’m sorry. Really, I am.”
“I know. It’s all right.”
I left just as his private nurse came rushing back into the room.
Edward didn’t realize it, I’m sure, but I had meant that I was sorry for everything.
Jesse was standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall, his eyes gazing at the floor.
“Jeez,” he said when I approached. “He’s losing an eye. I know we should be grateful he wasn’t killed, but I know he’s just putting on a brave front, trying to look fuerte, strong.”
He looked as if he would break out in tears. I gazed down the hallway at my aunt, who was still talking to a doctor. She would not appreciate a young man being so emotional, I thought, especially with all of her suspicions. I put my hand on his arm.
“We will help him,” I said. “Do not worry.”
He smiled. “Yes. We will. It’s good that you’re here, Delia.”
I laughed to myself, thinking he might be the only one who truly believed that.
15
Spy
“Don’t tell me,” Tía Isabela said later when we were in the Rolls-Royce and being driven home, “that Jesse wants to be just pals with my son. I’ve always been suspicious of that Jesse Butler. He practically haunts our house and Edward. His family hasn’t been here that long. I have a feeling they moved from Orange County because of something dark in their family closet, something maybe related to him. He just looks…looks like the type.
“Of course,” she continued, “I want to believe the best about my son. Your children are a big reflection on you. You get blamed for everything they say and do. But I know peer pressure is usually stronger than parental pressure. You’re always judged by the friends you keep. Don’t forget that. It’s especially true in the circles I’m in. Everyone is eager to cast the first stone, and believe me, no one is without sin.”
She looked at me and nodded.
“You’d better learn that fast, Delia. You’d better grow a tough shell like I did. Yes, I did,” she said, nodding and looking forward again. “I don’t let people judge me. No one is better than I am, and I let them all know it, too. Why, the first time one of my so-called girlfriends laughed at my being born in some nothing village in Mexico, I jumped down her throat so fast she gagged on the words. That’s the way they are around here.” She turned back to me. “Everyone just loves tearing someone else down. They’re just jealous, all of them. Why, if any of these wonderful friends of mine got wind of something more going on between my son and Jesse Butler…”
She paused and kept herself facing forward, looking as if she was in very deep thought.
How could she keep them as friends if they were so eager to find a way to hurt her? Was she so desperate for friends, even with all she had?
She turned to me so suddenly it was as if she could hear my thoughts, but she was thinking about something else, something terrifying, in fact.
“Edward likes you, Delia. That’s obvious. He likes you, I hope, in a manly way, too. Don’t pretend you don’t understand what I’m saying, either,” she added quickly when I started to shake my head. “I never saw him get so emotional about anyone else. Why, he certainly wouldn’t run off to protect his sister like that, and despite what’s happened to him, he still believes he was right to do it. He has feelings for you, deep feelings.
“Stop shaking your head. You know as well as I do that first cousins can be more than cousins. In Mexico, it’s legal to marry your cousin. I see the way you look at him as well. The fact that he’s your cousin doesn’t stop that. You think he’s handsome, attractive.”
“He’s handsome, yes, but…”
“I know that look on a young girl’s face when she sees a good-looking young man. Believe me, I know.”
I shook my head more emphatically now.
“You don’t have to worry, Delia. I’m not angry about it, and I’m not asking you to do anything, actually, but since he obviously is drawn to you, I would like you to test the water for me.”