“With all the spotlights apparently being turned on this family, I’ve decided it’s time you and I have a real talk, Delia. I have put up with a great deal for Edward’s sake as much as for yours, but these petty jealousies and stupid blunders are beginning to take a toll on my health and happiness, and I won’t stand for it.”
“I have done nothing to bring shame to this house, Tía Isabela.”
“Sometimes,” she said, moving to a chair by the dresser, “you don’t have to invite trouble. It invites itself.” She sat. “I didn’t think Sophia was this self-destructive, but obviously she is socially suicidal. She certainly isn’t worried about my reputation and happiness. I have forbidden her to go anywhere on weekends for the next month, but punishing her for fanning the flames of these disgusting rumors is not going to be enough. Sit,” she ordered.
I backed up and sat on the bed.
For a moment, she stared at me and then looked away. “You’re much prettier than your mother and I were at your age,” she said.
Any compliment from her was unexpected and left me speechless.
“It’s proper to thank someone when he or she gives you a compliment, Delia.”
“Thank you,” I said.
She nodded to herself, confirming a thought. “We have some work yet to be done to build your social graces, but I’m not surprised to see that the social-pages photographer took your picture at the party.”
“It was probably because of Adan or Fani,” I said quickly.
“You’re more prominent in the picture, and they don’t even mention Fani. Believe me, that’s not an accident. Escort of Adan Bovio, son of a U.S. senatorial candidate,” she recited. “So, do you like Adan Bovio?”
“He was very pleasant to be with,” I said. “Courteous. He’s asked me to go to dinner with him next Friday. To a friend’s new restaurant,” I added, “so I agreed.”
“Good,” she said quickly. “Nothing…nothing,” she repeated with more emphasis and authority and leaning toward me, “will end these stupid stories faster than you having a relationship with someone like Adan Bovio.”
Jesse had just suggested the same thing, I thought, but it did not seem to me to be the honest thing to do, and besides, there was Ignacio wearing that face of heartfelt sadness back in the Mexican bus station. Time had not made it any less vivid or painful to recall.
“I do not say it is a relationship, Tía Isabela.”
“Don’t act the innocent again with me, Delia. If you like him and you see him often, it will be a relationship. Let’s just say I’d be very pleased if it is.”
“Yes, but—”
“I have asked Edward and his sidekick to give you the breathing space you need to have normal relationships with members of the opposite sex. In light of his buying you this expensive automobile and that dress, among other things, he finally understands how he is not helping to correct the situation. I think this has been a wake-up call for us all. He has promised not to come home for at l
east a month, if not more.
“In exchange,” she added before I could protest, “I have agreed to be more of an aunt, to provide you with whatever wardrobe you require, to introduce you to more well-to-do people and”—she paused and looked back at the door—“to protect you from anything more Sophia might do or attempt to do to harm you in any way. If I should just hear that she said anything more on this subject…” She pulled herself up. “I promised Edward I would seriously consider sending her away to another private school, far enough away so she couldn’t hurt anyone but herself. Edward was satisfied.”
“I do not want to chase Edward away, Tía Isabela.”
“You’re not chasing him away. He’s simply giving you the breathing room you need to develop normal relationships with young men, especially young men of the caliber of an Adan Bovio, Delia. As I said, I would be pleased to see that relationship blossom.”
“But—”
“I can’t imagine my daughter mature enough to develop such a relationship,” she said sadly.
“I have no such relationship,” I protested. “I have only attended a party with Adan and agreed to go to a dinner. That might be all we do together,” I added, again thinking of Ignacio.
“I hope you’re not so cavalier as to toss away someone like Adan Bovio before anything could blossom, Delia.” She smiled. “I didn’t when I was your age, and I am beginning to think you are more like me than you are like your mother, whether you want to admit it to yourself or not.”
I started to shake my head. “I am not cavalier, but—”
Her smile flew off her face so quickly I stopped.
“Edward has asked permission to take you on some stupid Mexican vacation during your holiday. It appears to be something you all want very much. I told him I would agree only if my terms are followed. I am still your legal guardian and would forbid it otherwise, understood?”
What was she saying? What were her terms? That I develop a romance with Adan Bovio?