“It is nothing, Leely. We are like-a family now.”
My brain finally made the connection. “You’re Patricio’s mother.”
“Yes. And it is very nice to meet you.” She gave me a quick hug. “I will see you in the kitchen, si? I make the good strong breakfast for you.” She flexed her arm to show me the muscle-building powers of her cooking.
“Si. Thank you.”
She left me there to finish cleaning up, and when I got to the kitchen, Patricio’s mother was yelling at him, shaking her fist in his face. Two men, one older and one younger, who both looked very much like Patricio, sat at his kitchen table, sipping coffee and watching Patricio go at it with his mother.
I didn’t have the stomach for more fighting, so I slowly stepped back. Sadly, his mother noticed me.
“Leely! Come in. I make you the breakfast.”
“No. It’s okay. Really. I’m not hungry, and I need to get to Santa Barbara.”
“Can we talk for a moment, Lily?” Patricio asked.
“Sure.” I followed him into his bedroom, which was decorated in a strange ode to Hollywood style with black-and-white photos of old movie stars—James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart.
He closed the door and shook his head. “I am very sorry, Lily. I did not expect my mother so early today. We have plans to do sightseeing.”
“It’s okay, but I really have to go.”
“That is the thing. I told my mother this, and she got very upset that you are not with us today.”
I rolled my eyes. “Patricio, I’m sorry. Your mother seems like a very nice lady, but I’ve got to go.” And she was pretty dang low on my list of worries. Besides, I’d already figured out that the whole thing to get me to come and meet his family was more about him winning me back versus helping him out. Was his mother even sick? Who knew?
“You cannot, Lily. Now she knows you’re pregnant, and now she is more upset because I did not tell her, and we are not married.”
“Oh. My. God. Patricio, are you hearing yourself right now? I cannot have my life revolve around your lies.” It was ridiculous. “You either tell her right now that we broke up, or I will. Either way, you can’t have her believing we’re still a thing and that I’m pregnant with your child. That’s ridiculous, not to mention cruel.”
Patricio scratched his chin. “I know you are right. I do. And I will tell her, but now is not the time, Lily. I know my mother, and just like your heart is broken, this will break hers. She deserves better.”
Oh Jeez. Why did he have to love his mommy so much, and why did I have to think it was so sweet? That being said, “Look, I know you wanted me to come here and meet everyone so that I might change my mind about us, but you need to believe me when I say that I’m not ready for a relationship. I never should’ve started dating you to begin with.”
“So you lied when you said you loved me.” I watched his face flush.
What a hothead. I mean, there was passion and then there was this. Impulsive, irrational, trigger-happy with the anger. It didn’t scare me, but not knowing when someone might lose their temper wasn’t conducive to a peaceful, stress-free life.
Maybe it’s an Italian thing. Still, it wasn’t a Lily thing.
“I think I loved the idea of us becoming more. I loved our friendship. I loved how you made me laugh and how we had so much fun together.” It had been easy with Patricio, and I suppose after having endured something so not-easy with Max I didn’t want to take any real risks with my heart again. Nevertheless… “Everything I said to you was true, and there was a moment that I could’ve seen us happy if we gave our friendship time to grow.”
“And now?”
“You know about now.” Max had kicked me to the curb. I was pregnant. I’d been arrested for punching his mother—the horror-show mascot—and I had no clue where my business stood. Max had bought my building and put it in my name so while that saved me from an immediate catastrophe, I couldn’t and wouldn’t accept charity from him. I either stood on my own two feet or I didn’t. Yeah, but now you’ll have someone else depending on you.
Christ. I lowered my head into my palms and groaned. “My life is a mess.”
Patricio placed his hands on my arms and squeezed gently. “It doesn’t have to be. I still love you, Lily. I don’t care if you were with him. All right, si. I do care, but I can let it go if I had you. Please do not give up on us.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“I can’t think about this right now. I really can’t.” Everything was so fresh and raw. I felt drunk—sad drunk, not happy drunk—with emotional uncertainty that tinged everything around me with gray.
“Fine,” said Patricio. “Then think about it later. But remember that Maxwell Cole has shown you who he is and what he’s made of.”