Valaquez Bride Read Free

want to upset her uncle, especially now that
he was injured but if he started hassling her again about marrying
Pablo, she would have to protest vehemently. An arranged marriage would
never be acceptable to her. She wanted love and if she never found it,
then she would simply live her life single. Eyeing the house warily,
she sighed and as she did, Benny reached out and drew her clumsily into
his arms, patting her back. After stretching up on tiptoe to give him a
light kiss on the cheek, she pulled away, her expression resigned.
"Well, I might as well go in," she murmured softly. "Hadn't I?"
    Benny nodded but lifted his eyes heavenward. "I guess so,
since you're hell-bent to do this. Just don't let your uncle browbeat
you or play on your emotions because he's been injured. And if you
happen to run into Pablo or Raul Valaquez, be sure and ask them what
century they think this is. I thought arranged marriages went out with
the Stone Age."
    Juliet smiled wryly. "I would tell Pablo that but Raul's a
different matter. He'd probably throw me in his dungeon if I expressed
disrespect for such an aristocratic custom." When Benny frowned, she
patted his arm. "I was only kidding. He doesn't have a dungeon. I
guess. Besides, I probably won't even see him while I'm here anyway. So
just drive on to Jaen and don't worry about me. I'll be just fine here.
I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself." As Benny nodded
reluctantly, she picked up her suitcase, then turned toward the fine
old house. "See you day after tomorrow," she murmured, walking away
before he could say anything else.
    Like most other prestigious older dwellings in the city,
Uncle Will's house had no front yard. An ornate statue rose from a
stone pedestal in the center of a small flagstone terrace and a
cultivated elm tree grew on one side, providing welcome shade. There
were ornamental evergreen shrubs along the front walls of the house and
trailing bougainvillaea vines festooned the wrought iron railings of
the second floor balcony. Juliet paused at the gleaming black door,
memories overwhelming her as she caught the sweet fragrance of orange
and the more citric scent of lemon. Those trees grew in the walled
courtyard behind the house, a courtyard where she had spent many
pleasant hours. Nostalgia overswept her and she felt a real regret that
she had been compelled to leave here the way she had, but it was
useless to think about that now. As the van's engine sputtered to life
behind her, she turned, waved good-bye to her friends, then reached out
toward the heavy brass knocker adorning the front door.
    Before she could lift the hammer, however, the door was
flung open from inside and Rosita, Uncle Will's housekeeper and cook,
gestured excitedly for her to come in. Though she was a tiny woman, she
was wiry and strong and she embraced Juliet with enthusiasm, all the
while chattering away in rapid-fire Spanish. Juliet understood only a
little of what she was saying because she was speaking so quickly and
Juliet's Spanish had gotten very rusty during the eleven months she had
spent traveling through Europe with Benny and Holly. Finally, as Rosita
chattered on, Juliet laughed and caught the housekeeper's wildly
gesticulating hands.
    "Whoa. Speak English, please. Remember, I don't speak
Spanish like a native."
    As Rosita's brown eyes swept over Juliet, they lost some
of their excited sparkle. Her broad smile began to slowly fade,
accentuating the network of wrinkles that lined her brown face. She
abruptly extracted one of the hands the girl held and waggled a bony
finger disapprovingly. "You did a bad thing," she accused very
seriously. "You make everybody sad when you run away. And with a silly
little boy.
Niña
! Why you do such a crazy thing?
Señor McKay, he…"
    "How is Uncle Will?" Juliet interrupted hastily. "I read
about his accident this morning. Is—is he badly injured?"
    "You care?" Rosita countered mockingly. "You run away and
send him only some letters in the past year