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“No? Then what was it? Because where I come from, people don’t have each other followed.”
“I don’t even have a girlfriend. I lied because the last thing I need is some gold digger trying to mine me the entire trip,” I say. “The call had to do with a very important business deal. I need to make sure there aren’t other offers coming in while I’m out here in the … 1830s.” I glance up for the first time, only to be struck by how incredibly bright the stars are. “The entire thing is very delicate and if someone else swoops in, it’ll be a disaster for me.”
When she doesn’t answer me, I say, “Do you believe me?”
“I guess so. It still seems to be all kinds of wrong, even in a business setting.”
“It is,” I answer. “I’m not proud of what I’m doing, but my whole life … this is the only thing that has mattered. I’ve wanted this since I was a kid. Before I was even out of high school. And now that I’m so close I can taste it, it might get ripped away. And this might be me justifying my actions, but I believe that there are a few situations in life when a person has to use every advantage they can find.”
“So it’s your dream then?” she asks, her voice softening.
“You could say that,” I tell her, then for no reason at all, I find myself trying to convince her not to think less of me. “Some dreams are worth fighting for, aren’t they? Even if you have to bend the rules?”
Ms. Fox looks up at me, her eyes searching mine in the faint street light. “Yes.”
I smile down at her, relief washing over me.
We round the corner and the store comes into view. It’s brightly lit up, giving it a warm feeling against the dark evening. I hurry ahead a little so I can open the door for her. A bell rings, notifying the sales clerk that we’re here.
“Hola!” We’re greeted by a woman in a pink blouse and a black skirt with bands of various colors around it—traditional Inca clothing, which I wonder if she’s wearing for the tourists.
Ms. Fox and I both say hola back. As soon as she hears our accents, she starts to speak in English. “Are you looking for anything in particular this evening or just browsing?”
“I need to use a phone,” I tell her.
She nods at me, then turns to Ms. Fox, looking her up and down. “And your wife? She looks like she could use some new clothes.”
Ms. Fox and I exchange a glance, and I wait to see if she’s going to correct the woman on her assumption. She smiles up at me sweetly. “Yes, sweetie, I think I could use some clothes, you know, since my bag got lost and all.”
I grin down at her. “Of course. Anything for my girl.” Turning to the clerk, whose eyes are lit up like the sky on the Fourth of July, I say, “She’s going to need everything—pants, shoes, undergarments…”
The woman smiles at Ms. Fox. “He’s a very good husband. Not cheap like so many of them.”
“If there’s anything Ty isn’t, it’s cheap,” she answers.
Huh, she called me Ty. I actually do like the sound of that better.
“You look around while I help your husband make his call,” she says. “We have more sizes in the back, so if you don’t see the right one, I can check. My name is Marisol, so just yell, Marisol! if you need me.”
She gestures to me. “Come on. The phone is back here. But I need your credit card.”
Of course she does.
12
Shopping with the Enemy…
Gwen
Okay, if there’s one thing this store has a lot of, it’s colorful ponchos. I reach out and touch one of them, then mutter, “Oh, that is so soft.”
“It’s real baby alpaca wool,” Marisol says. “A lot of stores say they use baby alpaca, but it’s a lie. They only use maybe one percent. Ours is one-hundred percent.”
“That’s good to know,” I say, flipping the price tag over on the poncho. It reads $100 USD/375 SOL. Yikes, that’s a lot. “As beautiful as this is, I need to be practical. I have to get a jacket, some pants, shirts, underwear, socks, and hiking shoes.”
“I have everything you need. Don’t worry.”
Within a few minutes, I’m in the dressing room, my arms loaded with clothing. Not my usual style—everything is very bright. Nothing black other than if I wanted to buy a traditional skirt, but even those have bands of color. The T-shirts all say Sacred Valley or Peru on them, but they’re nice, soft cotton and will be a hell of a lot more comfortable than wearing this silk blouse everywhere. There is one style of denim jeans—boot cut in a medium wash. Luckily, she also has cargo pants. But as far as jackets go, it’s really just the ponchos or wool cardigans.
