Page 50 of Chris

Somehow, Maria convinced her father to let her keep the kitten she had snuck away from the litter when it was big enough, and no longer needed its mother. Valeria figured Jorge had only allowed her to take the gray and white kitten because it was something for him to use to bribe their child, not because she seemed to love the kitten. Whenever he thought she misbehaved, he threatened to send the kitten back to the barn, or worse …

Valeria did her best to assure Maria that wouldn’t happen, but she also seemed like she made promises she wouldn’t be able to keep. And that, more than anything, killed her. She was never more aware of how little control she had over her life until it was her daughter, and nothing was for her to decide.

Even if it was just a kitten.

“Oh, no!” Maria shouted when the kitten darted away from her and went around the house. “Come back, Kitty!”

Kitty.

Yep, that’s what she had named it.

Valeria let her.

What else could she do?

“Hurry and grab it before it goes back to the barn,” Abril told Maria, “because that’s probably what she wants to do.”

Maria darted after the kitten, almost going out of Valeria’s line of sight, but stopped just short. Her head tilted back as a shadow drifted over her form, and she stared up at whoever had come around the side of the house.

“Better hold on to her good so she doesn’t get away again,” a familiar voice said.

Valeria felt that voice through every part of her body.

Every single fucking part.

Chris.

“Thank you very much,” Maria said, smiling.

They both came into view around the side of the house, standing beside a garden bed of roses that Abril liked to maintain. She had one for every house although she only lived in her own.

Chris passed a look toward the house, his gaze landing on Valeria before it went back to her daughter. Kneeling down, he handed the squirming kitten to her daughter with a soft smile. His voice lowered as he spoke to her daughter, and pet the kitten between her ears with the pad of his finger.

It didn’t matter.

Maria smiled, looking back at her mom, and then nodding at whatever Chris had told her. Pointing at a flower, he waited for Maria to give him the okay before he pulled a small pocketknife from his slacks. He cut the rose that the kitten had jumped on at the stem, dragging the blade down the length to remove any small thorns. Then, he tucked the pink rose into her daughter’s hair, right above Maria’s ear.

“Beautiful, like your Ma,” he said just loud enough for Valeria to hear.

Her throat tightened.

In her chest, her heart thundered.

Chris must have asked Maria something else because his head tilted to the side. Her child’s happy smile faded when she shrugged in her dress. She understood well enough what Chris said next because his lips moved to say, “I’m sorry, Maria.”

He said something else, and Maria quickly bounced on her feet, happy all over again as though nothing was wrong. The two of them laughed, and Chris pointed between himself, and then her daughter with a firm nod. Then, he pointed at Valeria, too, and gave Maria a wink that had her smile growing wide all over again.

“You understand?” she heard him ask.

Maria grinned. “I understand.”

“Good—I promise. I don’t break those.”

“Do you pinky promise?”

Chris shot Valeria another look from the side, but his stare didn’t linger long before it went right back to her daughter. Unquestioningly, he brought his hand out, and popped his pinky out for her daughter to catch with her own. Maria hooked their pinkies and tugged.

“Pinky promise,” he said.