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“Really?” I ask, looking between the two of them. “Mama and Papa are so against it, I guess I wasn’t really sure what you two thought of it.”

“I subscribe to your website too, Bella.” Marco bellows from the other side of the kitchen where he’s tossing a salad. “Your sisters are right; you have a gift for writing.”

I smile at him and another tear breaks free and runs down my cheek. “Thanks, guys. I actually received a sponsorship opportunity where I could travel and write full time.”

“No way! That’s amazing,” Rosa says, leaning back against the stainless steel countertop. “You should go for it.”

I bite my bottom lip. “I really want to.”

“Do it! Mama will accept it if she has no other choice,” Lily adds, looking way more confident about that than I feel.

Rosa grimaces like she feels the same way I do. I sigh and slump against the counter next to her. “I want to please Mama and Papa, and follow my dreams… but it feels like I have to choose one or the other.”

My sisters look at me sympathetically, all of us knowing how stubborn our mother is. Courtney walks into the kitchen and grins when she sees me. “Good to have you back!” She ties her apron around her waist without breaking eye contact. “Loved your Peru article!”

I chuckle and my sisters and Marco join in. “See?” Lily tells me with a tilt of her head.

“Thanks, Court! It was an amazing trip.” I smile to myself, thinking of the first kiss I shared with David on the mountain top.

Courtney crosses her arms over her chest and arches an eyebrow. “Alright let’s hear it. I can tell from that dreamy look on your face you met a guy on this trip.”

My sisters study me and I roll my eyes. “You’re right,” Rosa says, pointing to my face. “She’s blushing.”

“I am not!”

“Are too,” Lily agrees with Rosa.

“I can see the blush from all the way over here,” Marco adds.

I roll my lips between my teeth, trying to keep the stupid grin off my face that thoughts of David seem to put there. “Okay, there’s a guy. But I didn’t meet him on the trip.”

The girls lean in, anticipation in their wide eyes. Marco stops his work and waits for me to continue.

“You remember my grumpy neighbor?”

Rosa wrinkles her nose. “The accountant?”

I nod. “So the first day of the hike, I look behind me… and there he is.”

Lily gasps. “On the same trip??”

“Yep! And we ended up sharing a tent.”

Courtney rubs her hands together. “Oh, this is getting good.”

“And on the last night… I kissed him.”

They all gasp, even Marco. “What did he do?” Rosa asks.

“He pulled me into his lap and kissed me back.”

The ladies all sigh in unison and Marco whistles loudly.

“You definitely left all the juicy details out of your Peru article,” Courtney says with a giggle.

Mama bursts into the kitchen, Papa trailing closely behind her. All of us stand up straight and disperse amongst the kitchen, making ourselves look busy.

“I’m gonna go set the tables,” Courtney announces befores grabbing the bucket of napkins and silverware, then exits the kitchen. She shoots me a secret smile right before the swinging doors close behind her.