Moreno's (Moreno Brothers Series) - Elizabeth Reyes Page 0,51
Isabella had made a good female friend she could talk to. With Magdalena opening up to her about the guys she dated, Isabella let her in on the only guy she’d ever given her heart to and who, to that day, it still belonged to.
“That’s some romantic shit, right there.”
It’s what Magdalena had said when Isabella had told her about how devoted she still felt to Alejandro even after all these years. She called them almas gemelas, and insisted Isabella never give up on finding him. “That kind of love between two is far and few, girl. You can’t give up.” Isabella only prayed it was true, but it was really beginning to feel so impossible as the time passed with hope of finding him again.
Isabella had been working her shift alone with Cido that night. This wasn’t a weekend night, so they wouldn’t be open past nine. When they were done and wrapped it up, Cido asked if she wanted to take a drive out to the beach before he dropped her off at the truck commissary. Isabella couldn’t even remember having time to just relax and enjoy herself in years, so she agreed.
They dropped off the catering truck at Cido’s family’s house then drove out to Border Field, a, beach park right on the border of Mexico and California. Cido told her how they had horseback riding and hiking and it was one of the less crowded parks in the area.
Thinking back to the times she rode on the back of Atrevido with Alejandro, Isabella stared out into the moonlit sky, taking a deep breath. “It’s been so long since I’ve been horseback riding.”
“You should come out here and ride. It’s not expensive and it’s so tranquil to ride up in the trails. In fact . . . “ He pulled out a small notebook from his front pocket. “This Thursday I have you scheduled to close with me and Magdalena again. But the day before we’re not closing, so it won’t be too tiring to come out here and ride Thursday morning. My treat.”
Isabella smiled. “That’s sounds like fun.”
“It will be. I’ll pack a picnic. It’ll be relaxing. No swimming though or we’ll be too burned out to work, but we’ll go for a ride then just enjoy a peaceful lunch before heading back to work.”
“Sounds good,” she said, smiling even bigger.
They walked around a little as Cido told her about how they’d gotten the business off the ground. After parting ways with Alejandro and his dad, Octavio, who was still working part-time for a ship-building factory requested to be switched to full-time. He saved up and convinced his brothers to come over and join him in trying to get the catering truck business going. He was able to get them into the factory where he worked. Between the three of them, they saved up to buy the first truck and hustled like crazy.
“Next thing you know we had three trucks. Alejandro and his dad still had just the one, and I think they were struggling. Then suddenly we stopped seeing them at the usual spots they parked, and then they were just gone. So, we had no idea where they ended up.” He shrugged as they walked along the beach. “My dad thinks either they tried their hand in Los Angeles or maybe went to Tijuana. It stays really busy there, but there’s so much competition. There are vendors but not just on every corner. They’re all along the main streets.”
The thought of Alejandro and his dad struggling made Isabella’s heart ache. They were so full of hope about this move. “Why do you think you guys were able to make it and not them? I mean I know his dad and even Alejandro had some really good recipes and he’d even talked about a special seasoning.”
Cido scoffed, shaking his head. “You mean like the one we have? I don’t know. Maybe ours was better. It’s still up in the air whether it was my dad’s or his that created that secret seasoning.”
Staring straight ahead as they continued to walk, Isabella kept her thoughts to herself. She clearly remembered Alej mentioning more than once about his father using most of his grandmother’s recipes, including the special blend of seasonings that had been passed down for generations.
More than once now Cido mentioned the Morenos possibly giving up on the dream of making it in America and going back to Mexico. Yet, something in her heart insisted they