Girl Gone Viral (Modern Love #2) - Alisha Rai Page 0,66
difficult.”
“He did have a family, though, eventually.”
“Aha, yes. As I mentioned, theoretically California didn’t permit mixing between the races. Theoretically.” Andrés offered her his hand, and drew her along the case. “My father was older and resigned to being alone when he met my mother at a party. She always said it was love at first sight. She was Mexican, and they feared they wouldn’t be able to marry. They took a risk, went to the courthouse, and to their great relief, all the clerk did was assess whether they were both brown.” He pointed to an ornate frame in the case. “I have their wedding photo enlarged in the dining room as well.”
A little ball of emotion caught in her throat. The stern-faced man from the previous photo was no more. He was looking down at the petite woman next to him with complete adoration. She was beautiful, in a simple white dress and lace veil, her heart-shaped face lit up with possibilities. “Your parents are beautiful.”
“They were.” His smile was tinged with sadness. “She passed away when I was young, in childbirth with my sister.”
“I’m so sorry,” Katrina murmured. “My mother also passed when I was young.”
Andrés patted her hand in sympathy. “It’s tragic. I was happy to have the time I did with her, and so was my father. They were an excellent example of compromise and love. My mama went to the Gurdwara. My dad went to church. Every Saturday we’d go to this restaurant in town owned by another Mexican-Punjabi family and have their signature dish, a roti quesadilla. After she died, my father took me to all those places on his own, tried to keep her spirit alive for me.”
She smiled, wistfulness twining around her heart. Imagine, having a father like that. “Sounds like they built a good life.”
“They did,” he said simply, and jerked his chin at another wedding portrait on the other wall. This one was of a much younger Andrés and a beautiful Punjabi woman. She was dressed in bright red. Their brown skin glowed. “They were the example I followed when I married. That’s my late Mata. We were childhood sweethearts.”
Katrina didn’t know how much more her tender, romantic heart could take. “She’s lovely. Your family is lucky to have so many wonderful examples of love and marriages.”
“You didn’t have such examples?”
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “No. My mother met my dad when she was in grad school, and they got married quick. It lasted about a year, didn’t work out.” Which was a massive understatement. Since her parents had split before she was born, she didn’t know how bad it must have been, but knowing her dad . . . well. A nightmare, probably, for her mom.
Andrés gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It was for the best.” Thanks to that divorce, the first nine years of her life had been peaceful.
She rarely got so personal with someone she’d just met, but it was remarkably easy to talk to Jas’s grandfather. He’d looked so forbidding when he’d thundered into the yard of the little house, but really he was a pussycat. Especially when it came to his family.
So why is he so mad at Jas?
Such a puzzle. “Thank you for giving me this history lesson.”
“Perhaps at some point, I can take you to the museum. I know the curator well, we’ll go after hours. My family, the other families around here, we’ve all contributed to it.”
She softened at his thoughtfulness in subtly assuring her the place would be empty. “Sounds like you have a good community.”
“The best. Our parents and grandparents started it, digging this soil with their bare hands. They took up space for themselves, carved out a whole new place for us. We have to nourish their legacy, or no one will.” His fond smile vanished. “That’s what I’ve tried to teach my grandsons.”
She barely heard the last part. She froze, something in the words he’d said speaking to her soul. Realization crashed down on her.
She’d carved out a place for herself, too.
She could stand to take up some more space, though. No, wait. Why not all the space? Yes, proactively take up space. Sit in the front seat, if she wanted to. Tap her resources to launch some sort of CafeBae counterattack instead of playing wait-and-see. Kiss Jas. Touch his eyebrows.
All you have to do is find out if he wants that too.