Page 101 of The Shot You Missed
I didn’t realize how much I’d missed them.
“Indie!” Luz’s smile is blinding as she crosses the room with her arms open wide. “Oh, honey, it’s so good to see you.”
The floral scent of her perfume wraps around me with her arms, and I’m thrown back to who I was a dozen summers ago. Once again, I’m a teenage girl who’s completely enamored with the sweet woman who is everything I’d always wanted in a mother. Warm, funny,present. Her hugs always made me feel seen and accepted. And as tears pool in my eyes, I realize they still do.
“Hi, Mrs. Navarro.” My throat is tight, but I choke out the words.
“Oh, please.” She pulls back but doesn’t fully release me. Leaving her hands on my arms, Bash’s mom takes me in and gives me a nod of approval that I feel all the way down to my bones. Her eyes twinkle when she says, “I think you’re old enough to call me Luz.”
“Luz,” I say with a wet chuckle. “It’s really nice to see you too.”
“Don’t hog the girl,mi vida.” Victor winks at me while he playfully bumps his hip against hers in an attempt to get her to let me go. “And I agree with my wife, Indie. None of this Mr. Navarro stuff. Victor will do.”
Luz releases me with an amused shake of her head, then Victor pulls me in for a brief hug, but one that’s just as tight and comforting as his wife’s. “We’ve missed you.”
You will not cry in a room full of strangers.
Clearing my throat, I smile at Victor, who doesn’t miss my internal struggle. His smile is kind and fatherly. Like it always was all those summers ago.
“I’ve missed you, too,” I tell him honestly.
“You’ve grown up into such a beautiful woman,” Luz says. “Hasn’t she, Victor? The photos we’ve seen of you don’t do you justice.”
“Absolutely,” her husband says, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. “But she’s always been a beauty.”
And this is one of the reasons I’ve missed Sebastian’s family so much. They never made me feel like I was lacking, never cared who my parents were or made a big deal about their fame. To Victor and Luz, I was simply Sebastian’s best friend. The girl who ate dinner with them several times a week. Their acceptance was freely offered and was everything I needed as an insecure teenage girl who craved normalcy and anonymity above almost everything else.
Lola clears her throat behind me, and I shake myself out of the past and refocus on the present. Turning to my best friend, I grab her hand and drag her next to me.
“Luz, Victor, this is my best friend, Lola. Lola, these are Sebastian’s parents.”
“Hi,” Lola chirps, giving them both warm hugs. “It’s so nice to meet you! You did a great job raising the crab boy. He’s a good one.”
The Navarros chuckle, and I know she’s already won them over. Luz and Victor have always been proud of all their children. It doesn’t matter if they’re a famous athlete, a nurse, or whatever else. Their kids are their lives, and all it takes to find yourself in their good graces is to compliment one of them.
“We like to think so,” Luz says. “Sebastian tells us you’re staying here for a few months, is that right?”
Lola nods. “Yep. We both needed a change of scenery.”
I’m sure Bash’s parents are aware of the reason I dragged Lola away from LA, but they’re too kind to call attention to that. They’d been privy to more than one rant about the cost of my parents’ fame when it came to my own life.
Luz turns to me. “Well, we are so happy you and Sebastian have reconnected.” She pauses, searching my face before she gently says, “He was never the same without you.”
Oh, god. My heart squeezes and my breath catches.
Lola, knowing me well enough to guess what that statement did to me, reaches up and slings an arm over my shoulders. “So, did you put money on the game? Because I thought about it, but it kinda felt like I’d be jinxing things, and I don’t want to be the reason they lose.”
Victor throws his head back and laughs. “My wife would beat me with herchanclaif I did.”
Lola nods. “Fair enough. I need a beer. What do you say, Victor?”
“Count me in. I need to take the edge off. Pretty sure I’m more anxious about this game than my son.” Victor and Lola make their way over to the bar, and my chest expands with warmth.
I love Lola so much.
“My son tells me you’re coming to dinner with us this week,” Luz says, standing next to me and watching her husband and my friend laugh at something ridiculous Lola said.
“If that’s okay with you. I don’t want to intrude.”
