Page 30 of Vortex

“I told you. I’ve come home.” Her tears leave marks in the dust on her cheeks, but there is nothing in her eyes to say that they are anything more than excess water she can pump out at will.

“You’d better come in, then, until I decide what to do about this situation. There is no free ride, though. If you’re staying, you’re working. You earn your room and board.”

She positively bounces up the porch steps until I ask, “Walked far?” She mentions her sore feet and tells me she’s walked from town. As she says this, I grin yet again. Estrella always told Marisela that when she lied, she wriggled her fingers, so if she was going to tell a lie, she should hide her hands behind her back. She still did it to this day and never knew that it gave her away.

Walking through to the kitchen, I make two cups of coffee, both strong and black. I sit at the table and pass her one of the cups.

“Don’t you have a coffee machine yet? I drink latte now,” and there’s that whiny voice for when she wants something.

“There’s milk in the refrigerator if you want it. I don’t need a coffee machine to make coffee the way I like it, the way I’ve been doing it all my life.”

“We’ll need to get one when we go to town next time. I can’t live without my latte,” and there it is already, I think to myself. Me, me, me. She just can’t help herself.

“We don’t need a coffee machine, you do. You want one, you buy one.” The anger flashes again. This is not going her way, and I don’t intend it to. I watch as she heats some milk in a saucepan, her shoulders set and stiff.

“Maybe I should get a microwave, too, Pops.”

“If you need one. I ain’t had the need for one, and your mom thought they were for lazy people who didn’t do things proper.” Estrella had a microwave that I bought her as a gift when they first became the kitchen gadget to have. It sat on the counter in the corner of her kitchen for what must have been five years. She never plugged it in or tried to use it once in all that time. I threw it in the dumpster in the end and put a vase of flowers there instead. There were flowers in that corner every day until the day she died. Hell, I should get some flowers for that corner, she loved seeing them there.

When she has her precious latte, she sits back down, and I wait to see what comes out of her mouth next. The silence remains until the sound of an engine approaching from the ranch road has me standing up. This should be interesting, I think to myself.

The door swings open, and Vortex walks in, but what makes me smile is who is right behind him. Shaking her head, her loose hair flowing, Allegra looks like a model in a shampoo advertisement. She looks at me and her genuine smile has me smiling back. Stepping forward, she gives me a bear hug and a kiss on the cheek, before turning her attention to Marisela.

“So. You are the prodigious daughter returning,” she says, looking her up and down, although Marisela hasn’t got up from her chair yet.

Vortex and I both echo, “Prodigal.”

“Whatever,” Allegra throws over her shoulder at us. “What brings you back?” She looks down at Marisela as she asks her.

“I have come home to help my father run the ranch. Also, I may have time to rekindle an old relationship.” Marisela deliberately looks past Allegra. “Hello, Vortex. It’s been a long time. Not too long, I hope.”

There is a deathly silence as this gauntlet is thrown down and hits the floor, broken by a sudden burst of laughter. Allegra looks at Marisela like a wolf looks at its prey.

“Good luck with that, cretina. You had your chance and were too stupida to see what was in front of you. By all means, though, I invite you to try again. You are no threat to me.”

Dismissing Marisela with a gesture of her hand, she winks at Vortex, and then takes my hand. “Come, Silas, we have business to discuss. Let us leave Marisela to her embarrassment. Vortex, you do not have to be so gentle when you let her down this time, my man.”

Taking my arm, she leads me to the study where I deliberately don’t take the big chair. I sit in front of the desk. Allegra raises her eyebrows and sits in a chair by mine. “I am not now, nor do I ever want to be your boss. We will be partners in this venture until you want to retire. I have so much to learn about the ranch, horses, and the business, I won’t be the boss of someone who knows more than I do. Also, I think I should call you something more respectable than just Silas.”

“Respectable? Oh, you mean respectful…”

“That is what I said, so I’m going to call you Uncle Silas from now on.”

“The hell you are! Uncle Silas? It makes me sound like some Civil War-era evil relative up to no good. No. Uhuh. Not a chance. It’s Silas, Pops, or Grandpa. I’m not being Uncle for no one, y’hear?” I try to look quite fierce, but I’m sure it comes out more in an endearing sort of way. She certainly doesn’t look scared, which is what I intended.

“Well, I can’t call you Pops with Marisela here, that will cause a riot, I’m sure. Grandpa is too old for you, so Silas it is for now. Next on my agenda. Where you live when we move in. I don’t want you to move out of your home. You stay here with us in the main house. We can make it work well enough, with just a little tolerance of each other's ways. I can make it uncomfortable enough that Marisela won’t hang around long.” She gives me an exaggerated wink that brings a smile to my face.

“I don’t think she’ll hang around long once she knows you’ve bought the place and are moving in.” I wink back at her.

“Well, let’s not tell her just yet, eh? Let’s have a little fun with her. After all, she’s come all this way to help you, it would be a shame to shut a gift horse in the stable.”

“You do that on purpose, don’t you?” I state in a knowing tone of voice.

“I used to do it when we first came to America. It deflected some of the crap I used to get about my accent. It’s not always deliberate now, but yes, you are correct. I find it amusing, so don’t tell anyone about it. Especially not Vortex. I use it to deflect his attention away from things I don’t want to answer or to get my own way.” She laughs along with me, and I can see when she decides it is time to see how Marisela is behaving with her man.

Walking back into the kitchen, Marisela and Vortex are nose to nose, and he looks tense and not a little angry. When Marisela sees Allegra she puts her hands on his chest, almost possessively, and smiles at her. Vortex frowns, and as he reaches to remove her hands, Allegra steps up to them.

“By now, Marisela, Vortex has told you that he is not interested in you and that your time has passed. Now I’m telling you that, and also, if you touch my man again, I will take you out onto the ranch and bury you where you will never be found.” Allegra smiles the whole time she’s talking.