Page 23 of Caught Up In You (Indigo Royal Resort)
“Papa, where is your cane?” Leona asked.
“Oh, I left it in the garage, but it’s not a problem! Sit—let’s eat before the food gets cold.” Leona shook her head in disbelief but did as she was told by her father. She took the solo seat on the one side of the table, so Cullen followed her lead and sat down directly across from her, with her mother in between them on the end, leaving Josef to slide in closer to their dad.
“So, Cullen,” Roberto said, breaking the silence as the food was passed around. “Tell us about this camp. We’ve heard so much from Josef, but I’d love to hear about it from your perspective.”
“Well, it’s a skills camp. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect myself. I had ideas of how I’d want to do things, but I wasn’t entirely sure what the skill level would be of the kids participating, or really, what their expectations were. But I think overall it’s been going decently,” he answered, looking over at Josef for confirmation. When the kid smiled and nodded, he felt a little something he couldn't name in his heart. He liked knowing this kid was enjoying the camp. “So we have worked on all the basics, ball handling, dribbling, done some different drills to practice bobbing and weaving, done some defensive work. This morning for a bit I had them working on penalty kicks. Tomorrow will mostly be some scrimmaging.”
“And you’re enjoying your time here?”
“I am, very much. As I’m sure you know, I’m in a bit of a transition in my career, and this was something to help me fill some time and still be useful while I figure out my next steps.”
“So it had nothing to do with trying to clean up your reputation?” Anna cut in.
Chapter Eleven
Anna Filipe looked at him pointedly as she awaited an answer to her question. Chewing extra slowly, trying to buy time to figure out the best answer to her question, he weighed all the options in his mind. What exactly had she heard? As far as he knew, Oliver had been able to squash the pub non-brawl story pretty quickly, although who knew how long those kinds of photos made the rounds on social media. The fact had not escaped him, though, that maybe she was referring to something other than that one event. How quickly he forgot the spitfire blonde who was sitting directly across the table from him and all the information, and assumptions, that she held.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Filipe, I’m not entirely sure what you’re referring to,” he said, once he swallowed his over-chewed bite. He figured that playing dumb was better than going with the wrong guess.
“Well, Leona here tells us that you usually bring a…friend…with you when you come to stay at the Indigo Royal, but that this year you are here all by yourself. Trouble in paradise?” she prodded.
“Anna…” Roberto said, a little warning in his tone.
“No, Mrs. Filipe.” Cullen swallowed nervously. He looked over to Leona, hoping she might jump in, but she stayed focused on the food on her plate. Josef, too, was shoveling food into his mouth like this might be his last meal, though his actions were probably more due to a large appetite worked up at camp this afternoon, rather than avoiding the topic of conversation. “None of my companions were able to join me this year since I am down here for longer than usual.” There, now that was a good PR answer.
“I see. So, no wife or serious girlfriend then,” she continued. “Any children?”
Leona audibly choked on the bite she’d just taken, reaching quickly for the glass of water in front of her. She gulped it down, the rest of the family watching to make sure she was okay. Cullen was thankful for the bit of a reprieve. He really hadn’t been expecting to be interrogated on such a level. If it hadn’t been clear before, it was abundantly clear now that Leona got all her sass and spirit from her mother.
“Sorry, went down the wrong pipe,” she finally said when she was able to breathe again. She glared up at Cullen trying to communicate some kind of message that for the life of him he couldn’t understand. There was no way he would bring up their conversation from the other day to her parents. What would he say? Hi, for a hot second I thought maybe your son was my child from a one-night stand I had with your daughter when she was underage. Roberto Filipe seemed like a pretty easygoing guy, but Cullen was sure that would change in the blink of an eye if he mentioned sleeping with his daughter.
“No, no kids,” he answered.
“That you know of,” she threw out.
“Mama!” Leona chided. Her mother simply shrugged and went back to her meal. It was becoming obvious to him that Anna was going to be a tough one to win over.
“Well, I’m glad to hear you’ve been enjoying time with the kids,” Roberto said, thankfully changing the subject. “Josef has raved about camp.”
“We’re having a blast,” Josef added in, finally coming up for air. “Mr. Cruz is the best coach ever. He knows a shit-ton!"
“Language!” all th
ree adult members of his family scolded him. Cullen had to hide the smirk on his face, not wanting to egg the kid on more and undermine his family. However, listening to that curse come out of his little mouth was rather hilarious.
“It’s nice to hear that you are getting something out of it,” Cullen said, moving the conversation along. “You’re one of my top students.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I wouldn’t lie about something like that. In fact, I would love to see you back next week so we can continue to work on things.”
“Can I, Mom? Can I? Can I? Can I?”
“We’ll have to see, Josef,” she said calmly.
“If he has nothing else going on, Mr. and Mrs. Filipe, I would really like him to return. Your son is quite talented, and I think that another week working together could really help him out. He’s got potential.”
“Potential? You think he has potential?” Leona said mockingly.
