He remembered young Grace, getting caught in the rain. He remembered rushing to her with his umbrella, and he remembered how she had barely said a word to him as he’d walked her home. He remembered how the rain soaked his shirt to his skin, but his umbrella had kept her dry the entire way. When he’d dropped her off at her house, she’d looked at him like he was her knight in shining armor, and it had unmanned him. So he’d ignored it because that was easier.
He hadn’t heard from Grace since he’d told her was leaving Heron’s Landing. That hadn’t surprised him. He missed her, though, with an ache that he was certain would never leave him. He missed her smile, and her laugh, and the way her long hair fell about them like a curtain when they made love, and he missed how she’d looked at him like he was a miracle she couldn’t believe she’d discovered.
It was mid-February. The days were still cold and it had snowed just last week. Sitting at his parents’ kitchen table, Jaime heard the front door open. Fernando walked in, briefcase in hand. His father was in the middle of midterms already, and was often on campus seeing desperate undergraduates and sleep-deprived grad students in his office. Fernando got a cup of coffee that Jaime had made hours earlier and sat across from him at the pockmarked table.
The two men sat in companionable silence. This was one thing Jaime had always appreciated about his father: he never forced conversation when it wasn’t needed.
But today, Fernando seemed in the mood to talk.
“Any leads today?” he asked in Spanish. They always spoke in Spanish amongst each other, and it always reminded Jaime of home.
“Nothing today. But I have a phone interview on Friday.”
“Excellent. You’ll have a new job before you know it, and then you’ll get out of this place for good.” Fernando pushed his wired glasses up his nose. “I never thought you’d stay in that little town for long, Jaimito. Too cloying, too small, for one such as you.”
Jaime smiled. “I never thought I’d be there that long, either.”
“Then again, sometimes we end up in places we’d never expect. I never thought I’d move to the States with your mother. Yet here we are. As a young man, I never wanted to leave San Salvador. Why should I? But sometimes life turns out differently.”
Jaime gazed at his father. “Do you miss El Salvador?”
Fernando let out a breath. “Sometimes. I miss hearing Spanish like that every day. I miss the food, the smells. I hate snow.” He smiled wryly. “But this is our home now, even though there are days I’d like to go back.”
Jaime knew a huge reason why his parents had never returned was because of the civil war that had destroyed the country. They’d watched from afar as the country they loved, that they’d grown up in, was filled with violence and bloodshed. He couldn't imagine how it must have felt, not knowing what would happen to friends and family left behind.
It put things in perspective, he supposed. He’d been to hell and back again these past few months, but he’d survived. He’d move on. And he’d live his life and be as happy as he could manage.
“Just don’t punish yourself for things out of your control,” Fernando said quietly. “Grasp happiness with both hands if it’s offered to you. Even if it’s in a town you never thought you’d come to care about.”
Jaime couldn’t say anything. He just nodded, and hoped his father didn’t notice how he wiped his eyes on his sleeve.
It was late at night, when the only sound he could hear was the creaking of his parents’ old house, that he realized that he loved Grace. He loved her so much it took his breath away. He murmured the words into the darkness, and it was almost like she was there with him. But when he opened his eyes, he was alone, and his heart sank as he thought that it was probably too late to tell her how he felt.
On Friday morning, Jaime had his phone interview for a position in New York City, which he thought went well. The head of human resources told him they’d contact him shortly to let him know if they would move forward with an in-person interview. All of that faded into the background, though, when he got a call from his lawyer David Wilson.
“Jaime, good news,” Wilson said. He was a younger man, but so full of drive and enthusiasm that when he’d heard about Jaime’s case, he’d taken it on immediately. “I just got a call from the DA, and the charges against you have been dropped. We did it.”
“Are you serious?”
“Completely. It’s over. You’re a free man. They’ve all been dismissed, and Eric O’Neill is now being charged with both embezzlement and attempted murder. He’s currently being held in a psych ward, since they believe he could be a danger to himself and to others.”
Jaime only shook his head, incredulous. “I can’t believe this.”
“Believe it.” Wilson seemed to be shuffling through papers as he spoke on the phone. “I have a meeting here in the next minute, but I also wanted to let you know that a big reason they were dropped was because—oh what’s her name, here it is—Grace Danvers? Do you know her? Well, she apparently wouldn’t let this go. She put together enough evidence that the DA couldn’t ignore it. Interesting, right?”
Jaime had to sit down. “Yeah, interesting,” he whispered.
“Hey, I have to go. I’ll talk to you soon.”
Staring at his phone, Jaime didn’t know what to feel. Relief, incredulity. Shock. Love. Grace had done this. He didn’t know how or why, but she’d done this. She hadn’t given up on him, when he’d given up on her. Burying his face in his hands, he groaned. God, what had he done?
He called the one person he knew would have answers.
“This is Adam.”
“Adam, what did she do?” Jaime asked, not bothering with saying hello.
Adam sighed. “She worked with Kat, as far as I know. She was pretty secretive about the whole thing, although I do know she was close to landing in hot water because of it.” His tone turned stern. “She put her neck on the line for you. And quite frankly, I’m not sure you deserved it.”
“I didn’t. Your sister—no one deserves her.” Jaime ran his fingers through his hair. “My God.”
“Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction.” Adam paused. “I don’t understand what happened, but you’ve been missed. Not just by Grace. Me, Joy. Everyone. I know you probably don’t want to return, but there’s always a place for you at River’s Bend. I haven’t even begun to replace you.”
Warmth filled Jaime’s chest. “Thank you. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Just don’t do anything stupid,” Adam said wryly before they both said goodbye.
Jaime began packing his things, his mind whirling. He had to get back to Heron’s Landing. He had to tell Grace he loved her—he adored her, he couldn’t live without her. He didn’t even know what he was packing and he was probably leaving behind half of his stuff, but he had to get out of here. But then logic rammed into his euphoria, and he knew he couldn’t run back to Heron’s Landing just yet.
His parents’ citizenship interview was the following Monday, and Jaime had agreed to be with them when they went. Despite the charges and subsequent arrest, Immigration had allowed his parents to continue with their application, for which Jaime was infinitely grateful.