Blood in the Valencian Soil (Secrets of Spain) (12 page)

“I see, and you can’t do that in any of the churches of Madrid?”

“No, none let me in now. They know my reputation for sinning.”

Luna knew it
, too. Early that morning when she had been loading her dishwasher, she blinked and recalled the moment when his head was between her thighs a few weeks ago. Focus, Luna. “So, if I agree to go on this adventure, would you be coming along?”

“The Beltrán family is from Cuenca. I would like to see this beautiful town. It’s world famous, and it’s part of me. I want to l
ook up where my family lived.”

“And pray to the Unum ex septum signs. I don’t even speak any Latin.”

“Me neither. It means one of the seven, or something. Who cares? I was just trying to win your attention with my overwhelming knowledge.”

“Well, I will admit, I’m very intrigued by what you have suggested.”

“Do you know of the parador there? It is a 16th century monastery that has been made into a hotel. It has a footbridge over the gorge that surrounds the city on the hilltop. They have large rooms, so you could get one with two bedrooms, one for you and one for the children. I, of course, would have my own room. I’m a gentleman.”

“What, did you ring the
parador?”

“I
s that too much?”

“Um…”
A weekend with your secret lover. And your children.

“I’m sorry, if you want to bring
Darren as well, I suppose that is no trouble… unless he is too injured…”

“
Darren is going to Cordoba on Friday. Cayetano… what you are suggesting is tempting, but I don’t know.”

“You are in relationship with
Darren, ¿no?”

“Yeah, sort of. It’s complicated, like you and María.”

The conversation fell into silence. The awkward pause grew longer and longer. “Luna… I like you. I want to help you, but it’s because I’m interested in you. I got the impression you liked me. Maybe we could spend some time together? I know you have children, so this weekend will be proper. Polite. But I won’t lie, I’m attracted to you.”

She could remain comfortable and complacent, or let herself be shaken violently by Cayetano again. He made her feel the way she used to; alive and free
and young. How a woman in her 30’s should feel. “All right. How about this Friday? Can your leg cope?”

“¡Claro!
Of course, yes. I can arrange the times we need for the hotel and the meetings. Sofía is a great sister, she knows who to call and who to talk to.”

“Please thank your sister, she has been so helpful to me.”

“Sofía hates María, so she is happy I have a new girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend? Is that what I am?” she joked. She considered herself no more than a one-time lover.

“Since the moment I saw you wrestle a bag-snatcher.” Cayetano couldn’t help the grin on his face. It never left him when he spoke to Luna, or thought about her, or imagined the shape of her body. The moment broke when he heard his doorbell ring down the long hallway to the entrance of his apartment. Now what? “Preciosa, I’m sorry, I need to go. I will call tomorrow. We will make a plan?”

“Thank you for your help, Cayetano.”

“De nada. Happy to help.”

“Can I just say something?”

“Sure.”

“I was thinking about your leg. You need to go down to your local health store and get a cream with hot peppers in it.”

“Why?” He heard the doorbell ring again.

“It has capsaicin in it. It’s an ingredient that gives the muscles the sensation of being hot. The muscle heats up, and the nerves shut down. It will reduce the pain and loosen up your leg. Cyclists use it.”

Cayetano heard a knock on his front door, and turned and started down the hallway. “I haven’t heard of that. You are full of secrets.”

“Not really, I just married a man
who was sore a lot. Capsicum cream is your answer.”

“
You think about my legs?”

“In t
he interest of health,” she teased.

“I’m sure. I w
ould expect no less from a lady.” More banging. “I’m sorry, there is someone really rude at my door.”

“I’m sorry. I have
taken up your time since breakfast.”

“I’m grateful for it. I will call you tomorrow.”

10

Madrid, España ~ septiembre de 2009

Cayetano looked at the phone in his hand. He wasn’t sure how successful that call had been. Luna seemed genuinely appreciative of his help. She was his girlfriend. He hadn’t even thought of that before it spilled out of his mouth. It sounded so juvenile. Maybe it was good that the call suddenly had to end, because she had time to think about that. He wouldn’t bother to pretend he would help her as a friend. Life was too short to be coy.

He hobbled to the front door, and he peered thro
ugh the peephole, to see María there. Fuck. Nothing like an ex-wife to ruin a good day. They had separated eight months ago, and María hadn’t come back to their home in all that time. Whatever she wanted, Cayetano wasn’t interested. With a sigh, he pulled the heavy door open. The scowl on his face wouldn’t confuse María about how he felt.

“Don’t frown, Caya, it makes you look old,” she said the moment the door opened.

“Perhaps, but you lost the right to use my nickname when you let your cameraman stick his dick in you.”

María let out a long whistle and let that moment pass.
Her hot-pink lipstick cracked when she did it. “Bitter as ever, I see. Did I interrupt something?”

“Yes, you did. But even if you hadn’t, I would have lied and said you had.”

María paused and adjusted her purple-framed glasses. At this rate she wouldn’t ever win over her husband. “Can I come in?”

Cayetano reluctantly hobbled back a few steps and gestured for her
to come in. He shut the door behind her, and watched her welcome herself in their home. His home. He hadn’t heard her high heels on the grey marble for a while. The neighbours downstairs always complained about that noise. They probably enjoyed María’s absence as much as Cayetano did.

“You have redecorated,” she commented and walked into the l
iving room. She gazed around the room, now all done in a simple black and white minimalist style. The room had been in an opulent gold and red when she lived there. Gone were the heavy red curtains in favour of a simple white blind. The deep red rug on the floor was now a simple black rectangle. He had done a great job, even if he had kept his hideous old brown armchair. María sat down on the black leather couch and ran her fingers over one of the white throw pillows. Her long hot-pink nails caught on its fabric. “The place looks great. Did Mamá do it?”

“
Sofía helped me,” Cayetano said. He limped over to the glass dining table, and pulled out one of the simple leather chairs.  “She knew just how to purge you from the place.”

“How are you?”
She watched him sit awkwardly on the chair across the room.

“Excelente.
I am in good hands. I have people who know how to make me well again.”

“Good. I have spoken to your Mamá many times, to see how you are. I wasn’t sure you would tell me if I called you.”

“You’re right.”

“Seeing you get gored like that was horrific, Caya. I have feared that every day since we met. After your last injury…”

“After my last injury you planned our wedding while I lay in a hospital bed; you didn’t even bother to consult me on the subject of marriage.”

“Doesn’t that show you how much I care about you?”

“You were only at the ring the other week to keep up appearances.”

“And because I wanted to see you perform. I still care.”

Cayetano pursed his lips and sighed. “There’s no need to worry. The week in hospital, and weeks of rest have worked wonders. I’ll be fine. This is nothing compared to my last major fall. The pain lessens every day.”

“I’m glad,” she said, and gently brushed her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “I’ve been worried. I sit at home and think about you here,
discharged from the hospital so soon and trying to get by at home, all on your own.”

“I’m never on my own. I have a whole famil
y to care about me. Besides, I’m not crippled.”

“Inés said you walk with a cane now.”

“I do, but it’s temporary, and Mamá should have mentioned that detail. In fact, this morning I went to Valencia and walked in the park with no cane at all.”

“You have been to Valencia and back today?”

“Yes, it’s a long trip, but it was worth it. María, I don’t need to be looked after, and certainly not by you, if that is what you came here for.”

“We have been together for over a decade, Caya. Don’t brush it all aside because I made a mistake.”

“Your mistake, or Paulo as his friends call him, brushed it all aside. The next time I see the man, I will shake his hand. He did me a favour.”

“We had a quickie in the office. That’s it. You know all this, we have been over it a hundred times.” María wasn’t a calm woman, she was uptight, and easily wound up. She wanted her own way all the time, and usually got it because people were afraid to say no.

“If you’re going to throw your life away, the least you could do is make it a full-blown fling, you know, get your money’s worth out of Paulo. I’m having a fling right now, and it’s fabulous.”

A deep frown clouded María’s heavily made-up face. “You’re seeing someone? Since when?”

“Since not that long ago.”

“Is it serious?”

“No, it’s not. It’s fun. It’s light, and spontaneous, and exciting. It holds a lot of promise but isn’t weighed down by it.”

María sat and looked a
t her hands, and played with her wedding ring. “I’m not sure what to say,” she mumbled. “We agreed not to see anyone else.”

“Yeah, but we agreed
to that when we got married, so that rule is easily broken.”

“¡Mierda!
Are you ever going to stop being angry at me? I get it! I fucked up! Has it occurred to you that even though you think I’m an adulterous witch, that I could be the one for you anyway? After everything, don’t you think we’re soulmates? Even with our mistakes?”

“I have tried to convince myself that we are meant to be,”
Cayetano said and ran his hand over his sore thigh muscle. “The truth is, María, we don’t work. We look nice in photos, and everyone thinks we are a good couple, but we aren’t. Your television career is propped up by you being married to a torero. It’s all bullshit. Life isn’t supposed to be this hard. Love isn’t supposed to be complicated.”

“But it wasn’t always like that.”

“No, no it wasn’t. I loved you. But you broke that.”

“Oh come on, Caya! Use your head for a change!”

“My head is to blame for all the mistakes my heart has made. So what if I’m impulsive, and think with my heart and not my head. I was with you because it made sense in my head, but it never made sense in my heart. It didn’t make me happy.”

“You would seriously throw away everything?
What, because of a fling with a woman you don’t know?”

“No, it’s not about her. Although, the last weeks have been like a new start for me.”

“Where is she now that you’re injured?”

“She is the only one who doesn’t treat me like an invalid. That is what makes me feel better.”

“But we are in love.”

“Love is like a kiss on the wind. It only sometimes comes your way.
You don’t know where it’s coming from, or where it’s going.”

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning it’s blown my way from the direction of someone else. I’m sorry. I want a divorce.”

“What? Because of someone you have known for a matter of weeks? We agreed to no divorce until I had my contract renewed with the station.”

“Wouldn’t a celebrity divorce raise your profile?”

“I would like a
n amicable divorce portrayed, if the time ever came.”

“Great, works for me. It’s not because of Luna, but I have learned some things from her.”

“Oh, she has a name now,” María quipped and folded her arms over her chest. “And what has Luna taught you?”

“That even the most broken hearts can move on if they’re strong enough.”

“I don’t believe this crap.” María shook her head. “I was on the phone only an hour ago with your mother, getting invited to family lunch this Sunday.”

“Go right ahead,” Cayetano scoffed. “I’m not going. Neither is Sofía, as usual.”

“So you are both abandoning your parents. That’s just great. You know how much they value Sunday lunch.”

“They turned their backs on Sofía, not the other way around. She is still my best friend.” He couldn’t resist. “And she likes Luna.”

María’s eyes widened. “She met your sister?”

Technically, yes.
“Sure has.” He was really goading her now, and no good could come from that. But it felt great not to be the victim in the relationship for a change.

María grabbed her handbag and stood up. “Do you think I will just wait around while you have a rebound affair?”

“Give me a break, I have slept with plenty of women since I kicked you out.” Liar. “I’m past the rebound phase.”

“So, what, are you skipping off into the sunset with this Luna, are you? House in the country? Children?”

Cayetano rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to be so dramatic.” She couldn’t help it. María seemed to be a shitstorm that was always forecasted to have hurricane force winds. Until they split, he didn’t realise how high-maintenance she was. “At least someone as easy-going as Luna would be open to subjects like children, and not just need a man who can drive her to her parties, or plastic surgery appointments. Not that she needs it anyway.”

“And we are back to not having a family again. You are like a dog with a bone. I won’t give you a baby.”

“Good,” Cayetano said. He grimaced as he lifted himself from the chair. “That would be like making a pact with the devil.”

“You can be impossible sometimes, Caya,” María said and threw her bag over her shoulder. “Sometimes I wonder why I bother.”

“Probably because I’m richer than you?”

“I doubt that. When did you become this
man?” she squinted. “So rude and angry! You have a good reputation, but you’re being a fool.”

“That reputation is suffocating me. I’m sick of being what everyone wants. I would rather be happy on my terms. What did you come here for?”

“To tell you that I love you! I care about you! It seems that you are too stupid to realise the mistakes you make.”

“At least they are my mistakes, and not just the demands of others
forced on me.”

“You have everything, Caya. You are a part of a legacy. Don’t throw your good fortune away on an affair. You will work all of this out too late.”

Cayetano stood on the spot and watched María leave the room. The front door made a loud slam as María exited the apartment. He shouldn’t have told her about Luna. That was foolish, but now he felt empowered. He was comfortable in his life. He didn’t want to be comfortable anymore. He wanted to feel alive, and so what if he fell on his face? Change was worth the risk.