Playing the Player by Lea Santos

Author:Lea Santos [Santos, Lea]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Fiction, Romance, General
ISBN: 9781602821859
Google: lSknQwAACAAJ
Amazon: 1602821852
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2010-10-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Amor no respeta ley, ni obedece a rey.

Love laughs at locksmiths.

Niki threw her shoulder under Grace’s arm to help her rush up the sidewalk toward the house without further straining her bad leg. Grace burst through the door, breathing heavily, with Niki at her side in much the same state.

“DoDo! Lola!” Grace hollered, whipping a glance around the foyer and living room. Lola shouldn’t be home from work yet, but maybe…? Thinking she heard some noise from the kitchen, Grace took off that way, praying DoDo had remembered to slip her nitroglycerin bottle into her apron pocket this morning. Sometimes she forgot.

Oh, God. Please not today.

“DoDo!” Grace yelled again, and then the sound of laughter stopped her short in the middle of the dining room. Niki slammed into her back with an “oof!”

“Graciela?” A healthy-looking DoDo peered out the doorway of the kitchen to where Grace and Niki stood. “What are you bellowing about, m’ija? Oh, hello, Nicole, honey.” DoDo absolutely glowed in the presence of guests. “So nice of you to stop by.”

“Hi, DoDo,” Niki said, confused. “It’s good to see you looking so…well.”

Grace blinked, her brain not quite processing this new information quickly enough. Her chest rose and fell in quick trembles of panic and adrenaline. “What the hell? Are y-you okay?”

DoDo’s forehead crinkled. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Grace pointed vaguely toward the front of the house. “The—the ambulance. I thought…I thought you were—” To her horror, tears choked her words and blurred her eyes. “I thought s-something had happened to you or that you w-were ill, Abuelita.”

DoDo’s face softened, and Niki moved forward to console Grace with a hug. Grace turned toward her friend and fell into the embrace, grateful for the comfort. She struggled to rein in her emotion, but a rogue tear escaped and rolled down her cheek anyway.

“Oh ,m’ija, your old abue isn’t as fragile as that. Our good Lord knows if She comes for me before my girls are paired up and settled, I’m digging in my heels, anyway.” DoDo came closer and rubbed her back, the same way she’d always done when Grace had cried for her mama in the years right after she’d died.

“Then why is there an amb—” Grace heard chairs scraping back in the kitchen and turned her head toward DoDo.

“The ambulance? Oh, honey. Madeira and Simon stopped by to talk to you. That’s all.” Madeira appeared in the doorway behind DoDo, her expression moving from pleasant welcome to surprise, to sparking jealousy at the picture of Grace in Niki’s muscle-roped arms. Madeira’s gorgeous eyes went dull just as tall, redheaded Simon appeared behind her, waving a hello.

“Oh.” Grace spun. “Oh! I didn’t even think…”

“Hey, Gracie,” Madeira said, her tone reserved, wary.

“Maddee, Jesus! You, too, Simon.” She laid a palm on her chest and shook her head as if to rattle the stupid out. “Y-you guys scared the crap out of me.” She wiped at her cheek with the back of her hand, laughing self-consciously. “DoDo has heart problems.

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