The Velasco Love Child: One night of passion. A lifetime of blame. (The Darling Buds of May Cafe Book 2) by Clare Connelly

Author:Clare Connelly [Connelly, Clare]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-02-06T05:00:00+00:00

“Hello,” Maggie responded, her smile shy.

“’Ello,” the woman was not friendly, but nor was she horrible. Maggie took that as a good sign.

“What would you like May to call you?” Maggie asked the older woman.

“I am her abuelita,” Sylvie responded quickly, grabbing one of May’s little hands in her own and kissing it. May giggled, earning a round of laughter from the assembled guests. “Will she come to me?”

Maggie hoped so. Her guilt was a force of responsibility that was almost too much to bear, as she scanned the courtyard and saw how many people had come to adore May. How many people she had kept out of her life, simply because she wasn’t ready to face the music with Dante. “Darling, this is your abuelita,” Maggie stumbled a little over the foreign word. “Will you give her a cuddle.”

May, content that her mother was nearby, was happy to be passed over to her grandmother. The likeness between Dante and May was striking. Even more so between May and her grandmother.

Sylvie said something in Spanish to Dante, earning a flicker of a scowl from him in response. He did, however, deign to answer. “My mother would like me to introduce you to my family,” he said stiffly. His preference was obvious. He wished like hell she wasn’t there, and resented that May’s clinginess made her presence a necessity.

“Come.” He pressed a hand into the small of her back, and nudged her towards the group of people watching with undisguised curiosity. Maggie’s spine tingled at the contact, and she had to clamp down on her lower lip to avoid reacting.

“My sisters Krista, Sofia and Emilia,” he said, nodding to the three women. Each was as striking and glamorous as the next. Two tall and slender like Sylvie, and the third short but curvaceous in a way that reminded her of her best friend Rosie. Maggie lifted a hand to her hair, self-consciously, wondering what these women must be thinking of her. More people who would undoubtedly wish she weren’t there.

“And my brothers, Carlo and Enrique. Enrique is Emilia’s twin,” he added unnecessarily.

They all seemed to be staring at her. Five sets of eyes watching and waiting, and Dante wilfully ignoring her. Emilia, the shorter of the sisters, had a patient smile on her face. The rest reminded her of Dante for their analytical watchfulness.

They were waiting for her to speak. She cleared her throat and tried to smile. Her mouth felt filled with sawdust. “Hi,” she said with a nod.

“This is May’s mother, Maggie.”

May’s mother. Why did the simple description hurt? She forced an even broader smile to her face. Because he was swiftly underlining that there was nothing between them but the baby they shared.

And there wasn’t. A month ago they might have been in the middle of a weekend of incredible sex. But he hadn’t known then. He hadn’t known who he was sleeping with really. She swallowed, frustrated by how emotional she’d become of late.

“We should move inside,” Maggie asserted with a confidence that was completely assumed.

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