The Past That Haunts by Jennifer Porter

Author:Jennifer Porter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jennifer Porter

The rest of the training was fun, but I was exhausted by the end. My arms ached as I took turns with each of the guys after Hector and I fought a round.

To my surprise, Hector was my toughest opponent. Dino was a challenge, and I was sure Dominic would throw in some wild moves to try to test me, make me sharper, but that was all Hector.

I thanked them. After multiple rounds, my confidence rose. When we were finished for the morning, I told Dominic I wanted to go play with the guns downstairs and go against him in some target practice. Tomorrow, he told me, and I was thankful for that. I had a feeling he was the proudest of my progress. But outside of practicing with the shinais, Dominic had little to say.

Snacking on some almonds, I climbed the last of the steps and strolled over to Hector’s office, knocking on the door. I wanted to check on him and make sure he was feeling better, but I also wanted to apologize for insulting him after he told me about my father.

“Come on in,” he said. I opened the door to find him at his desk. He pushed his keyboard under his desk as I walked inside his office. “What can I do for you?” he asked with a smile.

Standing by the door, I felt awkward, not knowing what to say. The last time I was here it hadn’t gone well. I was angry with him back then, but now I had accepted the truth.

“Thank you for your help today.”

“It’s no trouble. You were impressive. You should be proud.” He held out his hand. “Please, join me.”

I accepted his offer, sitting down. Seeing the pictures on his desk, I remembered what Dominic told me about his wife. I wanted to ask Hector what happened, but I didn’t want to overstep or him to know that Dominic had even talked to me about her. I didn’t know if Hector even knew I was in here with Dominic, so I played dumb.

I pointed at the frames. “Who’s in the pictures?”

Hector stared at the photos, smiling. “My family.”

“You mean Dominic and Dino and those guys?”

He shook his head. “No.” He picked up the photograph on my right, struggling to maintain his smile. “Mia famiglia.” He handed me the photograph. “That’s my wife, Maria, and me. She was the love of my life.”

I thought Maria was his daughter. Oh, maybe she was named after his wife.

“She’s gorgeous.”

“Yes, she is,” he said as I handed him back his picture. He placed it back carefully on his desk, but not before he gave her a loving look.

“You said she was the love of your life. Can I ask what happened?”

The feeling in the room shifted. Maybe I overstepped. Hector lit himself a cigar.

“She passed away some time ago.”

I heard the heartbreak in his voice. It broke my heart too.

“I’m sorry, Hector.”

“It’s all right.”

“Did you have any children?”

He handed me the other photograph on his desk, the picture of the other woman I knew to be Maria and her daughter.

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