Under Her Skin by Lea Santos

Author:Lea Santos [Santos, Lea]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
ISBN: 9781602824768
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
Published: 2010-08-17T04:00:00+00:00

*

“She is doing a good job, Toro.”

The words at the back of her neck brought Torien’s head around.

Madeira gave a small nod in Iris’s direction then added almost belligerently, “Don’t you agree?”

Torien had been so caught up in staring at Iris engaged in easy camaraderie with Rubén and Natán, she had not heard her sister approach. “Mmm,” she grunted, refocusing on her work. She hadn’t been in a talkative mood for days. A trickle of sweat traveled the length of her spine, despite the massive thunderheads that striped the worksite with shadows.

“Is that a yes?” Madeira demanded.

“Yes, Mosquito, it is,” she said in exasperation, wondering why Madeira was so damn angry.

“Have you told her she’s doing a good job?”

The motion of Torien’s hands stilled while she forced her words into a patient tone. “No, I have not told her. I’ve been a little busy, if you haven’t noticed.” For two days, Iris had worked with them. For two excruciating days, Torien had ached for her company yet denied herself the pleasure of it simply to keep the world spinning as it should. If anyone had a right to feel testy, it was she.

Though Iris worked no more than fifty feet away, it felt like a continent separated them, and jealousy spiked every time she thought of her laughing and working alongside the other volunteers. But she had planted herself into this position, and the roots ran deep. If she had welcomed Iris like they had, Iris might be working next to her, like she had at Moreno’s what seemed…a lifetime ago.

If life were different.

If she were free.

If, if, if.

God, she yearned for that closeness again.

Torien shook off the what-ifs and peered at her sister. “You were talking to her earlier, no?”

“I was,” Madeira said.

“Did you praise her?”

Madeira frowned. “Of course I did, but she should hear it from you. She needs to hear it from you. You’re the foreman.”

For a moment Torien let the sounds of the life around them and the smell of the soil consume her, then her eyes lifted toward Iris again of their own volition. “Are the workers getting too familiar with her?” she asked, with feigned nonchalance she knew her sister wouldn’t buy, not for a split second.

“What do you care?”

“Don’t be stupid,” Torien snapped.

A long sigh emptied Madeira’s lungs. “She’s happy working here, Toro. She likes them. They like her.”

“That’s what I am afraid of,” Torien murmured gravely. “I don’t want anyone to treat her badly. Take advantage.”

“Since when did our socios become a pack of animals in your eyes?” Madeira asked. “Or are you just marking territory in your mind? Ridiculous, since you refuse to claim it in the real world anyway.”

Torien closed her eyes and exhaled through clenched teeth. She and Madeira had been snapping at each other like wild dogs ever since Iris had begun working with them. Torien hadn’t yet figured out why, but now was not the time to explore it, whether Madeira goaded her or not. “I don’t know what your problem is, but I’m not in the mood for this.

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