Beautiful Storm (Lightning Strikes Book 1) by Barbara Freethy Page B

and following the path he wants you to follow."
    She sat down at her kitchen table. "Is that what you're doing, following his path?"
    "While trying to make it my own—yes. Unfortunately, making it my own doesn't always make my grandfather happy." He paused as he sat down across from her. "But we got off topic. We were talking about your bad dates."
    "I'd rather talk about you. You told me your dad came to Miami from Cuba. And I've now heard a little about your grandfather, but I don't know anything about your mother. How did your parents meet?"
    "My mother was twenty years old. She was going to school at Yale, but she and a friend came to Miami for the summer. She wanted to suntan and make some money by the beach, so she got a job waitressing. My father had only been in Miami three months when he met her. He was working as a bus boy at the same restaurant."
    Michael paused for a moment, his gaze reflective. "They both told me that they fell in love at first sight. They had a whirlwind romance. I think their relationship also went faster than normal, because they knew she would go back to school soon. By the end of the summer she was pregnant. She dropped out of Yale, much to her parents' dismay and she married my dad."
    "And had you," Alicia said.
    "We had a good life. Those early years, I just remember as being really happy. She was a free spirit, nothing like her father—my grandfather. She didn't care about money or ambition. She was a dancer and a singer, and she liked to have fun. I think her parents disowned her when she got married. They thought my dad was after her money, but he wasn't. He was in love with her."
    "It sounds very romantic."
    "I think it was."
    "How did she die?"
    "She had a difficult time with my birth. I guess there was scarring or something that made it risky for her to have more kids. But she thought she could beat the odds."
    Alicia's heart turned over. She knew where this was going. "Oh, Michael."
    "I was eight years old when she got pregnant again. She was really happy about it. She kept telling my father that everything would be fine, but it wasn't fine. She died from a late miscarriage," he finally said. "Both her and the baby."
    "That's so sad. You and your father must have been devastated."
    "It was horrible. My dad got so quiet after she passed. It was like we were living in a tomb. Everything was silent. I thought I would never hear him laugh again. But it turned out I was wrong about that. He met Veronica and life was good again—at least for him."
    "What's Veronica like?"
    "She's great," he said with a shrug. "She's devoted to my dad. She's a good mother. She treated me well enough. But she didn't like me to talk about my mom. She's not a bad person. And my dad isn't bad, either. They just didn't need me in their lives. I'm sure life was a lot easier when I left. My dad made it sound like going to prep school was all about me, saving me from crime and bad influences, but it was also about him having the freedom to show his love for his new family without any restraint."
    She thought about his words for a moment. "Your family history is definitely complicated."
    "Like I said, it wasn't that bad."
    She had a feeling he was making light of some painful memories. "You don't have to pretend with me, Michael."
    "I'm not pretending. I'm also not crying. So that should make you happy."
    She made a face at him. "It was a car, Michael, a thirty-plus-year-old car with peeling paint and bad upholstery. I'm not a mean person. I have compassion."
    "Just not for old, sad cars."
    "Okay, you've got me there."
    He settled back in his chair. "So, did anyone in Liliana's family have anything interesting to say while I was away from the table?"
    "Yes, as a matter of fact. Isabel told me that Liliana and David were not very friendly with each other. Did you know that?"
    He shook his head. "No, I've never heard that."
    "She said that David's father was injured in a friendly fire incident while he was in the