The Longest Holiday by Paige Toon Page B

speaking about the same nephew Jorge is collecting from the airport this weekend. ‘Alejandro died eight years ago.’
    ‘I’m so sorry.’ I regard him with compassion, knowing as I do now that his parents are also dead. ‘Was he your only sibling?’
    ‘Yes. But Jorge is like a brother to me.’
    We smile at each other. ‘I can see that.’ The two uncles … ‘So if Alejandro is no longer around, and Carmen has moved on with Eric, why don’t you ask for your house back?’
    ‘Like I say, it’s complicated.’ He stares at me directly and it makes me feel shivery again.
    I try not to stutter when I speak. ‘Javier … You let them stay because of Javier?’
    He hesitates and then nods. He still hasn’t taken his eyes away from mine.
    ‘But how old is he now?’
    ‘Eighteen, almost nineteen.’
    ‘And he’s just been travelling. He’s flown the nest.’ He shrugs. ‘I see what you mean when you say it’s complicated.’ He finally breaks eye contact when he reaches for his beer. ‘Would you like to live here?’ I ask him.
    He thinks for a moment. ‘I don’t know. When I come back for the summer, like this, I can see myself living here. But Miami has its draws, too.’
    ‘I’m not sure I’m going to like Miami.’
    He raises one eyebrow. ‘Really? Why not?’
    ‘It all looks a bit big and scary to me.’
    ‘It’s big, but not scary. Not when you get used to it.’
    ‘We’ve only got two days,’ I point out with a smile.
    ‘Just enough time to ride around Miami Beach on a Segway and do the boat tour past the celebrities’ houses.’ He throws his head back and laughs loudly.
    ‘Bugger off,’ I joke, because obviously he’s taking the piss. Again.
    ‘Well, well, well, looks like we’re missing out on the party.’
    I look up to see a clearly unamused Carmen standing at the door. Eric appears behind her, and I can hear Jorge in the kitchen. I think this might be my cue to leave, unfortunately. But she steps past the coffee table and slumps down onto the sofa next to me.
    ‘Laura, right?’
    ‘Yes,’ I reply warily, because I don’t like the look in her eyes.
    ‘Jorge says you’re married.’ She says this with a pointed stare at Leo. A bad feeling settles over me.
    ‘Carmen!’ I hear Jorge saying sharply from the kitchen.
    ‘I’m going to bed. Night, night,’ Eric says dozily from the doorway. No one pays him any attention.
    ‘You should get some sleep, too, Carmen,’ Leo says in a low, warning tone. ‘You look like you need it.’
    ‘Fuck off, Leonardo,’ she snaps, taking me by surprise when she says what is obviously his full name. ‘If anyone needs sleep, it’s you.’ Then her glare turns into a fake smile. ‘But I guess you don’t plan on getting any tonight,’ she says silkily, looking at me. ‘Sleep, that is.’
    Okay, time to go.
    ‘She’s drunk. Ignore her,’ Jorge says angrily as he comes into the room and over to her. ‘Come on, off to bed, sis.’ He grabs her arm and hauls her off the sofa, but I’m on my feet by then, too.
    ‘I should be going anyway,’ I say to Leo.
    He nods abruptly and slowly gets to his feet. I hear Carmen laughing as Jorge leads her down the corridor. I walk into the kitchen and put my beer on the countertop.
    ‘Thanks for this,’ I say, turning around to walk to the door, but coming to an abrupt stop when I discover he’s right in front of me. I look up at him with surprise, but he leans past me and puts his own bottle down on the counter. My heart skips a beat as I breathe in his warmth. His neck is so close to me …
    ‘I’ll walk you back,’ he says calmly, seemingly unaware of the butterfly-inducing effect he has on me.
    Neither of us says anything as we wander through the unkempt garden to the gate, or on the way around the corner towards the hotel’s back entrance. Finally we find ourselves in the uplit garden by the swimming pool. There are goosebumps on my arms, but they’re not there from the cold.
    I turn