I flinched at Tita Rosie’s use of the word “anak” for someone who wasn’t me. OK, so Ronnie was truly her anak since it means offspring, but she’d been using it to refer to me and only me for over a decade. I didn’t appreciate sharing that term of endearment with anyone, especially not someone who left us over a decade ago and was now glaring at my aunt as if she were the one being entirely unreasonable.
“These are my main investors. Without them, I wouldn’t even have this business or be back in this town. I owe them everything.” Realization at what he just admitted swept over his face, and he clapped his hand over his mouth like a little kid who accidentally said a bad word. “No, Mommy, I didn’t mean it like that! I just, of course I would’ve come back eventually, it’s just that I didn’t want to return with nothing to show for it, you know? I, uh . . .”
But the damage was done. Both Lola Flor and I stood up and walked to Tita Rosie’s side, who was staring at her son as if he’d just insulted her food. The ultimate betrayal.
“If you want to impress your investors, tell them to stop by our table at the holiday party. Now get out of here. Don’t you have work to do?” Lola Flor pulled Tita Rosie up and marched her to the kitchen, not allowing her to stop or say anything.
Elena cleared her throat. “Um, it was nice meeting you, Ronnie. Thanks for the wine.” She met Adeena’s eyes and the two of them left together. I should’ve followed them, but I had one last thing to tell my dear cousin.
“If you’ve turned up after all these years just to break Tita Rosie’s heart again, I’ll kill you. I’m serious. And Ate Bernie will help me hide the body,” I said, bringing up his ex-girlfriend and my cousin/friend. “So you better not mess up this time. Tita Rosie may be all forgiving, but Lola Flor and I aren’t.”
Tita Rosie hurried over with a bag full of takeout boxes, interrupting my threats. “Oh anak, I’m sorry we can’t host your business partners tonight, but please take this for their lunch. Let them know they’re welcome here anytime as customers, and I look forward to meeting them later. Maybe tomorrow after the lunch rush?”
She held out the bag as a peace offering, and Ronnie met my eyes before taking it and thanking his mom. She smiled before hustling back to the kitchen.
Ronnie watched her, his expression unreadable. “I swear to you, Lila, I’d rather die than hurt her again. I’m back for good and my business will be a success and nothing’s going to stop me from proving to my mom that I’m not the screw-up I was when I left.” His eyes hardened. “I refuse to let anything get in my way again.”