“Bonita.” His mother kissed her one more time, then released her arms to clasp her hand. “It’s so nice to meet you too.”
Evelyn offered the flowers. “Thank you for having me, Mrs. Delgado.”
“Maria.” Her brown eyes, a perfect match for Tony’s, twinkled warmly. “I don’t care for ‘that formal stuff’ either.” She was a petite woman, perhaps five feet tall. And while she was slender, she looked sturdy—she’d have to be. She had borne eight children, though only six survived infancy.
“Where is everyone?” Tony asked, looking around.
Maria smiled. “I said I wanted to meet your Evelyn first.” She turned to Carolina. “Go tell everyone they can come downstairs now.”
Carolina went only as far as the foot of the narrow staircase. “M?e says you can come down,” she yelled.
Shaking her head, Maria handed the flowers to Tony and then took Evelyn’s arm. “Come. We have so much to talk about.”
Dinner was the ever-present cod of the north shore, fried with eggs and potatoes and seasoned with garlic and a spice Evelyn couldn’t identify. “I made sure this was something you could eat,” Maria said to her quietly as she served the meal. “Tony said fish was fine.”
Evelyn smiled. Miriam kept a kosher home, but Evelyn decided in the car that she would eat pork if that was what was served. “Thank you.” Maria squeezed her shoulder.
“What happens in the fall?” Felipe asked.
“What do you mean?”
He turned to Evelyn. “Aren’t you going to college?”
Carolina and Francisca gaped at her. Apparently that wasn’t an option for the women in the Delgado family, let alone a requirement. Everyone stopped eating, looking at Evelyn with great interest. Rafael, Tony’s father, studied her through narrowed eyes. Evelyn glanced at Felipe, whose smirk told her that he knew his father wouldn’t approve.
“I am,” Evelyn said measuredly. “I’ll be the sixth member of my family. My father insists.”
Rafael made a chuffing noise, but a murderous look from Maria kept it at that. “And what will you do after?” Maria asked, trying to pretend this was a normal conversation.
“That question sounds like my family.” Evelyn smiled with false sheepishness and the mood lightened. “I have no idea. One of my sisters is a nurse. Another a teacher. I haven’t figured that part out yet.” She turned to the four younger children, who ranged in age from seven to sixteen. “Is Lipe this tough on all of Tony’s girlfriends? I know you’ll tell me the truth.”
“What girlfriends?” Francisca asked.
“You’re his first,” Emilio said.
“Unless you count Clara.”
Evelyn looked at Tony in mock outrage. “And who’s this Clara? Should I worry?” Tony started to sputter an answer, but Evelyn turned conspiratorially back to Carolina. “I want all the details later.”
A deep rumbling laugh from the top of the table made Evelyn turn her head. Rafael slapped a hand on the table. “Clara was the dog,” he choked out.
Evelyn burst into a merry peal of laughter. “I don’t know whether to be relieved or insulted. Mr. Delgado, apparently you’re going to have to tell me everything.”
“Rafael,” he said, still laughing. “And oh, he loved that dog.”
“That went well, I think,” Evelyn said as they drove along the dark road that wound its way through the marshes toward the beach. She was pressed against Tony on the bench seat, his arm around her as he drove. “Considering you gave me about ten minutes of warning.”
“Would you have come if I gave you more?”
She pursed her lips in the darkness. He had a point. No, she would have made a flip excuse instead. Meeting his family was a stark reminder that most of hers didn’t know he existed. Not that she would admit to that.
“Your father didn’t seem too keen on college. Would he feel that way if it were you? If you went into the Army first?”
Tony was quiet for a moment. “I don’t think it was about that specifically.”
“Then it’s because I’m a girl?”
“No—maybe a little. I think . . .” He trailed off.
“You think what?”
They had reached the turnoff for the beach, but instead of going left to take Evelyn home, he veered right toward the jetty end, where they could park and talk. He left the car on, Peggy Lee singing softly on the AM radio. “It’s why Lipe asked what’s going to happen. They don’t think you’re serious.”