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“Si, Sandra, because she’s going to have answered the phone only to signal for help with Morse code. You heard she’s alive. Now let’s leave her in peace.”

As they resumed bickering, Carmela tried to find the mute button so she could call Rhiannon without her parents realizing they hadn’t gotten her to begin with, but without her contacts in and in the darkness of blackout curtain covered windows, it was impossible.

Taking her phone from her ear, she lunged forward to shake Rhiannon but got no response. On the phone, her mother was already screaming about calling Interpol while her father yelled that they were in Puerto Rico, which was still the United States.

Carmela resigned herself to her fate, lest Rhiannon’s mother give herself a stroke and it be her fault. In a cold sweat and under a mountain of embarrassment, Carmela cleared her throat and tried not to sound like she’d just been sleeping with their daughter.

“Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez, I’m sorry. This is Carmela Bravo. Rhiannon is asleep,” she explained, burning a hole in the back of Rhiannon’s head with her eyes.

“Carmela!” her dad exclaimed in delighted surprise. “It’s so lovely to meet you. Rhiannon has told me so much about you. I’m Luis and on the other line is my lovely wife, Sandra.”

“Oh Carmela, it’s so nice to talk to you and we can’t wait to meet you in person. Rhiannon never stops talking about you. It’s always Carmela said this, Carmela said that, Carmela is so smart and so beautiful—”

“Sandra, por dios—” Luis interrupted.

“Stop it, Luisito, let me talk. I wanted to say I am so sorry,” she continued, sounding mortified. “I didn’t think about disturbing you. We just wanted to make sure you girls were okay. Are you having a nice time?”

Carmela swallowed the lump in her throat that formed from a flood of thou

ghts and emotions careening into her at once. “It’s lovely to meet you both,” she replied honestly.

“I’m sorry it’s not under more typical conditions,” she chuckled nervously. “We’re having a wonderful time. Thank you so much for asking.”

“We haven’t been to Puerto Rico in so long. Have you been to El Yunque National Forest? It’s so beautiful there. This trip was so sudden, Rhi didn’t even tell us what you were planning on doing there,” Sandra lamented.

“We’ve stayed around Old San Juan,” Carmela explained before filling them in on the sights they’d seen.

As she talked, and grew less nervous, Rhiannon finally rolled over while yawning. “Who are you talking to?” she asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

Carmela covered the receiver with her hand as she mouthed your parents.

Rhiannon’s eyes popped open like they were spring loaded. Moving at blinding speed, she lunged forward and snatched the phone from her hands while scrambling to her feet. “Mami! What happened? What’s wrong? What’s happened? Are you okay?”

Smiling, Carmela propped herself up on her elbow and listened to her say something in Spanish before relaxing her shoulders and dropping onto the bed.

“Mami, I gave you the number to the hotel in case of emergency only. . . Missing me is not an emergency!”

Rhiannon shouted without sounding angry. “No, I’m not putting Carmela back on the phone. . . because she was probably humoring you!”

“Be nice to them. They just love you,” Carmela chided.

Rhiannon glared at her before mouthing that’s not helping and getting back to the call. “She’s not saying anything to you . . . no, leave her alone. Mami, stop yelling! She can’t hear you.”

Carmela chuckled as love swelled in her heart and threatened to spill out of her mouth.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? No you can’t pick us up from the airport.” Rhiannon rolled her eyes. “Because we not only left my car in the parking garage, but we flew out of Miami. . . . Thanks, Pops, but I don’t need you to drive my car home. . . We won’t be too tired. We’re fine. I’m hanging up now, okay?”

Rhiannon slowly pulled the receiver from her face. “Ugh, yes I’ll tell her. . . Yes I promise. Okay, bye. Don’t call again unless it’s a real emergency. Dad, I’m not going to forgive you for caving and giving her the number. I love you, bye.”

Her parents were still bickering before the receiver landed back in the cradle and silenced them.

“I am so embarrassed and so sorry that happened,”

Rhiannon said, covering her face with both hands.

Carmela laughed as she pulled her onto the bed and peppered her with kisses. “Please don’t be either of those things. Your parents seem very sweet.”

When Rhiannon finally uncovered her face, she sighed.