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DUCKING INSIDE THE back door to the house, Jamie grabbed a couple of pool towels. She handed one to Sarah, then walked around the pool to where Boo and María stood. Jamie offered María a towel.
“Hi, I’m Jamie. I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced.”
“I’m María. Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just need to talk to Jirafa...I mean Boo.”
“That’s Sarah, my sister. She doesn’t usually greet people like...” Jamie let the thought hang, certain Sarah would do it again if she thought anyone in the family was in danger.
“Hi,” Sarah offered, “I was out for a morning run and heard a voice I didn’t recognize. I thought someone...” The rest of the thought seemed self-explanatory given her actions.
“Okay,” María turned to Boo, “I need for you to explain this all to me, but first, we need to talk. Alone. Please?”
“Just for the record, are we married?” Boo’s face was pained and confused.
“What? Yes, we are. Hopefully not much longer.” Realizing her words sounded unkind, María quickly added, “I don’t mean it that way—just a couple of minutes, then you can go back to whatever is going on here.” María’s patience was giving way to annoyance.
They all turned their heads as a car slid to a halt at the side of the house. Bryan ran onto the patio to Sarah’s side. “What’s going on? I thought I heard a gunshot. You didn’t answer your phone. Is everyone okay? Why are you wet?” Then, realizing there was a stranger on the patio, he demanded, “Who’s that?”
“Is this the whole family, or are there more surprises coming at me?” María asked Boo.
“Not quite everyone, and hopefully not,” Boo replied with a shrug.
“Who are you? Is everyone okay?” Bryan’s body shook from the adrenaline rush.
“We’re all fine. This is the María we’ve been looking for. Boo’s spouse,” Jamie spoke slowly, still not sure of the whole story. “There seems to have been a misunderstanding. We’re trying to sort it all out.”
“Would you all excuse us, please?” Boo asked across the pool before looking at María and nodding her head toward the doors to her bedroom in the house.
“Ah, I better not. I’m still dripping. How about we head over there?” María walked toward the far side of the patio, placing as much distance as possible between herself and the unpredictable, jumpy family standing next to the house.
“How did you find me?” Boo asked.
“A federal agent came looking for me to find you. I didn’t want to talk to her until I found out what is going on. I saw your picture online, but you didn’t answer your phone or text or email. Qué, Jirafa?”
“It’s a long story—”
“Okay, we don’t really have time for that right now. Any idea why the feds are looking for you?”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. The short version is—I hit my head, I lost my memory, someone stole my backpack with everything in it, I don’t remember my own name. The police are trying to help me figure it out. I did remember you, so we were trying to find you.”
María blinked several times while she realized the full implications of Boo’s story.
“You remembered me but you don’t remember your own name?”
“Exactly—”
Boo was interrupted by Chief walking briskly around the side of the house. Her right hand rested on her holstered gun as she assessed the scene. Jamie, Sarah, and Bryan were huddled by the door to the house. There was a stranger with Boo. Two people were dripping wet and wrapped in towels. Fred, also wet, lay between the groups as if to keep them separated.
“Would someone like to explain what’s going on here?” Chief ordered more than inquired.
“It’s okay. This is María. We’re just talking,” Boo offered.
“We received a 911 call but no one was on the line. Then dispatch thought they heard a gunshot.” Chief spotted the gun on the patio. “Jamie, what happened here?”
“It’s not a real gun, it’s a prop. I dropped it and a blank fired. I’m sorry.” Jamie flushed with embarrassment. “Everything is okay. We’re glad María is here.” Jamie was diplomatic despite the remaining confusion surrounding the early morning stealth visit by Boo’s spouse.
Chief walked to where Boo and María stood, extending a hand to María as a gesture of goodwill. “Hi, I’m the Sheriff. Would one of you want to explain...any of this?”
“Ah, the Sheriff. I’ve heard about you,” María observed.
Boo addressed the question, “If you would please give us a couple of minutes, we will clear this up. I promise. María came a long way to find me.”
Chief called an all clear to dispatch and walked toward the house, handing Sarah her cell phone from the driveway and ushering Jamie and Sarah inside. Bryan left for home, leaving Boo and María alone on the patio.
“Your name is Kele—Kele Severin Garcia. You took my last name when we married.”
“I remember now. My grandmother named me Kele. You called me Jirafa, because I’m taller than you, a girafe. I remember.” Boo eyes filled with tears of relief.
“Jirafa,” María used the nickname with affection, “why are they calling you Boo?”
“It’s a nickname Max gave me after I saved him. It seemed like as good a name as any,” Boo raised her eyebrows and shrugged.
“Okay, Boo,” María used the new nickname with slight exaggeration, “back to the beginning. Who’s Max? How did you hit your head? Feel free to start anywhere.” There were a lot of holes in the story needing to be filled in.
Boo summarized the tale of the past three weeks of her life, leaving out the part about falling in love with Jamie. She concluded with what they believed to be the failed search for María.
“Wow, obviously we had no idea. We thought you were off the grid working. We worried when the fed showed up. I was afraid we were in trouble,” María responded.
“Why would we be in trouble with the police?” Boo asked. “Chief searched my fingerprints and said I didn’t have an arrest record or anything.”
“You haven’t done anything wrong. Neither of us has. It has to do with immigration.”
“Your family, tu mamá y tu papá—are they okay?” Boo remembered helping María’s parents move from Mexico to settle into their new home with Miguel. “Miguel and his family—I remembered them. Is everyone okay?”
“Yes, everyone is fine. You’re the only one we’re worried about. We thought our divorce might set off questions about whether our marriage was real. I thought the feds were looking for you to ask questions, trying to make it look like we committed fraud. I didn’t want them to accuse you of anything. It seems like they are actively trying to hurt people now.”
“So, Chief’s friend did find you? But she said you were married to someone else.” Boo searched her memory. “You’re married to Isabella? But we’re still—”
“No, I’m not married to Isabella, yet. You and I are still married and we’re supposed to finalize our divorce next week, so Isabella and I can get married. I just let the neighbor woman the fed talked to think Isabella and I are married. Miss Miriam is all up in everyone’s business. If she thought Isabella and I were not married, she would be all over me about living in sin and making Isabella an honest woman. Honestly, I didn’t know people even still talked like that until I met Miss Miriam.”
Boo laughed at her fearless spouse, frightened by a busybody neighbor.
“So, we are getting divorced? Next week? How long have we been split up?”
“For years, sort of. We drifted apart, we broke up, we stayed living together...I guess we’re really good lesbians. We had a house. Plus, you promised when we first got together to help me bring my family to the States, and you never break a promise. You have been very good to them.” Now María’s eyes teared thinking of the sacrifices Boo made for her family.
“What about my family? Do I have a family? I thought I remembered a brother and a nephew.”
“Yes, your brother Tomas, his wife Yura, and your nephew, Michael, live in Alaska. You don’t see them very often. Your mother and father both passed away a couple of years ago.” María put hand on Boo’s arm. “I’m sorry. You were estranged from them for a long time.”
It was Boo’s turn to have tears in her eyes. She remembered the separation from her parents, but not the reasons why.
“I remembered your name and I remembered I fucked up our relationship. I remember putting work ahead of you. I’m sorry.” Boo saw this as her chance to atone for past behavior.
“It’s all water way under the bridge. We worked through all that and we’re friends—you’re the most loyal person I have ever met. You could have moved on with your life, but you stuck it out to make sure my family was taken care of. I don’t begrudge you working hard when half the time you were supporting me so I could finish my degree, and you helped support my family.”
“I think we need to explain.” Boo looked toward the house, seeing Jamie and Chief standing inside by the kitchen window. “Ready?”
“Yes. Is it safe to talk in front of the Sheriff?” María asked, weary of police.
“Chief? Yes, she’s a friend. She really is.”
“Do you want to ask anything else before we go in?”
Boo looked back at the window framing a worried looking Jamie. “If I wanted to ask someone, like, on a date, when will I be available, as in not married?”
“You should ask her now,” María followed Boo’s eyes to the window. “You are available. You have been for a long time. We’ll just make it official next week.”
Boo and María entered the house through the doors to Boo’s room first for María to dry off and change into the clothes Boo offered. Unfortunately, María’s phone had been ruined by the dunk in the pool. She borrowed Boo’s phone to call Isabella and assure her everything has gone as planned, more or less, and promising to explain everything soon.
Boo and María walked into the kitchen to the expectant looks of Jamie and Chief. Sarah joined them, dressed in dry clothes borrowed from Jamie’s closet. They all took seats around the kitchen table.
“Who wants to go first?” Chief asked the assembled group.
“I will. I’m sorry I scared you all by sneaking in. I thought I needed to protect...Boo,” María was still adjusting to the new nickname. “I wanted to talk to her privately and she wasn’t answering her phone or text. We were very worried about her.”
“I’m sorry, too.” Sarah pursed her lips in thought. “Well, not really. I thought someone was trying to hurt Jamie and Boo.” Sarah was not the least bit contrite, but managed to add with sincerity, “I hope I didn’t hurt you.”
“I guess we were both trying to protect people we care about. No harm done. Well, except my phone.” María admired the fiercely protective, unapologetic woman across the table from her.
“Okay, Boo, it’s your turn.” Jamie’s face mixed concern with curiosity.
“My name is Kele Severin Garcia. I was born in Colorado. I have a brother, sister-in-law and nephew in Alaska. Both of my parents are deceased. I am married to María, but we are finalizing our divorce next week, so María can marry the lovely Isabella.” A feeling of satisfaction settled over Boo, who was relieved to finally have a name. She turned to María. “Where do I live?”
“You moved to upstate New York a couple of months ago. We sold the house we owned together. Isabella and I bought a place and you moved in across town from us. You wanted to be close to the kids—”
”Kids?” Everyone in the room raised their eyebrows in shock.
“Zoe and Roxie? The kids?” Seeing the misunderstanding, María added, “They’re cats. Two big fluffy, old, sweet cats. We share custody. Okay, we are total lesbians.”
Everyone at the table laughed and sighed with relief.
“Whew, I remember. I dreamed I was looking for them. It was one of the first dreams I had.”
The group heard a vehicle pull up to the front of the house and three car doors close. Within seconds, Max burst through the front door.
“Mom! Boo!” Max bounded toward them, throwing himself into Boo’s arms. Lessa and Philip followed close behind.
Boo looked over the top of Max’s head at María.
“Almost the whole family now.”