Chapter 25

Amanda had lost her mind! How could she expect Malena to dance with Claudia’s fiancé in front of the entire town? If Ana found out, she would throw her out of the house! Malena submerged the stalks of toronjil into a pot of boiling water; she needed to calm her nerves.

“You came home late last night.” Ana said behind her. “After midnight.”

“I was with Amanda.”

“I know, I know.” She sighed, serving herself black coffee. “But I don’t think a young lady should be out at those ungodly hours.” She took a sip. “And I know that’s not what your mother wants.”

Malena didn’t want to think about Lili’s mother; neither did she like Ana’s threatening tone. Trinidad placed a cup of coffee, bread, and marmalade on a metal tray.

“María Teresa is counting on me to take good care of you. I don’t want to disappoint her,” Ana said. “She called yesterday, you know?”

Malena eyed the door. Trinidad set a napkin on the tray.

“Is that for Alejandra?” Malena asked the maid before Ana got any ideas about phone calls and such.

“Yes.” Trinidad sighed. “She always forgets to have breakfast. That’s why she’s so thin.”

“Is she at the store?”

Trinidad added sugar to Alejandra’s coffee. “Isn’t she always?”

“May I take it to her?” Malena asked.

Trinidad shrugged. Malena picked up the tray and darted out of the kitchen before Ana could say another word.

The workshop door was ajar. No sound came from the room. With both hands on the tray, Malena was unable to knock on the door, so she pushed it open with her foot.

Alejandra sat behind her desk with a piece of paper in her hands. She was immersed in her reading and must have not heard Malena for she didn’t raise her head.

“Good morning,” Malena said. “I brought your breakfast.”

Alejandra flinched. Her eyes widened, but as recognition set in, she brought her eyebrows together in a frown.

“Don’t you know how to knock?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just that,” she raised the tray, “my hands are full.”

The paper in Alejandra’s hands was a newspaper clipping and it was wrinkled. Alejandra shoved it into one of the drawers in her desk and slammed it shut.

“Don’t ever do that again.”

Alejandra’s desk was filled with tools and metal pieces, there was no space for the tray. Alejandra pointed at the other desk in the corner of the room.

“You can leave it there.”

Malena set it down and brushed her hands on her swing skirt. The room reeked of wax and dust. She wouldn’t mind sweeping and organizing here a little bit—the place certainly needed it—but this was not the right time to make the offer. Alejandra’s cheeks were still flushed. What could be written in that newspaper article to make her so uncomfortable?

Malena approached the desk, hands behind her back. With a pair of tongs, Alejandra molded a metal string into a circular shape. She worked fast, too fast for Malena to keep track of what she was doing. She was giving it a new shape now, a petal, and she added other pieces to it—creating sort of a silver flower.

“Amanda said your father taught you his craft.”

“That’s correct.”

Malena couldn’t take her eyes off Alejandra’s work. “I think that’s wonderful.”

“What?”

“That your father would have entrusted you with his business. That he believed in you.”

“I don’t see how that is so strange. That’s how family businesses are built, with the contribution of the entire family.”

“Yes, but it’s usually the sons who inherit the business, not the daughters, especially not the youngest daughter.”

“Well, my father didn’t have any sons and I was the only one who showed any interest in jewelry.”

“Yes, but he had a nephew.”

Alejandra opened a drawer, then another, and a third one, without bothering to close them. She pulled out a small torch from one of them. The loud torch that would prevent her from having to hear anything else about her cousin.

“I saw you at the nightclub the other night,” Malena said before Alejandra could turn on the torch. “You should wear dresses more often.”

Alejandra turned on the torch and soldered the silver petals together.