Athletes and their rituals.
Some baseball players wore the same smelly socks every day of a tournament. Some hockey players refused to cut their beards in the middle of playoffs.
Veronica’s ritual the day before a competition was to get pampered.
Manicure, pedicure, massage, and stone facial. All of them helped to release her stress and clear her mind if only for a couple of hours.
But by the time she arrived back in her hotel room, Veronica could feel the balls of anxiety start to tighten her muscles all over again. So, when her dad texted that he’d just checked into the room next to hers, she nearly convulsed into an anxiety-ridden pretzel.
She knew better than to think his unanswered texts and missed phone calls would be enough to keep him away. Her sister Valeria had even tried to convince Veronica to reach out.
“He’s really sorry, Vero. I’ve never seen him like this,” Val had told her just the night before.
Guilt had kept her up most of the night. Her dad had crossed a line, but she knew some of her anger was misdirected. After all, Tomás didn’t have to listen to him. He could’ve told Veronica that no matter what her dad had said, he wanted to be with her.
She had found out from Valeria that their dad had stayed in her cottage at Rancho Lindo for a few days after she’d left. They couldn’t come up with one logical reason why. Part of her had wanted to text Nora to ask. But then she knew she’d also want to ask about Tomás. And she wasn’t ready to know.
A few minutes after the text from her dad, there was a knock on her door.
She considered ignoring him and whatever attempt at an apology he was going to give her. But it was exhausting being angry all the time. She couldn’t waste energy on this anymore.
Veronica opened the door, but it wasn’t her dad standing there.
For the millionth time in the past three months, Tomás Ortega had surprised her.
What was he thinking, showing up the day before she was going to compete?
She folded her arms over her chest. “What are you doing here?”
The tightness in her throat warned her that tears were on their way. She didn’t want to cry in front of Tomás. It would show him what a freaking emotional wreck she’d been the last few days, trying to forget the way he’d touched her or made her feel like she could do anything she ever wanted because he was at her side. It was the day of that horrible video all over again.
Veronica decided she couldn’t let him know that she’d fallen for him during all of their pretending. But she knew it would be that much more difficult to pretend she didn’t care.
So she needed to put an end to whatever it was he was doing by showing up here.
“You should leave,” she told him.
Tomás nodded. “I will. But just give me five minutes.”