When Hadley arrived at the large Five Families mansion where Mo’s parents lived, she stood outside for a moment and reflected. Going to a polo match brought back so many memories of her relationship with Mauricio. Now his mother was hosting a brunch before the game and, of course, all of the extended Velasquez family would be there. Hadley wondered if she was really doing this, if she was really going to jump back into a life with him.
But the last few weeks had been...well, what she’d always hoped things could be between them. While there were still some areas that neither of them seemed to want to delve into, she did feel that this time they were making changes that would make them stronger as a couple.
“Nervous?” Mo asked, coming up beside her and putting his hand on the small of her back. A shiver went down her spine, making her wish they’d made love one more time before they came here.
“Yes. Your mom never thought I was good enough for you, and when we broke up, she probably was very happy.”
Mo leaned down and kissed her. It was one of those deep passionate kisses of his that made her feel like she was going to melt into a puddle at his feet. This was exactly why she’d been struggling to believe that they were real. This incendiary passion that always exploded between them felt like an addiction, one that would leave her strung out if she couldn’t get her daily hit of him. Actually, she knew what that felt like.
The stakes were higher this time. She knew that if they couldn’t make this work, he’d be gone from her life forever. They were both too smart to keep hitting their heads against the wall.
“She thought I wasn’t good enough for you,” he corrected, as he lifted his head and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “She knew you’d hurt me when you finally realized it.”
She shook her head. “Did I hurt you?”
“I got drunk for three months and then started fights with every guy you tried to date... What do you think?”
“That you don’t like to lose,” she admitted.
He shook his head. Wrapping both arms around her, he pulled her close in a tight bear hug and leaned down, whispering into her ear, “I never thought I could hurt like I did when we were apart, darling. I never want to feel that way again.”
She hugged him back, twisting her head so that she could rest her cheek on his shoulder. “Me neither.”
“Yo, bro, maybe save the making out for when you’re alone. Mom definitely doesn’t approve of PDA.”
Hadley lifted her head and stepped back as Alec came up the walk.
Mo shot him the bird, then draped his arm around Hadley’s shoulder and turned to walk toward the front door with his twin following them. Her nerves were gone as she entered the house, giving her handbag to the Velasquez family butler and following Mo into the drawing room where they were announced.
Mrs. Velasquez was deep in conversation with her group of friends. Diego called Mauricio over to the group of men Hadley recognized from pictures on the polo club walls. These were the other investors in the new development, some of them world famous players and horse breeders.
She excused herself, knowing that she didn’t want to be the only woman in a group of men talking about horses, and made her way down the hall toward the living room. The door to the hall bathroom opened as she walked by and Bianca stepped out with her young son, Benito. He was dressed in jodhpurs, riding boots and a polo shirt. He smiled when he saw her.
“Buenos días, Hadley.”
“Hiya, Benito. Are you riding today?”
“Si, during the... What’s it called, Mama?”
“He is going to be riding with Diego during an exhibition,” Bianca said. Bianca was several months pregnant and glowed with an inner beauty. But she also looked a bit tired.
“That sounds like fun. Want to tell me all about it?” she asked the little boy. She’d known him since he was born, and as he tucked his tiny hand into hers, she realized how intertwined her life and Mauricio’s were and how much she’d missed his family.
She followed the pair back down the hall toward the backyard where the brunch had been set up. Everyone else had come out from the living room. She stood there to the side for a short time, just watching Mo with his family, and she couldn’t help noticing that he seemed way more relaxed than he’d been in a long time.
When someone came up beside her, she glanced over to see it was his mother. “I didn’t think you’d give him another chance.”
“I... We...”
“It’s okay. I know that love is complicated. I’ve been married to Mauricio’s father for a long time and it still isn’t easy. I’m glad to see you with him. He’s different now. More relaxed with everyone. I like it.”
“Me too,” Hadley said.
“Come on, let’s have a Texas Sunrise cocktail and join the men,” Mrs. Velasquez said, and just like that Hadley felt like she was part of the family. Part of this group that she’d wanted to be a part of ever since she and Mo had first started dating. But she’d always been trying to be perfect, trying to prove to herself and to everyone else that she and Mauricio were the perfect couple. It had never been real, and had put distance between her and Mo’s family.
As she followed his mother and joined him, she knew that this time Mauricio wasn’t the only who was different. She was too. It was humbling to realize that she hadn’t been as mature as she’d always thought she was.
When she got to Mo, he leaned down to kiss her cheek and whispered, “See, I told you she liked you.”
She just laughed and shook her head.
Mauricio was tired by the time the charity polo match was over. But he knew that this was what he wanted. He was grateful that Malcolm had shown up for the game and had played well. Even Helena was there, standing next to Hadley in the viewing area and cheering them both on. He couldn’t help but think that as the hashtags on Instagram always put it, he was living his best life in this moment.
That thought made him feel anxious, like a major screwup was just around the corner, and he knew that was because in the past he’d never been able to simply let himself be content. Part of it was that he’d always been hungry for more, trying to fill that emptiness deep inside of him with something, but never really finding the right thing.
Hadley... Well, he hoped she was it, but he knew it was dangerous to put that on her. The fact was he had to be content in himself before he could be totally committed to their relationship. If helping Malcolm deal with his own shit had shown him anything, it was that very fact.
Malcolm was running and trying to do something to impress his fiancée instead of realizing that he was enough for Helena.
Mauricio had to wonder if he was enough for Hadley. That was always the question, and it had never been answered between them. They both had spent a lot of time looking outside of the relationship, but that pregnancy scare had bonded them, made them a team. Since that moment he’d felt like...well, almost like they were a couple once more.
He rubbed the back of his neck. Okay, he was overthinking this. But he didn’t want to lose her again. He didn’t want to jeopardize the second chance he still wasn’t sure he deserved but that he wanted more than anything.
He showered and changed and met up with Alec. “I forgot how much I like playing.”
“I know. When we were kids I always resented being forced outside to ride and practice polo with Dad but now, I’m glad I was,” his brother said.
“No one would have believed we were twins if you’d stayed inside... You were getting too nerdy.”
“Nerdy? You wish, bro. Women like my smarts,” Alec said.
“Is that what they tell you?”
“Trust me. I know they do.”
“What do you know?” Hadley asked as they approached her.
“That brains are sexier than brawn,” Alec said.
“Good thing Mo has both,” she said with a wink that sent a shot of pure desire straight through him.
“You think so? He’s not as smart as me.”
“No one is as smart as you,” she said.
“True,” Alec said.
When Alec drifted over to the bar, Mo stood there in front of Hadley, realizing how much he wanted her to be right here by his side for the rest of his life. But he couldn’t say that. They were taking it slow, not making the same mistakes again. But there was a part of him that was afraid to pump the brakes. He had that feeling...the one that told him to grab her with both hands before he lost her again.
“You were pretty impressive today,” she said, after Alec had left.
No doubt his brother was going to try to woo some women. Alec had been different lately, and it was only now that Mauricio was noticing it because he’d been busy trying to keep Malcolm from imploding and losing the only woman he’d ever loved.
“Thanks. I try,” he said wryly. “I noticed Helena was with you earlier. Where did she go?”
“To find Malcolm. She told me what you did for him. Well, for them. That was really nice,” she said.
“Thanks,” he replied. He watched as she looked around at the crowd.
“Being here is strange,” she finally said. “I mean, this is the first time we are together with our families. Your mom was nice earlier. Helena commented that she was glad we were back together. But this involves our families and friends, and that scares me.”
He pulled her into a quiet corner and turned so she was blocked from everyone’s view by his body. He looked down into her brown eyes that always hid her real thoughts and feelings from him, but in this moment, he had no doubt what she was thinking. She was nervous just as he was, afraid that now that they’d gone public with this second chance that everyone would be second-guessing them.
“I don’t care what anyone else thinks about us,” he said, realizing that it was the truth. “You’re the only one I care about.”
“Mo.”
She just said his name but there was so much in that one word. So much emotion. She was trying to make sense of this the same way he was.
“We got this, darling. I’m not going to let any outside pressure contribute to bringing us down. Not this time. If the past has taught me anything, it’s that I’m much better with you by my side.”
She tipped her head to the side, studying him in a way that made him realize how vulnerable he was to her. He stood a bit straighter, knowing he wanted her to see whatever it was she was searching for.
“I am too,” she said at last.
She leaned up to wrap her hands around his shoulders and kissed him, and in that moment, he realized that if he lost her this time, he might not recover. That Hadley had somehow made her way into that empty part of his soul that he’d never realized had been waiting for her to fill it.
Helena left the others and went to find Malcolm. Mauricio had been a godsend in helping her figure out something was wrong with her fiancé. But she still wasn’t sure if the problem was fully solved. Did Malcolm have a gambling problem?
Or was it what he’d told her—that he just wanted to give her a good life? As if they didn’t already have one. After meeting him at Arbol Verde, she’d taken him back home with her and they’d had a good long talk. Today was the first time since the engagement party when she’d realized the money was missing that she felt like things were back to normal. But a doubt still nagged at the back of her mind.
Malcolm was talking to Diego and Alec, and she saw how relaxed he looked. It gave her hope that they were finally over the rough patch that had threatened their marriage.
“Hey, Hel, you okay?” Hadley asked as she slipped her arm around Helena’s shoulders.
“Yeah, I think I am,” she said, sneaking a cocktail off the tray of a passing waiter while her sister did the same. “Love is so dammed complicated, you know?”
Hadley nodded and then took a sip of her drink. “Wouldn’t it be nice if it were like those stories we read as teenagers, and once the girl fell for the guy all the problems sort of magically disappeared?”
Helena had to smile at her sister. “Yes. Especially when I’m in the middle of planning a wedding. I used to think there was no difference in living together and being married, but honestly, knowing that we’re going to be a couple for the rest of our lives is enough to freak me out sometimes. I get that it could do the same to Mal, but there are moments when I still can’t figure out why he can’t just...”
“It’s okay,” she said. “We’re allowed to expect the men in our lives to step up when we need them to.”
“Is that what’s going on with you and Mauricio now? Is he stepping up?”
Hadley chewed her lower lip and looked across the room at him as he talked to his parents and someone Helena didn’t know.
“Yes, I think so. We’ve been dating—well, hooking up for the last couple of weeks—and this is the first time we’re out as a couple. It’s scary and exciting. How can it be both of those things?”
“I don’t know. But I get it. So, you’ve been hooking up?”
“He’s the one guy I can’t get over,” Hadley admitted. “Even when I was dating other guys, I always compared them to Mo. I thought that was crazy until I realized that there was something between us that I couldn’t explain and now... Well, I think we’re both really committed this time.”
Helena wrapped her arm around her sister’s waist. “Good. I’m glad to hear that. I think you both needed to grow up a bit.”
“Of course, you did,” Hadley said, pulling away. “It’s not like you and Mal are any more normal than we are.”
“Don’t I know it. Maybe we are all just bumbling along,” Helena said.
“Yeah, I think we are,” she said, then groaned. Helena followed her sister’s gaze and noticed her mom was walking toward them.
“I thought Mom was going to lose it the other day before Jaqs walked into the meeting,” Helena said.
“I did too. She really wants your wedding to be perfect,” Hadley said. “I don’t know if perfect is ever possible though.”
“Of course it is,” their mother said as she joined them. “You two look beautiful today.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Helena and Hadley said at the same time. Their mother seemed more chill today than she had been at the last meeting with the wedding planner, and maybe that was because Helena was more at ease, as well.
She hadn’t wanted to tell her mom about any of her problems with Malcolm, but Helena knew she’d been broadcasting her worries by her behavior and it hadn’t made the wedding planning sessions with Kinley any easier.
“Both of your men played well today,” Mom said.
“They did,” Helena said.
“Are you okay with me and Mo?” Hadley asked, sounding a little nervous.
Her mom reached out, tucking the strand of Hadley’s hair that always wanted to be free back behind her ear. “If you are.”
“Really?” Helena asked.
“Yes. You girls think I have some dream guy in mind for you both and the truth is, I do. I want a man you love, a man who loves you and treats you right. That’s it. Malcolm makes you happier than I have ever seen you before, Helena. And for some reason, Hadley, Mauricio is the one guy you have never been able to walk away from.”
Helena glanced at Hadley and easily read the surprise on her face. Their mom had been vocal and judgy about every guy they brought home in the past.
“What brought on this change?”
“Something your father said to me the other day,” Mom said.
“What was that?” Helena asked. Daddy did have a way of making Mom see sense and not act like the queen of the world.
“Just that you girls wanted something different from life than I did. And he told me to stop trying to force my ideals on you,” Mom said. “He had a point. I want you to have the man of your dreams, not the guy I imagine you’d like.”
Helena reached over and hugged her mother and Hadley did the same. It made her realize that love was always complicated, even when it was between a parent and child.
Malcolm and Mauricio joined them, and for a moment Helena felt like everything was perfect in her world. She was happy with the man she loved, and her baby sister had finally figured out how to make things work with the man she wanted.