Marriage Vows Under Fire Summer Love Series 2: Tender Rivalry

By Lanette Zavala

Natalie and Joseph Reyes continue to juggle the drama of everyone else's lives while trying to strengthen their loving marriage that only feels drained. Escaping growing problems at home with her husband, Natalie opens the door of a strange connection between her brother and her executive assistant in the workplace.

Tony Taylor and Amelia Conrad contend for an open vice-president position at Millennium Fashion House. One of the required challenges for the job is to transform homeless kids and inner city high school misfits into classy Millennium models for an upcoming marketing campaign.

The no-nonsense Amelia may have the ambition to successfully win the vice-president job. But her cut-throat perfectionism is no match for her softening heart toward the rough inner city teenagers with whom she has to work - and her secret love for Tony. When there is a high-profile career to achieve versus the unlikely fulfillment of her dream to win the handsome bachelor's heart, there should be one choice to make. Business. But her heart's desire for the man, who rejected her in the past, risks her goal to defeat him as a contending executive. Tony struggles with his own developing feelings toward the tyrant whom he had long ago learned to shun as a person. But right within their competitive environment, he notices Amelia's sweet change toward the poor community he loves. A popular player among women with desires for status and everything that comes with it, he can't understand why he can't get Amelia out of his mind.

Centered by a host of other developing relationships within their circle of friends, Amelia and Tony reflect on a bitter past as an obstacle that stands between them. Theirs is a complicated love story between two people who don't want to be in love - at least, not with each other for reasons neither is willing to mention.

• Language: English
• Publisher: eBookIt.com
• Release date: Apr 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781456620097

Book preview

Bible.

Amelia?

I’m here, Tony.

So, how about dinner with me?

What makes you want to go to dinner with me?

It looks like you and I are going to have to find a way to get along pretty well considering we’re going to end up working together regardless of the turn of things, he explained.

She listened intently for any suggestive tone in his last statement. But there was none. He sounded friendly.

Look, I know you’re probably skeptical, he told her. To you, I’m basically the jerk who’s been having nothing else to say to you except how many copies or faxes I need.

Just the reminder, along with the oversight of his acknowledgement about everything, hit a nerve for her. The fact that he would mention only the surface of their issues felt like sheer insult.

But let me show you another side to myself, Amelia. His tone was now lowered – and more warm. You know what? How about I take you and your Aunt to lunch with me on Saturday? That way, you don’t have to pull yourself away from her if you’re still trying to spend that time with her.

Tony, she said in an almost falsetto whisper. Tony, it’s…it’s really a nice offer. B-But…I just…

Can you just think about it?

There was something about his call that just seemed too desperate. With all her heart, she wanted to trust his effort. But she just couldn’t. She had learned a long time ago not to trust him and had foolishly let her guard down during one date, which proved to be a final one to her benefit.

What if I told you that you don’t need to do all this just to clear the air between us? She replied. You and I are both professional enough to work together civilly.

What if I told you that I just want to take you out?

"You took me out already, Tony. And we really had a nice time. So, thank you for that. And I think it’s best that I don’t mention any other time beyond that one simple date. Now, why don’t you just keep going down the list of those who haven’t had the golden opportunity to date you yet? The women are actually lined up." The anger in her tone, though contained, was undeniably clear.

"Okay, well, look…I guess I’ll see you around the office, Amelia.

Acknowledgements

All glory and honor to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Who is our Way, Truth, and Life to our Father in Heaven. I am so thankful to Him for another opportunity to write and finally finish this novel.

I am thankful for my husband of eighteen years (Elder), our children (Elder II, Brendon, Dimitri and Tatiana), my parents (Milton and Cynthia), my brother, my sister, all four of my grandparents, my family, my friends, and my pastor.

As I have written in previous novels, I also want to begin this series acknowledging that there is no fiction on earth that can measure up to the awesome parables which Jesus spoke to teach us how to live. While I believe Marriage Vows Under Fire can entertain as well as minister to your heart, it is a secondary source of learning.

There is no encouraging, and assuring book to read like the Holy Bible. There is no saving book apart from God’s Word. So, if you put this novel down to pick the scriptures up, you’re on the right path. And while you do read this fiction, feel free to discern its content in light of The Word.

Lanette

Other Books Available By Lanette Zavala

A Single Woman’s Journey Through Marriage Preparation

When You, She, And She Want That Same Man Part One

Your Desire, Wait, And Devotion Part Two

A single Christian woman’s hope may be to spend her life with the future husband of her dreams. This blessed, acceptable desire can be presented to the Father, who ordains marriage and calls believers to marry within the faith of Jesus Christ. But He does not call females to compete and scorn one another over common quests for the same eligible men. He cherishes His time with His single daughters to mold their characters in Christ as well as to prepare them for desired marriages.

Within today’s Christian settings, there are divisions resulting from intense competitions among single women who outnumber the eligible male believers. Some single women also often struggle with who they are in Christ without the approving smiles of men. In two parts, author Lanette Zavala shares her own past experiences as a single believer while addressing a number of issues relating to women’s relationships as Christian sisters. Such topics discussed are:

• Courting non-believers to dodge competitions in today’s churches;

• Claiming a certain man as a future husband in Jesus’ name;

• Discerning the motives of men who juggle the hearts of women in church;

• Taming bad attitudes that hurt other females over eligible men;

• Setting patterns of distrust by taking somebody else’s boyfriend through covetousness;

• Finding and defining your identity in Christ as a single woman.

Marriage Vows Under Fire Mega Series 1:

Gold Bands In The Fire

Don’t miss out on your copy of Gold Bands In The Fire, series one of this inspirational romance. Meet the Taylor and Reyes families with their dramatic yet comically adventurous challenges that revolve around love.

Natalie and Joseph Reyes have everything any young interracial couple could desire - a loving marriage, children together, wealth, and enterprise. But the demands of a controlling mother-in-law and her husband's unaccounted hours spent in places unknown to Natalie threaten to drive a wedge between them. With dwindling trust in her beloved accompanied by mysterious symptoms within her body, Natalie agonizes as a single mother within her marriage.

Relatives who witness Natalie's faith can only wish for her problems. An adulterous past and scandalous tendencies threaten to shatter the love between Shasta and Javier Reyes. Unknown to their family, a violent face-off occurs when Natalie's psychotic cousin torments the men who attempted to kidnap her. Cousin Tiphany Taylor hopes to marry the wealthy father of her children until reality forces her to make a heart-wrenching decision. Alicia Reyes goes on a manhunt for her meddling widowed mother and finds a homeless man to groom for the mission.

The shattering worlds of the prominent Reyes and Taylor families blend as a distractive force against the couple, who married from each family. Surrounded by everyone else’s drama, Natalie and Joseph rarely find time to strengthen what she sees as a starving marriage.

Marriage Vows Under Fire Mega Series 1 is an extensive version of Wedding Vows Under Fire Launch Series.

To order

A Single Woman’s Journey Through Marriage Preparation, Marriage Vows Under Fire Mega Series 1: Gold Bands In The Fire, and other books by Lanette Zavala, visit your favorite online bookstore.

Prologue

1980

A proud sense of gratification overshadowed Natalie Taylor as she observed all her friends’ fascination with the Reyes-Taylor Ranch. On over one-hundred acres of land in the countryside of MacEllah, each family’s large vacation home held an abundance of cozy bedrooms and breathtaking family accommodations. Between each home, which was built back-to-back, there was a poolside spacious enough to accommodate at least forty people and a separate picnic area surrounding an over-size barbeque pit with four ten-foot wooden picnic tables.

From the balcony of the Taylors’ house, just outside the second-floor den, the high school seniors overlooked the well-lit shared backyard in amazement. For them, the ending of prom night, with their one-hour drive to the getaway spot, meant the beginning of a special weekend.

Vivian Brown pulled Natalie back into the den and told her in a low, discreet tone, Natalie, Chad wants me to spend the night with him tonight. Can’t we take one of the bedrooms away from everybody else?

Natalie laughed without hesitation. She looked out the window and gazed at the group as she explained, Girl, I told you. My parents will not go for that. That’s why my mama is here and will probably be awake all night on alert.

And what about Joe’s house? Vivian asked her referring to the Reyes home just yards away, where all the boys were expected to sleep for the night.

Forget it, Natalie told her. Mrs. Reyes won’t even let any girls over there tonight – just to make sure there’ll be no funny business in her house.

Oh, Vivian responded, almost too embarrassed to continue looking her friend in the eye.

Is he trying to pressure you? Natalie demanded gently. You always did seem to know what you wanted Vivian. And you said you’d never let anybody pressure you.

Well, no, he’s not pressuring me, Vivian replied weakly.

Good. Then, tell him to hold his horses until the wedding night.

Don’t be silly, Girl, Vivian answered her friend with a chuckle. Chad and I haven’t talked about marriage.

Well, then, he’s got a lot of nerve.

You’re so self-righteous, Nat. Vivian turned on her heel and headed back to the balcony.

Natalie had heard the statement before. And on several occasions she had allowed such a statement to occupy her mind, having been told too often that she was older than her years. But lately, she second-guessed all of what had been told to her concerning her conservative judgment.

Her eyes fell on her prom date, Joseph Reyes Junior. He was her handsome childhood friend. Since meeting during a time when she could barely remember, he had been her playmate. She had never before thought to consider herself as his date to anything, especially not to prom. But after a hurtful break-up from a six-month courtship, which she had never before revealed to her cousin, Tiphany, nor to her friends, she found familiar delight and humor in the friendly company of Joseph. If there was any self-righteousness in her, as her friend often accused her, it disappeared in his presence.

Regardless of his family’s wealth and prestige, Joseph was a juvenile delinquent. Unlike his twin brother, Juan, who prided himself on fine academic performances and outstanding high school baseball, Joseph had kept so much company with unlawful teens that their behavior had rubbed off on him. His parents often found comfort in the confidence of the Taylors, sharing their grief in their son’s arrests over wild parties, alleged car thefts connected with criminal friends, and graffiti-related vandalism.

Despite their different choices in life, Natalie felt connected to him. But, for the connection, she felt ashamed. The label of self-righteous and the uncertainty of trusting a delinquent conflicted within her heart.

A year had passed since Joseph’s return from eight-months in a detention. Since returning from that last stay in juvenile, he had changed in an amazing but peculiar way, as family and friends had noticed. There were times when he had more to talk to Natalie about than she could bear to hear. He showed all the signs of what her cousins, EmmaJean and Belinda MacNeal, labeled as jailhouse religion. But her parents were vocally optimistic about his change. As far as Natalie could see, they never seemed to harbor one skeptical thought between the two of them about Joseph.

All Joseph ever seemed to want to talk about lately was the Bible, Natalie often complained inwardly. Although she appreciated her friend’s newfound preoccupation with the Bible, being a Sunday School junior superintendent herself at church, she longed for more exciting conversations during their phone calls. She wanted the youthful, stimulating talk that she missed from her former boyfriend. Just a week before the prom, she had drifted to sleep as Joseph read a full chapter of First Chronicles to her over the telephone.

There was also a reserved side of Joseph. That very prom night, he seemed almost too shy to mingle among the group of guys, who were to camp at his parents’ vacation home all weekend. To Natalie, the mystery that others saw in his eyes revealed to her a transparency of sadness and regret. She was delighted that he had finally shed his bad-boy exterior and had demonstrated a willingness to show common vulnerability. Only days ago in another one of their lengthy phone conversations, he had shared with Natalie his lifelong struggle comparing himself to his well-liked twin brother, Juan.

As she often had to do, Natalie tried shaking her thoughts of Joseph. With every detail that he gave about himself, whom she thought she already knew, she pondered. He had developed into the enigmatic character standing on the balcony from the shy little boy who also had a hidden mischievous side that could easily stir up uncontrollable laughter within herself and in her siblings.

Her eyes glued on him through the window. Under the bright balcony light, his smile could draw her attention from miles away. His sudden attention on her alerted her to how silly she was certain she must have appeared staring at him. Realizing that her eyes wore a lost gaze and that her head was tilted to the side, she finally pulled herself together.

Snap out of it! Natalie scolded herself.

At the sight of Joseph approaching her, her heart pounded against her chest, to her surprise. His dress shirt hung outside his tuxedo slacks casually and attractively.

What in the world is this? She screamed inwardly.

She had always maintained that Joseph had no place in her heart as anyone besides as a friend. After all, he was Latino. Her interest had always been African-American guys as his had always been Latina girls.

Stepping into the den through the doorway near the window, he approached her with a chuckle. What are you doing in here by yourself?

Oh…I-I was j-just talking to Vivian.

Well, she’s outside now.

Oh, yeah. She chuckled nervously.

Come on. Let’s go talk in the kitchen.

Up and down the stairs became her constant activity since arriving on the ranch almost an hour ago. She had immediately changed into a plain, tan-colored dress that hugged her slightly thick waistline while flowing out loosely over her legs at midway between her knees and ankles. Besides how well the dress complemented her fair skin tone, she had received no other indication of admiration. She didn’t care. She was comfortable and confident that she wouldn’t fall down any steps in an attempt to look cute.

His hand reached out for hers. Only on the dance floor earlier that night had he ever reached to hold her hand. Her eyes landed on their sudden link at the palms. It was a sight of excitement and a feeling of security and warmth. She could also sense the mutual connection within his touch. And, to her surprise, she could feel far more developing within her heart.

Once again, his voice awakened her thoughts. You seem distant, Nat. What’s up with you?

Oh, uh…It’s pretty late. Just tired.

On your prom night? He chuckled.

She joined in. I know, right?

She followed him down the back staircase that led to her family’s kitchen. The slight smile forming on her face was almost unnoticeable. During a sudden moment of realization, it had also become unwelcome in her mind. But it did not disrupt her mysterious comfort being held by his grip. Stepping down into the kitchen, Joseph never took notice of Natalie’s conflicting transition.

Where’s your mom? He asked her as he led her to her own kitchen table.

She walked across the back to yall’s house. Probably chatting with your mama. Didn’t you notice her?

I haven’t really noticed a whole lot tonight besides you, he revealed in a tone, so mellow that she could only respond with a silent look into his eyes. He pulled a chair out for her as if they were back at the fine restaurant, where they had dined before the prom dance. You never looked so pretty the whole time I’ve known you.

Natalie giggled and gave him one of her cornered-eye looks, with which he was fondly familiar. You’ve seen me dressed up plenty of times. And you never noticed?

A sense of bashfulness seemed to overwhelm him, she noticed. Joseph blurted a quick, final chuckle with a shrug before turning his attention to the layout of food that covered the kitchen counters. Man, I sure am hungry.

Still? She expressed slight surprise as she noticed him make his way toward the buffet which her mother and Angelica Reyes had lain out for the company of teen girls.

Homemade fried chicken strips, fried catfish fish cuts, small corn-on-cobs, melon slices, and mini chicken salad sandwiches filled dishes that were surrounded by smaller finger foods. The best iced tea always expected in the countryside was accompanied by fresh slushes of fruit drinks that remained in the chill of three different blenders – from three different fruit blends. Joseph had developed an appetite just from the view of the food.

I hope you don’t eat all that, Natalie playfully confronted her friend. "You know, that’s primarily for the girls’ sleepover tonight. I heard the guys have all the barbeque at your house."

It’s going to be kind of hard eating with a bunch of guys I just barely met tonight. Not to mention, they’re all sleeping at my house. I’ll bet some of them might have plans to sneak over here with your friends.

And for that reason, my mama has some coffee brewing for the entire night. She ain’t going to sleep.

They laughed. Although they had shared humor numerous times during previous moments for years, their mutual delight was unfamiliar. Standing over the food, Joseph connected his gaze to hers once again.

The boisterous laughter outside forced them both to refocus their attention on their existing friendship, which seemed to persistently defy any possible development that entire night. To distract herself from any possible disappointing hopes, Natalie cleared her throat to continue their amiable conversation.

Anyway, Vivian told me she and Chad wanted to spend the night together, she informed him. I hope they don’t try anything. Vivian needs to go to church with me some time.

Joseph placed an entire small square of chicken sandwich into his mouth before returning to the table. With a full mouth, he said to her, Nat, going to church won’t change her if she doesn’t know the reason for going to church.

Well, church changed me. You should know that more than anybody. You’re the only person I confided in about my past relationship and…you know, what I did with him that I’ll always regret.

Yeah, I have my own regrets, too. All the trouble I’ve been in. But church didn’t save me from it. Jesus Christ did.

Oh, I know all that now. I mean, I’m more involved in Sunday School and other activities at church than I’ve ever been.

Joseph chuckled and took his seat. You don’t want to hear what I’m saying, Nat. Nothing good you’re doing can make you saved. Do you know you can do every thing right in your own eyes and still won’t be prepared to stand before God? Your good deeds and all your commitment to church can’t save you from the wrath He has reserved against sin on the day of Judgment.

Well, I know we’re all just human, Joseph.

"And human nature is going to lead to eternal damnation for everybody who does not surrender to the One Who saves us from human nature. Human nature eventually leads to sin. The bad in human nature is offensive and the good in it is self-righteous. It’s all offensive to God. So, He sent His only begotten Son to die as the Ultimate Sacrifice for our sins. Only in Jesus Christ do we have eternal life. We don’t have any eternal life in the good deeds that we could boast about."

So, then, what? She shrugged. What I do at church doesn’t matter?

Not now. No. You’re able to boast about what you do and find reasons within yourself why you are a believer in Jesus Christ. Surrendering your life and your proud self-view to Him is what He wants you to do. Then,   when you do your good deeds with Him as your sole Reason through faith in Him alone as Savior, without seeing reason to pat yourself on the back, you’re showing the fruit – meaning the proof – that you’re truly a born-again believer in Jesus Christ.

And this isn’t just jailhouse religion that you’re giving me? Natalie blurted before realizing there was resentment brewing within her heart. She looked away to avoid his eyes. She knew that she could have hit a nerve within him. A chill sprang through her body at the thought of Joseph possibly retaliating against her comment with silent distance from that point.

But the warm heat from his hands taking hers reassured her otherwise. I guess you’d think so since I told you that’s where I learned about God. I had a whole lot of time to just read my Bible, Natalie. So, I’m just sharing with you what I learned from reading. Jesus got into it with the Pharisees all the time for their self-righteousness. He wanted them to see their sinfulness and their pitiful need for salvation. And they wouldn’t do it.

So, you’re comparing me to the Pharisees? Natalie snapped as she snatched her hands from his.

Joseph paused and landed his sincere brown eyes one her. Finally, he swallowed hard before replying, Yes.

"Why would you tell me something like this?

Because I care.

Natalie scoffed. What she had long ago suspected in her annoyance was painfully confirmed, she realized. I could never give my heart to Joe Junior, she told herself.

*     *     *

1991

The breath-taking musical melody through her headphones could capture the moment as a long-lasting memory. It promised a lifetime of sweet nostalgia. The thought of marrying the guy of her dreams was almost too good to be true. A few soft self-inflicted pinches convinced her that her dream was reality.

In the course of her tender thoughts, a strange one also occurred in the back of her mind. Her wonderful ride on cloud nine couldn’t prevent her from scolding herself – just slightly. Just a hint of resentment tempted her. But it couldn’t possibly be directed at him. She shook the feeling – seemingly for the second time within the twenty-something hours of their arrival across the border.

Ranked as the top academic junior-class student in the business college at Bayou City Tech University, she knew she had far more sense than she had chosen to use since agreeing to the trip. But since high school, she had a wild streak – one that entertained her college beau.

And all her friends, including her sisterly roommate back on campus…They would surely call her a fool for crossing the border with the campus goof ball, whom she had dated for only five months. For accepting his impulsive marriage proposal, they would probably swat her. Not one of her friends could see what she saw in the chubby guy who warmed her heart every second she spent with him. She herself wondered if her perpetual quest for the danger, excitement, and laughter he always gave her had finally gone over the top.

Whether that was truly the case, she couldn’t see how it mattered. She was in love. And though she never would have imagined that he would shock her with a proposal – even one to be performed under the foreign government during Spring Break – she couldn’t imagine telling him no. What if such a small resemblance of rejection could impose a risk of losing him?

As if her thoughts could spill into the pit of her stomach from an unsettled mind, she could feel a flood of pain imposing on the moment of hope and anticipation. Everything that appeared beautiful in the tropical setting, where other college students freely toured in flocks, intimidated her. She felt out of place. She knew nobody there except the one person responsible for convincing her to go and his wise-cracking friend, who didn’t seem sober just an hour ago.

Where is he? She wondered desperately. Sitting in the lobby of the small hotel, where it seemed no employed citizen working there in that country could help her with directions, she observed her surroundings nervously. She pulled the earphones from her ears.

Her sudden awareness that she was in a foreign land to invest her heart in the promise of a guy, whom she had only known since one month before dating him and who had constantly proven his immaturity to her, frightened her. But she sensed that she wasn’t alone – not in the area and not in her doubts. The familiar face a few feet from her suddenly became a clear sight.

She frowned. The beautiful petite Latina was familiar to her. Do I know you from campus?

*     *     *

Are you still going through with it?

Yeah…You?

Huh? I told you, Man. I’m not backing out after coming this far. A deal’s a deal.

It ain’t a dude, deal. Uh…It ain’t…a…deal…Dude. It’s more like a stupid dare.

The college buddies playfully shoved each other in uncontrollable laughter. One stumbled until he almost landed forward. But the other caught him and raised him up.

You’re gonna have to sober up before you get to that altar, Bro.

No way, Man. That’s…the point of this here…This…Hey! Where’s my bottle?

I tossed it. Look, you’ve got to pull yourself together for this.

How do I do that? I’m getting ma-! Oh…

No, don’t url again!

Where’s my bucket?

Oh no…Well, look at it this way. We’re almost at the finish line. After we complete this famous ‘Hitch Initiation’, we’ll be ready to cross over, and we’ll be frat brothers.

The muscular college junior bent over with his face buried almost completely in the bucket. He just didn’t care that others passing by them in the garden likely noticed the scene he caused in his drunken stupor.

We’ll be married to them this evening and be annulled by next week right before we cross over.

I’m not crossing over! Oh! Uh! I quit.

You can’t quit! That’s the booze talking.

No…That’s…my conscience talking. We’re playing with their hearts, Man! We get married, get annulled, and get rewarded with loyal…ugh…brotherhood to a group who’ll stop at nothing to prove that an organization is worth all…Uh!

Wow, you’ve never sounded so…deep. Maybe you should drink more often.

No! I felt like this since finding out they want to marry me off to…to…I forget her name.

Hey, I feel guilty, too. But that doesn’t mean we break up with them. I could see if the initiation was to get us hitched with strangers. Besides, Jesse and Carlos are in the same boat with us. Where are they, by the way? Trey and the whole line had to do this two years ago. Two of the couples are still dating after they got annulled.

Only two! Man, girls don’t easily forgive this kind of junk! And I don’t wanna risk losing what’s her name! He sniffled with a trembling voice.

Well, don’t cry, now. Let’s just get it over with. The girls will understand after we explain it. You’ll feel like a real frat brother by the end of next week.

No, I won’t. I’ll feel hazed.

Part One: For the Love of Appearances

May to June 1994

Chapter One

The picture of the cheerful couple revealed a proud man grinning from ear to ear and a woman grateful to be on his arm. He had been a fairly frequent subject in the latest citywide sports news. Known as the fans’ player, he had earned his reputation as one of the friendliest professional basketball players in the city. And she was one of Houston’s Latina American princesses, daughter of Angelica and the late Joseph Reyes Senior.

Alicia Reyes rested her head on a stack of pillows as she lay in the guest bed at the home of her cousin, Sergio Cardoso, and his college daughter, Pearl. She held the picture of herself and her beau over her face and steered it from side to side. For minutes, she had examined both their faces to search for something she knew was missing – even though she courted the perfect man. At nearly six-feet five and a half inches tall, Poindexter Brown defied the image of cockiness among his high-profile athletic peers. His chocolate good looks gave him every reason for flaws of haughtiness for which Alicia often examined him just to see if there was reason to end her guilt-imposing relationship with him.

Lisa! Pearl’s voice rang from the other side of the shut door. Pick up the phone!

Hello? She answered. Her tone gave its lost anticipation from weeks ago.

Well, the familiar voice blurted from the other end of the line. I’m finally able to reach you. Who ever would have known?

Hi, Mama, she greeted with a faint smile. She missed her mother, Angelica. Ever since an angering revelation had convinced her to move away into Cousin Sergio’s and Pearl’s home over a month ago, just minutes from the home in which she had partially grown up under her parents, she had planned to finally get an apartment of her own at age twenty-six. And feelings of resentment had finally begun to subside since the shocking news about her mother – despite her decision to change her address.

It’s been three days since I heard from you, her mother reminded her softly. Angelica’s voice, usually demanding and boldly unapologetic, had assumed a modest understanding with her daughter since early May. It’s good to hear the voice of my only daughter.

It’s good to hear you, too, Mama. But you know you can call me anytime.

Oh, believe me. I’ve been trying. But you’ve been busy, I understand.

Alicia’s heart bled. Her mother’s attempt toward change was painfully clear and, for some unknown reason that she didn’t bother pondering, heartbreaking to witness. According to her brothers, she was the only one of the four who noticed the change. Everyone else, as they said, still encountered the same Angelica on a daily basis. Almost two months ago, Angelica’s tyrannical approach on the lives of everyone, especially her daughters-in-law, had come to a screeching yet brief halt in the face of her own shameful past.

After wrecking havoc on one person after the next, with contempt directed at their marriages, she was confronted with telling details that shocked her children. Within one moment of enlightenment, a near-perfect image – one which she had carefully built into the minds of all her children over several years – had become history. Strangely, as Alicia perceived, the current powerless sound of