Land of Careful Shadows by Suzanne Chazin Read Free Book Online Page B

energy out of her. She seemed to finally exhale. “Scott and I spent two years with the Peace Corps there. That’s how we met. We’d planned on having a big family but it didn’t work out so we adopted Olivia instead.”
    â€œIs that where you picked up your Spanish?” She didn’t study it in high school. Her family had insisted she take French. Ironically, that’s where they met—in Madame Driscoll’s French class. Vega bet neither of them could so much as order a meal in a French restaurant anymore.
    â€œI learned more than Spanish in Guatemala,” said Linda. “Being with the people—it changed our lives, gave us a calling of sorts. Not that Scott doesn’t do standard criminal defense work as well. That’s what pays the bills. But Latin-American issues are our passion.”
    â€œHuh. I thought I was the beginning and end of your Latin-American issues.”
    â€œYou never thought of yourself as Latin-American.”
    â€œ You did.”
    â€œThat was my parents, Jimmy. That was never me. And they’ve changed, like everyone else. They love Olivia so much, how could they not?”
    The coffee was finally ready and she poured him a mug at the counter. She rustled up some Oreos, apologizing for not having anything better. She was about to launch into a conversation about the weather or some other inane drivel, when Vega reached over and touched her hand.
    â€œLinda, it’s fine. Relax. It’s only me, okay?”
    She sighed. “I’m sorry. It was just—such a surprise.”
    â€œBad surprise?”
    She stirred her coffee. Vega thought he saw some color come to her cheeks. “No. Good. All good.” Her eyes, pale as dawn, registered approval. Twenty-five years later, and he still sought her approval.
    â€œWhat about you, Jimmy?”
    â€œWhat about me, what?”
    â€œAre you married? Do you have kids?”
    â€œDivorced. One daughter.” He put the mug to his lips and took a sip. “She’ll be graduating high school in two months. She’s starting at Amherst in the fall on a pre-med scholarship.” He wasn’t sure why he added the stuff about Amherst and the pre-med scholarship. He supposed it was because Linda’s family always looked down on him. He couldn’t help feeling like his daughter’s achievements were a vindication of sorts.
    â€œYou must be so proud.”
    He was. Sometimes he had to catch himself. He could become a bore about his daughter, telling everyone he knew about how she’d been selected to assist on a research project at Lake Holly Hospital, studying the efficacy of dietary education on low-income pregnant women. He didn’t think he’d ever used the word “efficacy” in his life before Joy began working with Dr. Feldman. Now, he trotted out the phrase at least once a day.
    â€œAnd your mom?” asked Linda. “How’s she doing?”
    He raised his mug to his lips but it just hung there. He felt the steam rising off of it, condensing on his face, as if even the coffee was crying for her.
    â€œShe died last April.”
    â€œOh Jimmy, I’m so sorry. Was she sick?”
    â€œNo. She was murdered. In a botched robbery.” His voice felt rubbed raw. He struggled with the pitch.
    â€œOh my God. Here?”
    â€œIn the Bronx. She moved back several years ago. She said she was happier down there near all her friends.” He blamed himself for the move. If only he’d managed to hold his marriage together. Maybe he could have stayed in Lake Holly instead of having to move farther upstate. Maybe she’d have stayed nearby. So many maybes.
    â€œYou were close to her, I remember.”
    â€œYeah.” Talking about family had always been a sore point for him. Growing up, there was always the “what happened to your father?” And how do you answer that? How do you say he just up and left and not get