Clutch Hit by Faith O'Shea (most popular ebook readers txt) 📗

the renovations, from what I could tell, are staying true to the original flavor.”

“New money is being allowed in for that due to the burgeoning tourist trade. The state finally figured out it was the only way to achieve economic stability. It is too bad it must come from outside. Many of the buildings will be owned by foreigners.”

“You could be part of that now.”

His eyes lit up. “I could. I have the money to buy up property and invest. Would that be wise?”

“You’re right about the tourist trade, so I don’t think you’d be wasting your money. You just have to invest cautiously.”

“Can we look into it?”

“I’ll talk to the guy who’s handling your investments, see what he suggests.”

Seemingly satisfied, he resumed watching.

She became absorbed by the out-of-the-way-streets she’d missed, the scenes showing a more realistic view of daily life, with clothes hanging on clothes lines, children playing soccer in the dirt, and wires strung in criss cross fashion from one building to the next. It looked downright dangerous to her. When she was about to ask about it, a man who was role-acting Ernest Hemingway came on screen. She’d forgotten how much time he’d spent in Cuba and turned to ask Mateo, “Have you read him?”

The Old Man and the Sea when I was in school. Islands in the Stream while I was on the road with the Alfareros.”

“Nothing else?”

“No, but maybe I will. Have you?”

“I’ve attempted The Sun Also Rises but put it down rather quickly. I’m not a fan.”

After the third lion stature came into view, she joked, “We may have our ducks, but you seem to favor lions. They even guard the city. Are they symbolic of something?”

“It goes back to before the revolution, to when it was the mascot of our national baseball team, but that was before Castro outlawed professionalism and introduced the amateur league. The Havana Industriales adopted the blue lion as their own and the colors are everywhere. If you know anything about the country, you know that baseball is a national obsession. It’s too bad you couldn’t get to a game. You would have enjoyed it.”

“We tried to squeeze it in but couldn’t. We spent more time at the consulate and the emigrant office than we wanted. My father wanted one of your team’s shirts, but I couldn’t find one.” She laughed. “I ordered it on Amazon on the flight back. Let’s not tell him.”

“I brought one with me that he can have.”

She flipped her hair back, gave him a wide-eyed stare.

“Are you kidding? If you’re going to give it to someone, give it to me.”

“Consider it yours. It would make me proud to see you wear it.”

She collected tee shirts and wasn’t sure why she hadn’t ordered one for herself when she’d ordered her father’s. This would be even better. She’d have a piece of his history and a reminder of what they’d meant to each other. Today.

She settled beside him, her head on his shoulder, needing the connection, her eyes back on the television. The scene showed a line of men sitting on a concrete bench, chatting, sleeping, smoking.

“Why is it always men at rest? I never once saw women hanging around like that. They’re always in motion, with shopping bags or children running ahead of them.”

“Women take care of the home and family. Men are mostly unemployed and have nowhere else to be.”

“Here’s an idea. They could help the women.”

“But that isn’t the Cuban way.”

“I hate to break it to you, but that isn’t the way I envision marriage.”

“Are you envisioning it?”

She pursed her lips at him and said, “For today.”

He placed his mouth on hers and her lips took hold. When he broke contact, he was smiling. “I can try to do it your way.”

“Smart man.”

They settled back again, and only when the tour came to Camagüey, did she become animated again.

“This is where you’re from.”

“The province, yes. It is where I played when I was older, but I doubt they will show the stadium here.”

“It’s just like you said. A maze of streets to counter the pirates. I wish I could have walked them, seen for myself what it’s like.”

No matter where she went, with Casey or without, she always sought out the quirky sites, the less-traveled by-roads. It gave her a better sense of the country and the people. The only place she’d stuck with the regular tourists traps was in Cancun. Another one of those existential breezes flowed through her and she shivered.

“Are you cold?”

She shook her head. In spite of that, he wrapped his arm around her, sharing his body heat.

He picked up the thread of their conversation. “They say there are hauntings there. Dead privateers come back to guard the hidden treasures they left behind.”

“Are there treasure maps?”

“Most go on rumor and old tales of buried gold. I tend to doubt the famous ones left much behind.”

“Was the sports academy there?”

“Yes. I think if you had lived there, we would have dated.”

She pulled back and stared at him. “What makes you say that?”

“You would have drawn me to you then, like you do now.”

“I’m older than you. We would have been in different grades.”

She was twenty-eight to his twenty-six. Not that it made a lot of difference today, but in high school? She wouldn’t have given him the time of day.

“I would have been more mature than many in your class.”

When she saw the gleam in his eyes, she thought he might be right. What he did to her system still amazed her. She’d found treasured gold from Camagüey and hadn’t even looked for it. Needing him more than she needed a tour of his country, she climbed onto his lap, put her arms around his neck, and nestled against his groin.

When he pulled her against him for a kiss that was wet and wild, Cuba was forgotten.

While they were still enjoying the afterglow, Mateo’s cell rang, a salsa number she’d helped him find and program in. It only took a