Sarah told him about Leo doing odd jobs—construction, plumbing, fixing cars—but nothing solid. “With his record, it’s hard to get hired, but he said he does all right and he hasn’t been in any trouble in a while.”

“Did he say anything else about your dad?”

She shook her head, looking down at her hand in his, and Angel squeezed it, hating that she might be hurting about that. “I don’t even ask him anymore. The last few times I did he was adamant that he didn’t care if he never heard from Omar again and that I shouldn’t either.” She touched Angel’s temple then smoothed his raised eyebrow. It was something that always helped calm him. “Look, babe. I’m not being naïve about this. I know I’m calling him my brother already, but I’m well aware that I still don’t know that he is with all certainty. Just because he came clean about his past doesn’t mean he’s all good. I know this, okay? But until I get something that really says he can’t be trusted, I want to continue to pursue this—slowly and cautiously—with you by my side every step of the way.”

On that note, Angel decided there was no sense in arguing about Leo now. The guy wasn’t moving out here, so Angel didn’t think he needed to worry too much about Sarah being around his thug ass, and he let it go. But he was definitely taking Sal up on his advice. He’d be doing his homework on Leo. The guy may’ve told Sarah a lot, but Angel was certain there was more to his story.

~~~

The next couple of months flew by without incident. Since Leo left to Mexico to help relatives of his mom with some construction work on someone’s farm, he was going to be gone for weeks, maybe months. His absence put a hold on Angel’s investigative work. He figured with Leo gone he had time to look into him later.

Leo told Sarah he wouldn’t have access to the Internet, and with no international plan on his phone, she wouldn’t be hearing from him possibly until the beginning of the new year. But not even a week had gone by when he started skyping her from Mexico. He said he didn’t realize his cousins out there were so up on technology. Angel took solace in knowing at least the guy was far away and the only communication she had with her brother was via the Internet. Between football, keeping up with his school work, and finals, the last thing he needed was to have to worry about Leo.

Even though Sarah and Angel had already celebrated their twenty-first birthdays in a big way on New Year’s Eve with an extravagant party at his house, they had the week off after New Year’s, and Angel was taking Sarah away. The whole gang was meeting up in Big Bear for a few days before they had to go back to school. Only Angel was heading up there a day earlier than everyone else so that he and Sarah could have his parents’ time-share all to themselves for a day.

“Ready?” he asked as she walked out her front door to greet him.

She knew they were supposed to be headed up to the cabin tomorrow but didn’t know where they were headed today She smiled big then bit her lower lip. “So are you telling me now where you’re taking me?”

Bringing his arms around her waist, he lifted her off the top of the stair of the porch where she stood then spun her around, laughing when she let out a yelp before letting her down in front of him.

“Big Bear,” he said with smirk then added. “Remember that cozy chapel we saw the last time we were up there? Let’s go get married.”

The smile she wore fell instantly, and her mouth dropped open.

Gulping, but trying to keep his playful demeanor going, he let go of her hand. “Well, shit, I was kidding. You don’t have to look so horrified.”

“No.” She gasped, reaching out for his hand again. “It’s not that. I just . . .” She paused, apparently trying to find the right words for her reaction. “For a moment, I thought you might be serious, and well . . . we’ve talked about this and—”

“I know,” he said, pulling her to him again and kissing her softly before the mood got too weird. “You’ve always dreamed of a big wedding, and you’re gonna get it. But I am taking you up there early so we can have the place to ourselves tonight. No quickie weddings, I promise.”

A big relieved smile washed over her face, and she kissed him back, caressing his face with her chilly hand. “The thought of marrying you would never be a horrifying one. You just caught me by surprise.”

After a long and lustful kiss that still left Angel wanting so much more, she said her bag was ready but she just needed to go grab it from her bed, so Angel followed her in. They stopped in her front room where she told her mom where they were headed, and Sarah played the same gag on her mom that Angel had played on her.

“There’s this really cozy chapel up there we want to check out.”

Her mom had been about to bring her cup of coffee to her mouth when she stopped cold and stared at them. Sarah and Angel exchanged glances until Sarah burst out in laughter and assured her mom she was kidding. Sarah walked in her room, still giggling with Angel behind her.

“Hey, baby girl.”

The guy’s voice came from Sarah’s still open laptop on her desk. Sarah stopped in her tracks, turning to the laptop then back at Angel, the expression on her face too strange to make out. “I thought we’d hung up,” the guy said again.

“Who’s that?” Angel asked, his insides a weird mixture of slow boiling anger, hurt, and alarm.

Had she really been talking to some dude who called her baby girl? Before he could demand to know who the f**k it was, she rushed to the laptop and spoke quickly. “I thought we did too. Angel’s here, Leonardo. I gotta go.”