Vera lowered her voice. “You two would be horrible together. You’re too angry for her. You’ve been through too much bad in your life. Kelly wouldn’t know how to handle you when you think people are shooting at you.”

He blinked at that.

“Didn’t think I knew about your nightmares, did you?”

He picked up a piece of bread and buttered it. “I think you underestimate your sister. You should see the way she handles horses. She calms them down. Tames them.”

Vera shook her head. “Kelly doesn’t need more work to do. She needs someone who will look after her. She’s not like you and me.”

“And what are we like?”

“We’re the same and you know it. We fight for things with our words and sometimes with our fists. Most people have an anchor inside them that grounds them, but you and I...” She trailed off.

Miguel’s eyes were intense, like a fire was inside them. “There is no us. You are taken.”

Vera leaned back in her seat. “And you are anchored here. In this place.”

They sat in silence, looking at each other. They had insurmountable obstacles between them.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

When Kelly got home, she wasn’t surprised to see her mother waiting for her. “How was it?” Nella asked breathlessly.

“Interesting. The food was good.”

Nella gave a sigh of satisfaction. “I knew you two would hit it off. Did you see that I left the porch light off? Kisses in the dark are sweeter than in the light.”

Kelly willed her face not to turn red. This was not something she wanted to talk to her mother about. She smiled and said, “Yes, they are.”

Nella seemed pleased by that.

“I’m pretty tired. I think I’ll go to bed.”

“Of course. I’ll see you in the morning. How about strawberry waffles for breakfast?”

“Excellent,” Kelly said, then went to her room and shut the door. When she saw herself in the mirror, she thought how different she’d looked before the date. She’d seemed younger, certainly more hopeful, then.

Now she was just confused. Perplexed and puzzled. What the hell is going on?

The whole date felt like she’d walked into the middle of a movie and she’d never figured out the plot. Adam had treated Miguel like he was an enemy, while Miguel acted like he knew something no one else did.

And then there was Vera. Usually she was calm. But tonight she’d looked like she was ready to kill someone. It was just that Kelly never could figure out who she wanted to murder.

As for Kelly, she ate and drank and said little. Mainly, she stayed out of whatever was going on among the others. No wonder I love animals, she thought. They make more sense.