She threw up her hands in exasperation. “Before tonight, I spent an hour with him, that’s all. But everyone is marrying me off to him. It’s bizarre.”

Three men came out of the restroom, laughing, and one bumped into Adam. He was shoved against Kelly.

“Sorry, man,” the guy said.

“It’s fine.” Adam didn’t move away from Kelly.

“I can see that it is,” the man said, and his friends laughed with him.

“Watch yourselves.” Adam sounded threatening.

“Adam!” Kelly snapped.

He looked at her and she glared back. He was still up against her. “Oh. Right. Sorry.” He stepped away. “Xander misses you.”

“I miss him, too.” She was softening toward him. Maybe she’d been too harsh. “We better go back.”

“The apartment is the same as when you were there,” he said.

All Kelly’s good thoughts left her. “You and Vera didn’t mess it up on your wild weekends?”

He looked astonished. “What are you talking about? We—”

Turning, she walked away. She didn’t want to hear what he had to say.

As soon as Kelly left the table, with Adam just steps behind her, Vera turned to Miguel. Her eyes were furious. “You asked her out just to get back at me, didn’t you?”

Miguel smiled. “I have no idea what you mean. Kelly’s single and so am I. We’re a perfect match. We would unite our families.”

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.”