Back in Tome, meanwhile, Tom couldn’t have been further from Fe’s mind. And considering what she suffered over that joke of a fiancé, Sofi couldn’t have been happier for her daughter, except that, of course, marrying one’s first cousin was not always the most prudent choice. On the other hand, plenty of manitos up north where Casimiro was from had traditionally married their cousins. It was almost a custom in some villages. It must be fate actually, Sofi resigned herself, after giving some thought to how Fe and Casey came together again. She finally decided that since it was Fe’s life, the only thing left to do was to wish her happiness and healthy babies.

As opposed to the Fe that had belonged to Tom, this Fe, in some ways, was not as much of a snob toward her sisters since her “illness” and Esperanza’s being given a posthumous medal as a national hero, and La Loca teaching her how to cook, and Caridad becoming a channeler—so that if she could have had them all in her wedding party—in formals—perhaps she would have.

But where was Fe to get an escort for a transparent sister (and I am not speaking metaphorically here); and would she in her life ever get to see her little sister Loca touching any human being (besides her mom), much less walking down the aisle on the arms of a man? As for Caridad, she never changed out of those white tunics that doña Felicia made for her to enhance her vaso role. Somehow, Fe concluded, more or less objectively she thought, none of these sisters was pastel chiffon material. Not solid taffeta neither. And forget gold lamé.

Well, maybe gold lamé.

But Fe decided to forgo the whole idea of bridesmaids altogether because of another little problem that had to do with her fiancé-primo, Casimiro. Casimiro, as everyone well knew, descended from an old, prestigious sheepherding family. In the last half a century, however, like most large cattle and sheep ranchers in the territory, his familia lost its profits, gave up big chunks of land, and finally moved on to other lines of work. That was how Casey ended up studying accounting. His father relocated the family to start a cement business in Phoenix with his brother, and Casey, as the oldest, took up a career that would be helpful to them.

That was all fine and well, and actually to Fe, pretty wonderful. It sure impressed more people at the bank than a fiancé who managed a convenience store–gas station. Casey was a hard worker and made a decent income. They both wanted to buy a home as soon as they could, and anyone could see that the cousins were made for each other.