She smoothed the creases on her peach charmeuse skirt. “I thought she knew. My father never hid her from us.” She kept her gaze on her lap. “Perhaps because she was his only legitimate daughter.” Her last words were spoken in a whisper.

Was that jealousy I was perceiving or just sorrow? In spite of her legitimacy or lack thereof, I’d been the one who grew up without him.

“Puri was excited to come,” I said. “She’d dreamt about visiting this land all her life.”

Angélica set her glass on the coffee table. “How sad that she died so young. I’d like to have met her very much.”

There it was again—the stab of guilt. In an odd way, I wanted her to be the culprit; it would ease the remorse of my imposture. But I had no way of knowing if she was being truthful or not. All I knew was that at that moment, I had a strong desire to tell her the truth—she was bound to find out anyway. Martin could tell her who I was at any given moment.

“There’s something I must tell you,” I said.

“What?”

There was something about her reaction: the slight crease between her brows, the sharpness of her tone, the sudden shift of her knees away from me—something that made me reconsider what I was about to say. If I told her the truth, then what? I recalled the feel of Franco’s rope against my throat, the knife threatening Cristóbal, the snake in my bed. No, I couldn’t confess while I was living under this roof. Not when things were so unclear to me.

“Yesterday, I received word from Panamanian authorities that there have been some complications with Puri’s death certificate and it will take a little bit longer for the documents to arrive.”

She didn’t move a muscle.

“I wouldn’t want to impose or take advantage of your kindness any further so if it’s more convenient, I can find accommodations in Vinces.”

“Of course not,” she said. “You’re no bother, Don Cristóbal. Why, we barely see you around here.”

I thanked her and added, as a truce, “I would like to reciprocate your kindness with a small token of my appreciation, something that I’m certain my Puri would’ve liked very much.”

* * *