Chapter 6 - The Summer Nobody Discussed
Sofia arrived from Denver the following afternoon.
She wore jeans, a navy coat, and the exhausted expression of someone who had spent the entire flight preparing for an argument.
Luis met her outside the hospital.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Sofia embraced him.
“How's Mariana?”
“Still recovering.”
“And the baby?”
“Stable for now.”
Sofia pulled back.
“Have you named her?”
“Not yet.”
She nodded.
Luis watched her face.
“Mom said something last night.”
Sofia became still.
“Of course she did.”
“She told me to ask you about the summer you left.”
Sofia looked away.
“Luis, this isn't the time.”
“Then when is?”
She turned back.
“Your wife is in intensive care.”
“I know.”
“And you're standing here asking me to explain twenty-year-old family secrets.”
“I'm asking because I think those secrets helped put her there.”
Sofia stared at him.
Then she walked toward a bench beside the hospital garden.
Luis followed.
They sat without speaking.
Finally, Sofia said, “I was nineteen when Dad found the letters.”
“What letters?”
“The ones Mom had been sending to the college.”
Luis frowned.
Sofia had received a scholarship to study architecture in Boston.
Two weeks before she was supposed to leave, the university withdrew her housing assignment.
Their mother had said there was a misunderstanding.
Sofia had eventually chosen a school closer to home.
“I thought you changed your mind,” Luis said.
“I didn't.”
Sofia rubbed her hands together.
“Mom contacted the housing office pretending to be me.”
“She told them I had serious emotional problems and needed to remain near my family.”
Luis stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because she didn't want me to leave.”
“She told Dad I was too unstable to live alone.”
“Then she told me Dad thought the same thing.”
Luis looked down.
“I remember you two fighting.”
“Dad found the letters in her desk.”
Sofia's voice cracked.
“He confronted her.”
“And?”
“She said I would ruin my life without her.”
“Dad told her love wasn't supposed to work that way.”
Luis remembered that summer.
His parents had barely spoken.
His father had begun sleeping in the guest room.
Then Sofia left suddenly for Denver after receiving another opportunity.
Their mother had called her selfish.
“She made you choose?” Luis asked.
Sofia shook her head.
“She made everyone believe there was a choice.”
Sofia wiped her eyes.
“Dad helped me leave.”
“He paid the deposit on my apartment.”
“He told me I didn't owe anyone my freedom.”
Luis stared toward the hospital doors.
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“He tried.”
Sofia looked at him.
“You told him Mom was only protecting us.”
The words stung.
“Luis, you were twenty-four.”
“You were already working with Dad.”
“Every time he criticized Mom, you defended her.”
“Eventually he stopped trying.”
Luis sat silently.
Sofia leaned closer.
“But before he died, he changed the trust.”
“Not to punish her.”
“To stop her from controlling everyone through the house and money.”
Luis remembered the letter.
“Did Mom know?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't she tell us?”
Sofia gave him a tired smile.
“Because control was easier when nobody knew the rules.”
They went inside together.
Mariana was awake.
A nurse helped her drink a few sips of water.
When Sofia entered, Mariana's face changed.
“Sofia.”
Sofia rushed to the bed.
“Oh, honey.”
She leaned down and kissed Mariana's forehead.
“I came as soon as Luis called.”
Mariana began crying.
Sofia took her hand.
“Don't try to talk.”
Mariana shook her head.
“I thought I was going to die.”
Sofia's eyes filled.
“I know.”
“I was so scared.”
“I know, sweetheart.”
Luis stood near the doorway.
He had never heard Mariana speak so openly to his sister.
He suddenly remembered that Sofia had been the only Hernández family member who never dismissed Mariana's complaints.
Sofia had repeatedly suggested they move out.
He had accused her of stirring up old family problems.
Now she was sitting beside his wife's hospital bed, offering the comfort he should have provided months earlier.
Mariana looked toward Luis.
“Did you find it?”
He nodded.
“The envelope.”
“Yes.”
“Did you read everything?”
“Most of it.”
She swallowed.
“There's another page.”
He frowned.
“What page?”
“In the back.”
“Behind the letter?”
Mariana nodded.
“It's about the account.”
Luis looked at Sofia.
Sofia's expression changed.
“What account?”
Mariana looked exhausted.
“The one your father set aside for the grandchildren.”
Luis felt the floor shift beneath him.
“I thought the trust was managed by a lawyer.”
“It is.”
Mariana's voice grew quieter.
“But your mother has been collecting money from the rental properties.”
Luis stared at her.
“How do you know?”
“Because the attorney sent a letter.”
“To whom?”
“To me.”
Sofia leaned closer.
“Mariana, what did the letter say?”
Mariana struggled to keep her eyes open.
“That the trust wanted updated information about the baby.”
“She found it first.”
“Who?”
Mariana looked at Luis.
“Your mother.”
Luis frowned.
“What did she do?”
Mariana's eyes filled with tears.
“She told them I was planning to surrender custody after the birth.”
Sofia went completely still.
Luis couldn't speak.
Mariana looked away.
“She said I wasn't mentally fit to raise my own daughter.”
The monitor beside her bed began beeping faster.
A nurse stepped in.
“Mariana, you need to rest.”
Sofia squeezed her hand.
“We'll handle it.”
But Mariana caught her wrist.
“No.”
Her voice was faint but determined.
“Don't handle anything without me.”
The nurse checked her blood pressure.
Luis backed toward the door.
Sofia followed.
In the hallway, he stared at her.
“Can Mom actually take custody of our baby?”
Sofia shook her head.
“Not just because she says Mariana is unfit.”
“Then why would she do that?”
Sofia looked toward the room.
“Maybe she believed repeating the lie enough times would make someone act on it.”
Luis took out his phone.
He called the attorney named in his father's letter.
Daniel Pierce answered after the third ring.
“Pierce Law.”
“My name is Luis Hernández.”
There was a pause.
“Arturo's son?”
“Yes.”
“I've been expecting you to call for quite some time.”
Luis swallowed.
“There's something I need to understand.”
“Of course.”
“My wife says my mother contacted you about our unborn daughter.”
Silence.
Then Daniel spoke carefully.
“Mr. Hernández, before we discuss anything else, I need to ask whether Mariana is safe.”
Luis closed his eyes.
“She's in the hospital.”
May you like
Another pause.
Then the lawyer said, “In that case, there's a document you and Mariana need to see immediately.”
