Chapter 11

The past few weeks had been fine, all things considered. There had been some good conversations with her therapist, and Aunt Bianca had dropped off a tray of apologetic eggplant rollatini. With Anna’s filming schedule kicking off, she and Chris hadn’t been able to Skype for very long periods of time, but they texted constantly, sending photos and memes and jokes back and forth.

“Yo! Who’s ready for tamales!” Tony’s voice boomed as the back kitchen door slammed against the wall. Marisol’s laughter trailed in behind him.

Maria jumped and dropped her magazine to the floor. For someone who’d been watching the kitchen so expectantly for the last hour, she seemed shocked that someone had actually entered. “Where’d you get tamales from?” she called as she got to her feet and tossed the magazine onto the coffee table.

“Maybe I teleported out to Los Angeles and stopped by your favorite taqueria,” Tony answered. “Or maybe I stopped by Tio’shouse on my way home.”