Postcards from Abby Read online

  When they finally arrive, it is like Tia has stepped into her life twenty-five years ago. The town square is lined with small booths where local vendors are offering tapas of meat, seafood and bread, along with beer, wine and liquor. The old village men are leaning up against the wooden plank table of the makeshift bar, sharing a few drinks with friends, while their wives stand close by, listening to the music, heads huddled together in gossip. There are game booths where the young children stand, anxious to win the prize of a large stuffed animal hanging along the sides of the booth.

  Not to far from the booths is the main stage where there will be at least three bands playing throughout the evening, the last one to go on stage will be the cover band everyone is anxiously awaiting. In front of the stage, down below is the dance floor, consisting of dirt and stone. A few young married couples and those just dating sway side to side to a slow song, arms hanging over necks, whispered conversations, while a group of boys run past them, circling around the perimeter of the dancing area, ready to start mischief.

  Tia knows that it will turn out to be a magical night for everyone who lives in the town. For children and young teenagers, it means staying up way past their bedtime, even all night. For the older generation, it means honoring religious traditions of the village and spending time with family. For Tia, it means the possibility of recreating the best time of her life.

  Jack leads her to one of the booths and shakes the hand of the bartender behind the plank table. They exchange pleasantries and Jack introduces Tia to him. The bartender gives Jack an approving smile as he shakes Tia’s hand. Jack orders drinks for both of them and leans over to Tia, “He used to work at the Inn. We went to middle school together. His name is Miguel.”

  Miguel comes back with their drinks and after shaking hands again with Jack, quickly leaves to tend to other patrons. Jack hands her the glass, smirking as he does. “Taste it. See if you can tell me what it is.”

  Tia is hesitant, “This isn’t something that is going to make me drop to the floor is it?” Remembering some of the lethal combinations of alcohol that her father’s family would drink, one of which was a white liquid, Tia recalls, that her grandmother had given her to taste. Just one sip burned right down her throat and made her eyes water. It was a taste that Tia had never forgotten. Perhaps that was why she had never liked alcohol and preferred to stick to her wine.

  “Would I do that to you?” He gives her an exaggerated look of shock.

  She’s not fooled. “You might.”

  “Give me some credit. I don’t want you to pass out on me. I would have to carry you back home and it’s a long walk from here.”

  Tia looks over at Jack and cautiously sniffs into the glass. The aroma is sweet.

  Jack encourages her to drink it, “Come on, give it a sip. It won’t kill you.”

  Tia takes a small sip and lets the sweet taste of fruit settle in her mouth before breaking into a smile. Immediately, she knows, “Sangria?” She smiles as Jack nods in agreement. “Wow, I haven’t had this in ages.”

  “How did I know that?” Jack is smiling, obviously very satisfied with the results of his little science experiment.

  “You are a mind reader, sir.”

  “No, I just know you, Tia, more than you think.”

  She looks up at him and his smile is gone. His eyes are serious and he stares at her as if he can see right through to her thoughts. Tia looks down again and takes another sip of the drink, partly because she wants to enjoy it but also because she wants to avoid Jack’s intense gaze. They spend the next half hour enjoying a pitcher of Sangria together and watching the world go on around them.

  A few times, Jack’s friends and family members stop by to shout their hellos, shake his hand and offer to buy him a drink. Tia stands by patiently during the exchanges and smiles every time Jack introduces her to them. Every time, she notices the same look of pleased surprise on their faces. Every time that they embrace her or give her a warm handshake, she understands what is behind each friendly word. It is happiness knowing that Jack may have found love after such a devastating loss-that Jack may have finally learned to move on from Sarah. Tia knows, in her heart, it isn’t that simple. Love isn’t that simple.

  The music plays on and Tia chuckles at the band’s attempt to mimic popular American pop songs. Things haven’t really changed so much since she was a kid. She finds herself humming along or tapping her feet to the beat of the music.

  Jack excuses himself for a moment and heads over to the band, the lead vocalist leaning down to talk to him. Jack nods his head, smiles and walks back to Tia. She wonders what that was all about. He stands right besides her, his arm now behind her back. He leans into her to talk over the loud music and Tia tries her best to stay still so as not to give Jack a reason to move his arm away. The fast tempo changes to a slow song and before Tia can process what is going on, Jack takes the glass of Sangria from her hand, places it on the table and takes her hand in his. Tia feels a shock at the touch. His thumb gently circles her knuckle. She looks up and comes face to face with Jack’s serious stare. Her stomach flips under his gaze.

  “Dance with me.” Jack says in a low voice, more as a statement than a question.

  Whether it’s a question or not, Tia finds herself nodding yes, not saying a word, afraid that her own voice will betray her emotions. Instead, she stretches her arms out to him and waits for Jack to lead her to the center of the dance floor. And when he does, he turns to face her and circles his right arm around her waist firmly, taking her hand with his left hand. He pulls her so close to him that Tia can feel his breath on her neck. Her body responds to his touch as if this was all it was looking for all along, all it ever needed. Although Tia has promised not to compare-part of her cannot help it. Michael is the only other man she has ever been with and, even though the attraction was there, it is nothing like this; this is electrifying, this is like coming home.

  “Are you enjoying yourself?” he whispers as he turns Tia around to the rhythm of the music.

  “Yes, very much,” she replies, her voice breathless and low. The silence is almost unbearable and Tia knows that what is not being said in words is being communicated through the movements of their bodies. “It’s been so long since I’ve been to a fiesta. Not since I was a little girl.”

  He answers before she has time to finish her sentence, ‘You were fifteen.”

  “What?” Tia looks at him in amazement.

  “The last time you were at a fiesta,” he says. “You were fifteen.”

  She blinks and stares at him, her mouth opened just slightly. “I can’t believe you remember.”

  “You had on a white sweater with a denim skirt and a pair of white high heels.” His vivid recollection is jarring Tia.

  “How can you possibly know that? It was so long ago.”

  “Who could forget those heels and the legs that went with them. You stepped on my feet several times.

  “It wasn’t that bad.” She reminds him.

  “In all fairness, you did warn me that you couldn’t dance.”

  “Yes, I did.” She says, satisfied that they’re both in agreement.

  “You had your hair up in a ponytail and a bit of lipstick on.”

  “Alright, ‘Mr. Know It All’, if you remember so well, what was the song you requested from the band that night?” Tia smiles, challenging Jack to remember the details of that night.

  “Are you trying to trick me?”

  “Not at all. I know what it was. I want to see if you do too.”

  “You won’t be able to stump me. I do know the song.”

  “So what is it?”

  “You’ll see. Give it some time.”

  For the next few minutes, Tia and Jack dance in silence. Tia is on edge, anticipating whether the moment will come when Jack will prove her wrong. How much she wants him to prove her wrong.

  Then it plays.

  A slow song, the familiar opening melody, the voice-smooth and sultry-and t
hen chorus, the refrain of I’m Crazy For You.

  “How?”

  Jack moves Tia’s body closer to his. His expression is serious and his eyes do not move away from hers, so close that Tia has no choice but to look into them. Jack leans closer to whisper in her ear. In a quiet voice, he answers Tia. “I know everything about you.”

  Tia is still not convinced, “You can’t possibly know everything about me.”

  Jack has stopped dancing, dropping his hands from her waist, “Don’t you understand yet?”

  “Understand what, Jack?”

  He grabs her hands in his and moves it up to his lips. Underneath his breathe; as he softly kisses the knuckles of Tia’s fingers, she hears his confession. “I’ve loved you since the first day I saw you all those years ago. And since then, I have memorized everything about you-the way you fidget and bounce your leg whenever you get nervous or the way you look down when you are embarrassed or shy. The way you laugh out loud, throwing back your head, whenever you find something funny. The way you tease me or argue to win. The way your eyes catch on fire when you are talking about something that you’re passionate about, whether its’ it’s your children or your work.”

  Tia shakes her head, not believing that she is hearing those words. “But that’s impossible. It’s been so long.”

  His voice is gentle and kind. He talks to her, knowing that he is trying to explain something that Tia finds so hard to comprehend. “Tia, when you fall in love for the first time, it’s a very powerful thing. Nothing compares to it. That love stays with you always, even when you have moved on.” Just as the words are still lingering in her mind, he asks her, “Don’t you remember your first love?”

  Tia takes a moment to think about this, trying to remember what she knows about Michael. He takes his coffee black with no sugar, loves old black and white movies, can walk out of the house in a t-shirt when it is twenty below outside. Those are basic. Then there is the Michael she loved-who cried when he watched his children being born, who surprised her with flowers because it was a Wednesday and the Michael who would hold her hand wherever they went. That is the Michael that stays with her, even though Tia has moved on. Was it love at first sight, no, but it’s still just as strong.

  Then she remembers Jack, the instant chemistry, the pull of attraction, the lasting friendship, the long talks about the future, their shared hopes and dreams, the stirrings of desire and longing and the innocence of love, the power of youth.

  She shakes her head as if to clear it of such thoughts and focuses instead on reality. “I’ve changed. I’m not that little girl with the ponytail you fell in love with. I’m complicated. I come with a lot of baggage.”

  “I know that but it makes this better. What makes you you still hasn’t changed,” he murmurs. “Underneath it all, you’re still that girl I slow danced with so many years ago-the same one standing before me now. You just need to let go and trust your feelings.”

  Trust her feelings. How is that possible when every decision she has made with Michael has turned out so very wrong? “It’s not so easy, Jack. I have other memories that are just as strong. Memories that you’re not a part of.”

  “Tia, clear your head of everything but that summer; our summer. Can you do that for me?”

  “Jack, I don’t know if I can…”

  “I’m not asking for forever here, Tia. I’m asking just for tonight.”

  “Tonight?”

  “Let’s go back there together,” he whispers, his breath gently caressing her ear. “Just for tonight.” It’s so tempting for Tia to do. It’s been such an uphill battle these past few years that to go back in time to the happiest days of her life seems like the perfect way to move forward. “Share this dance with me and whatever else comes. Give us tonight.”

  Tia looks at Jack and suddenly sees the boy, the first real love of her life. He takes her hand in his and pulls her close. His other arm wraps around to her lower back and they start to move again to the music. One night? Yes, she could give herself that. In fact, she owed it to herself and to Jack. Acting on impulse, she moves her hand to his neck and rests her head on his shoulder. She closes her eyes and lets her emotions take over.

  They dance all night long and Tia laughs like she hasn’t laughed in a long time and then there’s the drinking. She is glad to see that some things in Spain still remains the same and that is a love of the good life; eating a sumptuous meal with a bottle of wine and laughing with friends. It is so basic and yet, she hasn’t done it in so long!

  The wine is getting to Tia’s head, spinning her a bit and she experiences a feeling of giddiness. She is sure that she looks like a fool but she can’t stop smiling and Jack smiles back at her. There is no denying how handsome he is. The attraction is palpable. Whether it’s the wine making her brave or the unspoken understanding that for tonight, they have no immediate past, they are drawn to each other. There is no Michael or Sarah or Abby dying. It’s just them.

  “So, Jack, tell me…what’s next?” She leans over to ask.

  He looks around at the fiesta, which seems to be dying down, with only the locals staying around to outlast the night. “We can stay.” He offers.

  Tia nods with a mischievous smile on her face. “Yes, we could.”

  Jack smiles back, playing the back and forth game of innuendo that Tia has started. “Keep dancing.”

  Tia closes her eyes. “Mmmm, that would be nice.”

  Jack grabs her hand and gives it a squeeze. “Close the place down.”

  “As if we were kids again.”

  “Or…” he says. And there it is, the or…the alternative, the proposition Tia has been waiting for all night. “We could take a bottle of wine, go back to my house, and sit on my veranda and talk.”

  “Just talk, huh?” Tia looks at him with a doubtful glance. He looks down, his face unable to hid the underlying intention. “Well, it’s a start.” The corner of his mouth turns up into a grin and the words flow out of Tia so easily that she is taken aback. “A very good start.”

  And as she says this, Jack leads her by the hand towards the road that they first started on, back to the Inn and then to his house and to the possibilities waiting for them there.

  Tia and Jack

  I look back over my shoulder to see where he is. My breath is labored and it’s making it hard for me to laugh in between the gasps. Jack has wagered a $5 bet that I can’t beat him down the hill so I am running as fast as I can, determined to prove him wrong.

  At fifteen, I haven’t developed fully like the rest of my friends have. Although puberty has yet to catch up with me, I have legs that seem to take up most of my body and I make use of it today. So focused on making sure that Jack isn’t right behind me, I don’t notice the small ditch in the road and before I know it I am flying. When I land, I swear I hear a pop and then the tears start to flow from my eyes from the pain and the embarrassment of having Jack find me like this. When he finally catches up to me, he doesn’t laugh nor tease. I look up and his face is instead filled with concern.

  “Are you hurt?” He asks as he bends down right besides me.

  “I think I might have sprained my ankle or something.” I am holding my leg, cradling it in both my hands.

  “Can you move it?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m in pain.” I nod, unsure of myself.

  “We need to take you home to see a doctor. Can you stand?” I try to get up but the pain sears through me and I fall right back down again. I am crying hard now and don’t care who sees it. I feel his fingertips on my chin, lifting up my face so I am leveled with his. The same fingers then wipe away the tears from my eyes. The steadiness of his stare and the calming sounds of his voice comforts me and my sobs die down.

  “Everything is going to be alright.”

  “I can’t move, Jack. What are we going to do?”

  “I’ve got you. Do you trust me?”

  He doesn’t need to ask that question. He knows the answer but in spite of it,
I nod yes. He stands up, gently placing my arm over his shoulder and his other arm underneath my legs. Before I know it, he is cradling me like a newborn infant. I place my head on his chest and let him carry me down the hill to my grandmother’s house. I didn’t finish the race that day and I didn’t win the $5 bet and, even after finding out I sprained my ankle badly and would have to wear a cast for the rest of the summer, I wound up winning because I had Jack to take care of me.

  Chapter Twelve

  The drive back to Jack’s house is long and filled with silence. It may be the anticipation of what awaits the both of them there that drives away the conversation and instead, occupies Tia’s mind with the possibilities. Jack concentrates on the road-one hand on the wheel and the other gently on Tia’s leg; the circling motion of his fingers on her thigh distracting her from any clear thoughts.

  Before long, Jack makes a right turn onto a long drive. At the end of it stands a beautiful ranch styled home with the typical bright red tiled roof and white washed walls, lit up by several flood lights directed towards the house. He turns off the ignition, gets out of the car, circles around to Tia’s side and opens the door for her. Whether it is still the wine or the headiness of what might happen, Tia is operating on automatic. She doesn’t want to think. She just wants to feel. It’s been too long since she has done that.

  They are at the front door and Jack lets Tia walk into the house first. As soon as she turns around to face him, she feels his arms wrap around her waist and his lips gently brushing against hers. Her lips immediately respond and they spend several minutes locked together in an embrace.

  When he finally pulls away, he looks into her eyes and with a labored breath, confesses, “I’ve waited a lifetime to kiss you again.”

  Tia is speechless, can’t move, is paralyzed by all of the feelings inside of her. Suddenly and without warning, tears begin to fall down her face.