Lucía wiped Miguel’s chin.
“You have never been as calm as you appeared.”
Esperanza sat across from her.
“Was it so obvious?”
“To me.”
“Why did you never say anything?”
“You were raising two children, recovering from two pregnancies, and trying to remain yourself in a house where everyone looked at you as though you were either blessed or hiding something.”
Lucía set the spoon down.
“I thought you needed one person who did not ask you to explain.”
Esperanza’s expression softened.
“You gave me that.”
“And now you need people who will help you ask.”
Tomás placed another piece of bread on his tower. It collapsed across the plate.
He stared at it in disappointment.
Lucía leaned toward him.
“That is what towers do when the bottom is too narrow.”
Tomás considered this.
“Build wide?”
“Exactly.”
Esperanza watched as he began again, this time placing two slices side by side.
Lucía lowered her voice.
“You are doing the same.”
Esperanza looked at her.
“Building wide?”
“Trying to.”
Miguel reached for the spoon, impatient with the pause in his meal.
Lucía laughed and gave it to him.
