Santa Fe Fortune & How to Marry a Matador

seat by the window, its heavenly aroma wafting upwards. The morning sun spread its warmth across the landscape surrounding Casa de la Vega, encompassing its stark beauty. Jess felt as if she’d been transported into a dream or catapulted somehow back in time, to a place where life was simpler. There couldn’t be any greater contrast to her busy life in New York than the serenity of La Esperanza del Corazón.
    She couldn’t help but wonder how things might have played out if she and Fernando had had an actual courtship. The chemistry between them as business colleagues had been brewing beneath the surface for months. What might have happened if they’d acted upon it sooner? Had even started dating and developed a transatlantic relationship? There might have been ups and downs, but ultimately, one of two things would have occurred. Either things would have ended between them, which would have been the most likely outcome, given Jess’s track record. Or, there was an outside chance they might have fallen in love and decided—thoughtfully and intelligently—to make the bond between them permanent.
    Given more time to get to know him and consider the prospect of their life together, what choice would Jess have made? There were so many things to take into account, like their separate commitments to their jobs and where they might eventually live as a couple. And then there was the prospect of children to consider.
    Jess brought a palm to her belly; her face flushed at the thought of carrying Fernando’s child. While she felt awful about deceiving his mother, she had to admit that the notion of making a baby with Fernando wasn’t completely abhorrent. In fact, she probably wouldn’t have gone so far as to imagine it had he not invented that little story about her being in a maternal way. In any case, she hoped Fernando would tell his mother the truth soon. Everyone here was starting to treat Jess with deference due to her pregnancy, and that simply wasn’t fair. It was bad enough to be thought of as married, but expecting a baby added a whole new layer to this blanket of deception. Perhaps Fernando was waiting until all was resolved in Seville before coming clean with his mother. Or perhaps, Jess thought with a hopeful start, he’d talked to her already!
    Jess recalled Consuelo’s morning words, realizing that was unlikely. And that was terrible too. The longer this ruse went on with Fernando’s family, the harder it would be to reveal the truth. And the more awful she’d feel about herself, for having let Fernando get away with it. Something had to be done, and soon.

    Fernando approached his mother as she tended the roses in her garden. “Mamá,” he began tentatively. “I have something to discuss with you.”
    Ana María adjusted the brim of her wide straw hat. “And I with you, my son.” She carefully set down her pruning shears and cleaned her hands on her apron. “I’m afraid I haven’t been quite fair to you and your new wife.”
    “Precisely what we need to talk about.”
    “Yes,” she answered, a sincere apology in her eyes. “It’s true. I know I’ve failed you.”
    “Failed me?” Fernando said, taken aback. If anyone was the let-down party in this twosome, it was him, and he knew it. “I don’t see how—”
    “Yesterday at lunch, I was less than hospitable,” she said, cutting him off. “It’s just that it all came as such a surprise.”
    “I know. I understand.”
    “I let the shock get the better of me. I really shouldn’t have, but I did.”
    Fernando laid his hands on her shoulders. “Mamá, listen to me. About Jessica…”
    His mother’s face brightened. “Well, there she is now! And looking even lovelier than before. The rest must have served her well.”
    Fernando turned toward the house to see Jessica standing on the patio, uncertainly glancing around. The breakfast table was set, yet empty.
    “Oh dear, is it eight already?” Ana María asked. “Please, make my apologies to Jessica. I’ll dash on in the house and clean up. Be back in a flash.”
    Fernando sighed with dismay as his mother scurried off toward the garden shed to deposit her tools. He really needed to tell her the truth, but sharing such dismal news over breakfast hardly seemed civilized. He shoved his hands in his pockets and trudged toward the house, considering how he might put things. There really wasn’t an easy way around it. He’d just have to come straight out and tell her the whole