Chapter 3
Victoria had just placed Don Ricardo's lunch in front of him when she heard someone enter the tavern and she eagerly looked over towards the door hoping it would be Diego walking in but she was disappointed when it only turned out to be Senor Gomez and his wife.
"Victoria, are you expecting someone?" Pilar asked as they meet by the bar while Alicia went over to the newly arrived couple to take their orders.
Victoria frowned, "No, why?"
The other lady shrugged, "It's just the last two days, you've been watching that door like a hawk and it makes me wonder if you are waiting on someone to come."
"Oh, was I? I'm not expecting anyone in particular." Victoria replied somewhat anxiously as she gave the bar a quick wipe down with the cloth; she didn't realised how often she was checking the door for Diego to arrive. She would have to stop doing it otherwise someone else may notice.
Pilar smiled and shook her head, "If you say so." she teased her friend as she moved into the kitchen and wondered who Victoria was waiting for.
Victoria kept her head down as she rearranged the glasses under the bar and didn't look up when someone else entered the tavern and therefore she jumped when HIS voice came floating over to her.
"Buenos dias Victoria, how is your ankle today?" he asked with a warm smile as he came to a stop beside the bar.
She felt heat rise over her face and her heart beat faster in her chest, "My ankle is much better, I hardly limp at all now." she replied.
"That is good news for you and for Mendoza too no doubt." he said with a teasing gleam in his eyes.
She chuckled, "Yes, I think he was tired of me yelling at him for breaking my dishes." she replied.
"I hope he didn't break too many, did he?" he asked concernedly; he would be willing to pay to replace the dishes.
She shook her head, "No, not really, I have enough," she paused as she looked into his eyes and was surprised that he didn't look away from her as was his habit, instead he held her gaze and for several moments it was as though they were the only two people in the room but then Felipe came up to them and nudged his mentor, which broke the spell between them. "So, what can I get for you today, gentlemen?" she asked.
Diego held back a sigh at the interruption; perhaps it was good that Felipe had arrived at the time that he did for he hadn't intended to be quite so open, so fast around her. "Are you serving Carne Asada today?" he asked.
Victoria nodded, "Si, I am. Would that be for one or two?" she asked as she smiled at Felipe, who smiled shyly back.
"For two, thank you Victoria and I'll have coffee and Felipe will have some of your wonderful lemonade." he complimented her.
She beamed, "Of course Diego. I won't be long, please take a seat and I'll bring your meals over to you."
He nodded and smiled warmly at her once more before he turned and gazed around the tavern and saw an empty table near the far wall. He motioned to Felipe and together they walked over to the table, greeting friends they passed.
It didn't take long for Victoria to return with a tray holding their meals as well as their drinks, "Here you are gentlemen, hope you enjoy it." she said warmly as she placed the meals in front of them.
Diego smiled as he picked up his fork, "We always do Victoria." he said sincerely as Felipe nodded his agreement.
She felt a rush of pride at his words, "Gracias -" she stopped as another patron called out to her. "Please excuse me, gentlemen." she said as she left them to their meals while she attended to the needs of her other patrons.
Diego's eyes followed her as she walked briskly around the tavern attending to her patrons until his gaze caught the somewhat amused look on Felipe's face. He shook his head, "One day it will happen to you my young friend and then you won't be able to stop yourself from wanting to be in her company." he said with a smile before he turned his attention to his meal.
Half an hour later, when most of her patrons had finished their meals and left to go about their lives, Victoria crossed over to Diego's table to collect their empty plates, "Where's Felipe?" she asked curiously.
Diego smiled and shrugged, "He's gone outside, something about seeing a new horse that the garrison has." he replied, "Come, sit down, you've been busy today."
She nodded gratefully, "Gracias Diego, it has been busy." she admitted as she sat down opposite him. "Perhaps Felipe has really gone to see a young senorita." she suggested with a smile.
He chuckled and shook his head, "Then I would be the last person he would tell."
"Ah, so that is how it works, eh. Does that mean your father doesn't know anything about your youthful romances?" she teased him.
His blue eyes twinkled, "He most certainly does not, just as I am sure that he never told HIS father about his own youthful misdeeds." he replied, "Besides, when I was Felipe's age, I was away at the university in Spain."
"And far away from your father." she added with a grin.
"VERY far away." he said.
She debated as to whether to question him about those youthful misdeeds but decided that she didn't really want to know. "Um...Diego, can I ask you a favour?" she asked a little hesitantly.
Diego immediately dropped all his teasing and leant forward, "Of course you can, Victoria. What is it? Nothing has happened has it?" he asked worriedly.
She heart fluttered at his deep concern for her and she fell even more in love with him, "No, nothing like that. I was wondering if you have any books that I could borrow." she asked.
His eyebrow rose in surprise; this wasn't what he had been expecting and his voice showed it, "Books? I didn't think you were really that interested in books." he said as he inwardly cringed at his words; criticism wasn't the way to open up to her, he cursed himself.
She held the criticism in his voice and felt a rush of guilt sweep over her; it was true, but only up to a certain point. "It's not that I'm against books and reading, it's just that I never really have the time to do so. The tavern takes up a lot of my time, cleaning, cooking, dealing with my suppliers, working on my account books and when I have guests, I have to be around in case I'm needed."
He nodded, "Yes, I can see that it wouldn't leave you with a lot of free time." he said.
She nodded. "That's true but sometimes I'm too restless to rest during siesta and sometimes at night too, that I'm at a loss as to what to do. I've read what books that I do have and wished that I had something new to read. I know you have a lot of books and I was wondering if I could read some of yours."
He smiled, "Of course you can but I don't have a lot of romance books." he warned her.
She gazed at him and again was surprised when he didn't turn away from her, "Why do you think I would be interested in romance?" she asked.
"Well, isn't that what woman read about?" he asked curiously; this was turning into a rather interesting conversation, he mused to himself, he never really considered that women would like to read something other than romance.
She chuckled, "Yes but I also like to read other things too - " she was interrupted by another of her patrons. She sighed and gave Diego and apologetic look for she longed to spend more time with him, "Please excuse me." she said as she stood up.
He smiled reassuringly, "Go and see to your patrons, while I'll go and see what books I have for you." he said as he too stood up and pulled out several coins and them over to her. "The meal was wonderful as always." he said.
She beamed as she deftly took the money and slipped them into her pocket, "Gracias Diego." she replied before she turned her attention to her other patrons.
Diego walked out of the tavern, his thoughts turned which books he had that would be appropriate for Victoria and he suddenly found himself looking forward to selecting books for her; he knew that she would never have the same level of passion for books that he had but he didn't mind; as long as she understood it and the only way to do that was to share it with her.
The last of the tavern's patrons had left, the cleaning had been done and Victoria had sent Pilar and Alicia home for siesta and she herself was about to lock the main doors when she heard a horse outside in the deserted plaza. She looked outside and was surprised to see Diego dismounting.
"Diego, what are you doing back? Did you leave something behind?" she asked curiously.
He smiled as he reached into his saddlebag and pulled several books, "I just brought these for you." he replied as he crossed over to her.
She raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Oh, Diego, you didn't have to make a special trip just to bring the books," she said as she stepped backwards to let him inside, "You could have brought them the next time you come into the pueblo." she added, hoping that she didn't sound to ungrateful; she wanted to make him feel at ease in her company and she wouldn't achieve that by criticising him all the time.
"I know but I wanted to." he said warmly as he entered the tavern.
She blushed a little at the enthusiasm in his voice; something she hadn't heard before, he was full of surprises today, she thought to herself. She smiled as she made her way over to the bar where he had placed the books on the top, "Three books?" she asked as she picked them up.
He nodded, "I didn't know what you would like and I thought if you didn't like one, then you could start another." he replied.
She smiled warmly at him, "That's very considerate of you Diego, thank you." she said before she looked down at the titles and read them aloud, "Gulliver's Travels, The Swiss Family Robinson and Don Quixote." she looked up at him and saw the eagerness in his expression and she couldn't help but respond. "This is truly wonderful Diego, thank you so much."
He felt a rush of happiness surge through him at her obvious delight in the books, "You are most welcome Victoria. Have you read them before?" he asked.
"I think I've read Don Quixote a long time ago but the other two I've only heard of. What are they about?"
"They're adventure stories. Shall we sit down and discuss them." he suggested, wanting to spend more time with the woman he had asked to be his wife.
She smiled, "I would like that," she said as she handed the books to him, "Here, take them. I still have some lemonade and I believe that I even have some flan left over too." she said with a twinkle in her eyes; she knew just how much he loved her flans.
He chuckled; she knew him too well, at least in regards to her desserts, "That sounds wonderful." he replied as he watched her slip through the curtains before he turned and moved over to his usual table with the best view of the front doors and sat down.
Victoria was gone only for several moments and she carried a tray with two glasses of lemonade and two plates of the flan and two spoons. "Here you go." she said as she removed the items from the tray before she sat opposite Diego.
He smiled warmly, "Gracias."
She smiled back, "So, tell me what these books are about, you said they were adventure stories."
He nodded as he took a sip of the sweet drink, "That's right, this one," he picked up one of the books, "Is about a family who is shipwrecked and have to learn to survive on an island together and this one," he picked up the other one, "Is a series of adventures of a man in his travels, including a visit to a land inhabited by little people." he said with a smile.
She raised an eyebrow but couldn't say anything as she had just taken a bit of her flan but after she swallowed, she asked, "Little people? You mean dwarfs?"
He shook his head and chuckled, "Much smaller." he confirmed before he took ate a spoonful of the flan.
"Smaller! Well that sounds interesting, I think." she commented as she looked down at the book she held in her hands. "I remember, as a child, going to Santa Barbara with my parents to get supplies for the tavern and one of their friends had a private library where they lent out books to people they knew. It was in their home and they had set aside a whole room and I recalled being amazed at all the books that lined the walls..."
"Was that Lozano's by any chance?" he asked, interrupting her.
She smiled, "Yes, it was. Have you been there too?" She should have realised that he would have known about Lozano's Library.
He grinned and nodded, "My mother often took me there when I was a boy. She was friends with Senora Lozano and I would spend hours just sitting in a large chair reading."
"I guess for you, that would have been heaven." she teased him.
He laughed, "It was, mother had to all but drag me away."
"I can see it now, Doña Felicidad dragging her son out of a room full of books."
Their laughter rang out in the empty tavern and when their eyes met and held once more, they each felt the full of their attraction; their love for the other but before either of them could say or do anything, a concerned voice called out.
"Senorita Victoria, is everything alright?"
Both Diego and Victoria jumped, somewhat guiltily, as Mendoza stepped through the open door.
"Yes, everything is fine, why do you ask Sergeant?" she asked as she stood up and moved away from the table.
Mendoza shrugged, "Your door was left open and you normally have it closed during siesta and I just wanted to check if you were alright...Ah Don Diego, what are you doing here?" he asked curiously when he saw the caballero sitting at the same table that the senorita had been.
Diego smiled as he too stood up, "I just brought some books for Victoria to read." he replied as he gestured to the books on the table.
Mendoza smiled as he saw three books, "Ah that was nice of you Don Diego..."
Victoria felt irritated by the Sergeant's interruption; it had ruined a very special moment between them, "Well Sergeant, it was good of you to come and check up on me but as you can see, I'm not in any danger and as it's getting late, I really need to close up." she said as she gestured for Mendoza to leave.
Mendoza nodded, "Yes of course senorita, I won't keep you from your rest." he said as he turned around and walked towards the door.
"I must be going too Victoria." Diego said as he followed the Sergeant to the door.
"You don't have to go, Diego, you can stay longer." Victoria said softly, "I enjoyed our talk."
He smiled, "So did I but I must go." he replied as he fought down the urge to kiss her.
She gazed into his eyes and now that she knew who he was, she could see his love for her and wondered how she could have never seen it before; it was there for her to see. She had been so blind not to see what was before her. But all she did was nod her head, "When do you need the books back?" she asked, trying to get him to linger longer with her.
"Take your time, there's no rush." he replied as he stepped out of the door. "Once you have finished those, you can always come over to the hacienda to select some more." he offered as he walked down the steps to where his horse was tethered.
She smiled warmly, "I might just take you up on that offer Diego."
He smiled back as he mounted Esperanza, "You do know that you can come out to the hacienda at anytime, you don't need an invitation." he said seriously as he gazed down at her.
She nodded, "I know," she replied, "Thank you again for the books."
"You're most welcome Victoria, adios." he said with a warm smile before he tugged on the reins and urged Esperanza out of the plaza.
A/N. I know I said that this was only a 3 chapter story but it seemed that Diego and Victoria wanted to have a little chat in the tavern before I can get to the end of it :) There's one more chapter to come.