Hi, this is exactly what I wanted, but here it is. Please enjoy and let me know what you think. Thanks for everything!

Chapter 10

It was silent in the van as Gio drove Dulce home. After about ten minutes, without looking over at him, she asked, "So how did it go?"

He kept his eyes on the road. "She moved to Tucson."

Her brow furrowed. "And you were supposed to what? Stop her?"

Taking a deep breath, he readjusted his hands on the steering wheel. "Daniel Meade asked me to talk to her."

Her eyes widened as she asked, "How does she know Daniel Meade?"

"She's his assistant. Well, she was."

"And now she's in Tucson." She shrugged. "Wow, that was stupid."

His forehead wrinkled and he cocked his head to finally look at her. "Hey."

Raising an eyebrow, she finally looked at him, too. "Are you going to tell me that wasn't stupid?"

He looked back at the road and said softly, "No."

She ran her hand through her hair and sighed. "So where does this leave us?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, Gio," she said. It was the first time since they had met that she had ever sounded agitated at him. "You still have feelings for her."

He glanced out his side window at the buildings as they passed by. "I know. I'm sorry."

The words stung but she was grateful to hear the truth. "I like you, Gio. But I don't want to be your consolation prize."

He briefly shut his eyes and shook his head. "I know. And I don't want you to be." He pulled the car over and put it in park. Turning towards her, he said, "It's true that I still have feelings for Betty. But if I didn't want to be here with you, I wouldn't be."

She put her hand on his. "I know those feelings won't just go away. Just promise me that you'll stay honest with me about what's going on with you."

He reached out and put his hand on her cheek. "I promise."

She gave him a small smile. "How about you drive me home and we'll call it a day."

"Okay." He put the car back in drive and pulled out. He wasn't ready to tell her goodbye for the day, but he understood that she probably wanted space. Parking in front of her building, he put his arm on the back of her seat and said, "Can I see you tomorrow?"

Her hair whipped around her shoulders as she turned to look into his face. She could see that he wanted to see her. "Yeah, give me a call."

He kissed her on the cheek, his mouth brushing across her face as he took in the flowery scent of her hair. He felt her hand brush against his neck. "I'll call you," he said quietly. Then he watched her get out of the van and go into her apartment building.

As he drove away, he thought about what had happened that day. Betty was making a big mistake and he was worried about what would happen to her. He also knew that he would miss her. He hadn't seen her for a month, but she had still been in the city. If he had decided to see her, he could. But not now. And never again. She was gone. Any chance that he had had with Betty Suarez had left on that plane to Tucson.

Another part of him was grateful. Now that she was gone, he could really start moving on. And he had been honest when he had told Dulce that he wanted to move on with her. He liked her. He wished that he had met her before he had met Betty.

Maybe then, his heart wouldn't feel as though it had been broken.

…………………………………

Daniel was sitting with the Suarezes in their kitchen. They were eating a late lunch that Ignacio had prepared.

"I miss Aunt Betty," Justin said, twirling his fork around his rice.

Hilda frowned and rubbed his back.

Daniel looked over at him. "I miss her, too, Justin."

"We all do," Ignacio said.

"She said she'd be back when Christina had the baby. We'll see her then," Hilda said as hopefully as possible.

Justin looked at her with woeful eyes. "That's in like six months."

"She'll be back before then," Ignacio said. "I know my baby girl. All she's ever had is her family and her dream of owning a magazine. She won't be able to live without those things."

Hilda put her hand on her father's hand that was resting on the table. "But, Papi, she loves Henry."

Daniel stared at the table and said quietly, "She loves the idea of Henry."

Hilda glanced over at him to gauge his seriousness. He seemed as though he hoped he was right more than he believed it. As much as she wanted her sister to be happy, she hoped he was right as well.

………………………………………

Henry and Betty were at the hospital staring at the small baby in the incubation chamber. He smiled proudly yet worriedly at the preemie, saying, "I think we're going to name him Casey."

She slipped her hand in his. "Casey Grubstick. It's cute. He's going to be a heartbreaker like his daddy."

He eyed her curiously.

She squeezed his hand. "I didn't mean anything by it, Henry. I'm here and happy. And I'm so excited for your baby."

He let out a breath of relief and kissed her softly on the lips. "We should really check on Charlie."

She tensed at the thought, but nodded. They left and went to Charlie's hospital room. Betty hovered at the door as Henry went in.

"How are you feeling?" he asked Charlie.

"Like I just passed a bowling ball," she said curtly. On a loopy smile, she added, "But the drugs help."

He stepped closer to her. "Casey is beautiful. The doctors say he should be all right."

She closed her eyes, saying, "Good. That's good."

He looked away as he said, "Charlie, if you don't feel up to taking care of Casey when you and he gets out, I'd be more than happy to take him for a while."

Her eyes slid to Betty and she nearly glared at her. "No, I'm living with my parents. We can take care of the baby."

He bobbled his head disappointedly. "Oh, okay. Whatever you think is best."

She sat up in the bed. "Henry, could you go find my parents? I think there in the cafeteria."

As he started to leave, Betty made a move to follow him.

"Betty, I'd like to talk to you for a minute," Charlie called out quickly.

Betty gave Henry a quick, nervous look, but turned and stayed. "Is there something you need me to do?"

"Yeah, there is," she said coldly. "Henry's chosen you. I can't do anything about that. And I can't keep you away from Casey." Her eyes trained on Betty's. "But I can keep you away from me."

"What?" Betty asked, shaking her head, confused.

"Don't ever come to my house, Betty. Don't even try to breathe my air. If you see me, turn around and go the other way. That's the least you can do for me."

Betty felt like she couldn't breathe. She had only gotten to Tucson a few hours earlier and she was already being verbally abused. Tears threatened to overwhelm her. Stammering to find words, her mouth opened and closed. Instead, she nodded and backed out of the room.

She ran into Henry in the hallway, who was walking back with Charlie's parents. Grabbing onto his arms, she said, "Henry, I think I'm going to get a cab home and get some sleep."

Henry's eyes darted to the room. "Betty, what happened? What did Charlie tell you?"

Choking back tears, she said, "Nothing, Henry. It's just been a long day. I'm exhausted. Stay here with the baby. I'll be okay."

"I'll see you in a little while," Henry said, kissing her on the forehead. "Call me if you need anything."

She headed for the entrance and found a cab to take her to Henry's small apartment. She knew that life wasn't going to be easy, but she didn't think she'd already feel like she had been hit in the head with a bag of bricks. Charlie had restarted their feud and it looked like it was only going to get worse.

She felt so alone. Wiping away a tear, she pulled out her cell phone and called home. When her father answered, she nearly cried out, "Dad?"

"Sweetheart, how are you?"

She tried to sound like she wasn't crying. "I'm fine. Charlie had the baby. They named it Casey."

"Are you settled in?"

She got out of the cab and stepped onto the sidewalk in front of Henry's building. "Yeah, I just got back from the hospital. I'm about to go to bed."

There was a pause on the other side of the line. "Is Henry not with you?"

"Uh, no. He stayed at the hospital with Charlie and the baby."

"Mija, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, Dad. I'm just really tired. How is everybody at home?" She went upstairs and opened the door.

She could hear the sweetness and pain in his voice as he said, "We all miss you, Betty."

A new wave of tears came over her. "I miss you, too."

"Are you sure you don't want to come home?"

A brief flash of doubt caused her to contemplate it. But then she took a deep breath and said, "I'm here now. I'm happy."

His voice was thick with concern. "You don't sound happy."

She smiled sadly. "Dad, I'm happy."

"Then I'm happy for you, mija," he said but didn't sound convincing.

"I've got to go. Goodnight."

She thought she heard him crying as he said, "Call anytime. It doesn't matter when. Okay?"

"Yeah."

"Goodnight, sweetheart. Te amo."

"I love you, too." She hung up and collapsed onto the couch. All of the drama and exhaustion of the past two days had finally caught up with her. She fell asleep there on the couch, crying herself to sleep.

TBC