Houston, Texas

September 2003

“Grandma! I’m going to be late for class.”

“One more shot, Mariposa, just let me…there. All done. The light was exactly right on that one.”

Isadora Alvarez De Novo set down the camera and smiled. Beatrice stood up from the small table near the windows and plucked her bag from the floor.

“Are you painting this afternoon?” she asked as she bent to kiss her grandmother’s wrinkled cheek.

“Yes, yes. I’ll be in the studio all day. Will you be home for dinner?”

“Nope. Wednesday, remember? Night hours.”

“Oh, of course, handsome professor day!”

She snorted. “He’s not a professor, Grandma. He just has a doctorate and does research at the library. I’m not sure what he is, to be honest.”

“Besides tall, dark, and handsome?”

Beatrice rolled her eyes. “You mean fastidious, formal, and silent?”

“Oh, you say that, but he’s probably just shy. Maybe it’s because he’s European.”

Beatrice shook her head before she filled her travel mug from the small coffee press her grandmother had prepared for her. “I don’t know. He is mysterious, that’s for sure.”

“He never talks to you?”

The young woman shrugged. “Sure, a little. He’s always polite. I’ve tried making conversation, but he’s very…focused. He always looks absorbed in his work. But, I could swear I’ve felt him watching me more than once.”

Her grandmother smiled. “You’re a beautiful girl, Beatrice. He would have to be blind not to notice.”

Beatrice chuckled. “I really don’t think it’s like that. No, it’s not like he’s checking me out, more like he’s…observing.”

The old woman’s eyes widened. “Could he be gay? Oh, what a disappointment. Though, maybe I could introduce him to Marta’s boy then-”

“Grandma!” she laughed. “I have no idea. It’s none of my business. I should be embarrassed gossiping about patrons like this. And I really have to go.”