“Are you all right, Mother?”
She bit her lip and nodded. “Tell me. How is it your fault, for goodness sake?”
“She’s under the impression that I invited Rory here on New Year’s Eve. That I was orchestrating a grand peace gesture, to bury the hatchet after all the feuding.”
Valentina’s jaw dropped. “Why on earth did she think that?”
“She’s been meeting Rory secretly for the last couple of months, using Aunt Bonnie as a cover. She says Rory said I’d asked to meet him.”
At the mention of Bonaventura’s name the grand dame of Del Oro rose abruptly to her feet. Her hands flew to her cheeks. “No. Bonnie wouldn’t!”
She sank back down reluctantly, shaking her head. “Yes, Bonnie would. Anything for peace with Consuela, I suppose. She is her mother. I understand that.”
“Josefa says she and Rory
