CHAPTER 19
A MOMENT
Blanca hugged her knees as she sat on the blanket over the sand, watching the waves lap at the Ipanema beach. Carlos had invited her to the beach for a take-away seafood dinner. What was she doing, meeting with Carlos at the beach when she couldn’t get too close to him? Her ex-boyfriend, Jorge, had been pleasant until his true nature had emerged. How did she know Carlos wouldn’t turn out to be the same?
A couple stood in the water at waist level with their arms wrapped around one another, kissing. Why didn’t they get a room? She turned and watched another couple walking along the shore, and felt a pang of envy. But she wasn’t in the right head space for a relationship, even if she had yearned to have Carlos touch her. Relationships didn’t work—plus, she would soon be
