Once Dina’s father found out about the affair, the house seemed to shake down to its foundation. An odd sort of symphony emerged as
doors slammed in quick succession, fists pounded on tables, and feet stomped in anger. Dina could be heard pleading and then crying and then pleading again. The deep bass of her father’s
voice was muffled, but there was no mistaking the heartbreak and disappointment in it. Elenita, for her part, walked from room to room with no apparent goal, tears slipping down her cheeks.
Josefina sat quietly with Polly on the couch in the sala. They murmured together, and occasionally Josefina reached out to pat her cousin’s arm.
To escape the drama, Tess and Paolo agreed to find the old church that Teban claimed to have painted when he was younger. “Remember, he said h
