Gabriel put the device away again.
I wasn't going to call anyone to come over.
—So to whom?
—To my mother.
Isabel denied it.
—Not from here.
Gabriel frowned.
-Because?
"Because this house belongs to Adrián and me in every way that matters, even if the papers say otherwise. We grew up here. We ate here when there wasn't enough to go around. We fixed the roof here. He got sick here. He celebrated his birthday here. I don't want to hear Mercedes' voice coming through that door again."
Gabriel put the phone down.
-OK.
It was the first decision he made without trying to regain ground.
And Adrian noticed her.
Gabriel spent that afternoon reviewing only the documents that Isabel wanted to show him.
He didn't open any drawers.
He didn't ask questions about each year lost.
He did not try to touch Adrian or seek a familiarity that did not yet exist.
When it began to get dark, he left.
