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CHAPTER 29

Mrs. Ruiz

      THEY SAY that habit dies hard.

      Lucy was up by eight, still sore, but feeling more rested than she had expected, considering how little sleep she'd had. Considering what had happened last night and yesterday. She was already in the kitchen making coffee when Chula Ruiz, Melida's mother, startled her with a timid knock, first on the outside and then on the inside of the back door. Behind Mrs. Ruiz stood another woman, smaller and fatter and equally pleasant-looking.

      It was early for visitors, Lucy thought, but she smiled and greeted them, "Good morning, Mrs. Ruiz, nice to see you. Would you like to come in? Have you heard from Melida and Gene? Are they having a good time on their honeymoon?"

      "Good morning." The two women came a few more steps into the room. "This is my cousin, Delia Panadero," Mrs. Ruiz said.

      "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Panadero." Lucy glanced around. She felt a little embarrassed about the state of the kitchen, because as usual, Normalade had left everything in a mess the night before, and there had been no time yet to clean it properly.

      But if the two women were surprised by what they saw, they didn't show it. They didn't even ask about her bruised face. As a matter of fact, once they were in, they didn't say anything at all. They simply smiled and looked attentive, as if they expected her to do the talking.

      Why ever had they come, Lucy wondered. Aloud she said, "Would you . . . can I make you a cup of coffee?"

      However, that didn't seem to be what they wanted, and after waiting a minute more, Mrs. Ruiz asked, "Did I make a mistake? I thought it was today you wanted us — because you'd sent word you wanted to meet Delia."

      "I did?"

      Melida's mother nodded. "Yes. Mrs. Sanchez — you know, Eugenio's aunt from El Paso? — she said you wanted my cousin Delia, here, to come look after your papa while you're at work. So I brought her."

      At that, the light dawned. "Oh! Oh, of course I did! I do want her — I do want you, Mrs. Panadero. I'm sorry to be so slow . . . I guess I'm half-asleep still." Rosana had sent them, just as she'd promised. Rosana had kept her word.

      So Lucy made a pot of coffee, and they all sat down at the dirty table to talk about Mrs. Panadero coming in every evening to look after Uncle Bob while Lucy was working.

      They hit it off right away. Lucy had always liked Chula Ruiz, who was an amiable, sensible person, and Mrs. Panadero seemed to be just a smaller, plumper version of her cousin. She was obviously somebody who could be trusted.

      "There's one thing I don't know, though," Lucy said. "It may be for just for a few days — or maybe a lot longer. I can't say how long it'll be before he feels well enough to manage for himself again."

      Both the women nodded. "That's all right," Mrs. Ruiz said. "We understand."

      And then, because she felt so easy with them now, and she knew that had to be wondering about the bruise on her face, Lucy put her hand to her cheek and said, "I guess you're wondering about — Well, see, my Uncle Bob's been sick, and . . ."

      She hesitated, trying to think how to explain things, but before she could go on, Melida's mother leaned forward, patted Lucy's arm, and said very firmly, "You don't have to tell us; Mrs. Sanchez already explained it. She told us Mr. Bob is getting a little old. And how your sister-in-law needs to come and go, and you don't want him to be left alone."

      Lucy blinked. The woman's voice was as kind as her hand. "Mrs. Sanchez sent you a message by me. She says not to forget her, and that she hopes you'll feel better soon."

      Mrs. Panadero added encouragingly, "That's right. Mrs. Sanchez told us that you're a good daughter and how you want him to have good care as long as he needs it."

      "I told her I knew that anyway," Melida's mother said.

      Lucy looked from one woman to the other. The two pairs of brown eyes looked very friendly. "That was nice of her," Lucy mumbled. "Thank you for telling me, Mrs. Ruiz, I really appreciate it. Things were pretty upset here last night, and — she was really good to me."

      Melida's mother nodded. "We want to help you, too."

      After that, they talked business. It turned out that Mrs. Panadero was perfectly willing to work for what Lucy could pay her. And she could stay as late as Lucy wanted. "But it will be a few days before I can start. Because my grandchildren are having their holiday right now. For Navidad, you know? Next week is Christmas."

      "Christmas? But it's . . ." And then Lucy realized that, yes, Christmas-time was here already.

      Things would be busy at work, Lucy thought. But Bobby and Swan would just have to manage without her for a few days. Gene would be back this week, and with Shark to help, it would work out. Because she would have to stay home a while until the marks on her face had time to fade. "Well of course. After Christmas is fine."

      They talked a little about the holiday while the two women finished their coffee. Lucy wrote down Mrs. Panadero's telephone number, and then they went away.

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