All the Way to Heaven

Chapter 44

I awoke with a start as something shrieked just above our heads. It was only an owl, but the strange surroundings had me momentarily grasping for reason. Paulo, too, had stiffened violently at the night bird's call, and we both sat up, staring at each other in shock.

"What time is it?" I whispered, my voice still trying to catch up with the fact that I was awake. I rubbed my hands up and down my arms, trying to warm them; my clothes were slightly damp from the heavy night air. Isa was right; the weather was shifting and the winter rains would be here soon. The moon hung low in the sky, still full and bright, but nowhere near where it had been the last I remembered.

Paulo pulled out his cellphone and made a distressed sound in the back of his throat. "It is nearly 3 o'clock in the morning, Ani. I must get you home." In a flash, he'd leapt over the side of the truck and was reaching up to help me down. Not waiting for me to use my crutches, he scooped me up in his arms and deposited me, rather unceremoniously, on the passenger seat of the cab. I tried not to laugh at his obvious concern, but he was being a little over the top about it, I thought. When he'd returned the wheelchair to the truck bed, he climbed in behind the wheel, tucked the blanket around my legs without even asking if I wanted it, then explained gruffly, "It is cold and the heater in my truck does not work well. You will have to sit close to me to be warm."

"Oh. Well." I poked him gently in the ribs. "I suppose we'll have to suffer through that, won't we?"

He only grunted, started the truck, and stepped on the gas, the front wheels spinning a little on the gravel before the truck surged forward, leaving a billowing cloud of dust in our wake.

"Hey. It's okay," I said, laying a soothing hand on his forearm. "I don't have a curfew."

"It is not okay, Ani," he countered firmly. "I have kept you out much too late. I do not want you to get sick again, and I do not want your hosts to think of you... that you and I.... I have taken advantage of their hospitality by keeping you out so late."

"It's okay," I repeated, frowning over how upset he was over this. "Claudia told me they'd leave the back terrace door open for me if I got in late. I'll just sneak in quietly and no one will even know what time I got in. It'll be fine."

He turned to look at me, his own brow furrowed in frustration. "And what if they forgot to leave it open? What then, Ani?"

"Then we'll apologize profusely and humbly to whomever opens the door, be a little embarrassed, then you'll go home to your bed and I'll go crawl in mine."

He snorted. It wasn't a funny sound.

"Paulo. Really? I don't understand why you're so worked up over this." I was beginning to feel a little defensive now and I wasn't sure why. "I mean, it was an innocent mistake. It's not like we've been out all night partying. I think our mothers would both be proud of the way we behaved with each other today."

We'd reached the driveway and he slowed significantly, the sound of the tires on the gravel obnoxiously loud. We pulled in next to Gerardo and Isa's Fiat and he turned off the engine. I could see a soft glow behind the shutters of my bedroom window, but other than that, the house looked dark. We sat in the ensuing stillness, neither of us speaking for several minutes.

"Listen," Paulo finally began, sliding an arm around me and pulling me up against him. "It does not matter what we have been doing all night. What matters is that I have brought you home too late and have risked your reputation with the Lazzaro family. What matters is that I have not been responsible for you. That I have not been careful to protect you."

"Protect me from what?" I asked, trying not to laugh. I leaned back enough to be able to look him in the face. I smoothed the hair back from his forehead and kissed the tip of his nose. "We're not kids, Paulo. They're not going to send me to my room." I smirked. "Well, actually, I hope they do, because it's super late and I'm tired." By the look on his face, he didn't think I was funny. "I'm sorry," I murmured. "I just think you're worrying too much about nothing."