She punched in the telephone number she’d been given. With relief, she heard Vic Riaz’s voice. “Hola, Vic,” she said.
“Teresa! Are you OK?”
She updated him on her sponsor’s concerns.
“I see. Ryan came to see me. It’s become a complex situation here, as well,” Vic said.
“Is Rafael OK?” she asked alarmed.
“Rafael is fine. He’s in good hands with Ryan. Do you know Cage Washington? Did you know his father is a minister? They’ve taken Ryan and Rafael in,” he reassured her.
She sagged with relief. She’d had a hard time picturing Rafael at Ryan’s loft. The Washingtons. Of course, they would help out. “I have met them,” she said. “That is good news. So, what’s the problem?”
He told her what he knew about Ian Black. Teresa was pacing by the time he was done. She was furious. “Hijo de puta!” she exclaimed.
Vic laughed. “So, Ryan wants to come after you with Rafael. But before I tell him where you are, I want to be very sure, Teresa, that this is what you want. That this is who you want. I like him, and I didn’t think I would. But you have options, Teresa. You do.”
“I love him, Victor,” she whispered. “I do not know if he loves me, enough.”
“You know that I would come after you myself, marry you, give you whatever you need,” Vic said seriously. “But I do not think you love me. I think you love this other man. Who does not deserve you...” he trailed off.
She laughed. “I sound like some heroine of a bodice ripper romance. I do not have to marry anyone. I could stay with my families until the river. What then? Could someone get me papers to cross over? I like teaching Vic, and I’m good at it. I do not need some hero to rescue me.”
“No,” Vic agreed. “You are capable of taking care of yourself. It would be my privilege to assist you. Whether that be transitioning the border, or marriage or even helping Ryan find you. It is you who must decide.
“But I do have to say that Ryan impressed me, and even impressed my uncle,” Vic continued. “He loves you. And maybe? Maybe it is you who is the hero who must rescue him.”
Teresa laughed. She wished she could love Vic. He was a fine man and had been a good friend. But her heart was given to another. And that thought made things clear.
“Maybe we can rescue each other?” Teresa suggested. “Maybe? I have learned a lot about myself during this time. I am much stronger than I was back then. And it’s true, Victor, it is Ryan I love, or...,” she hesitated, trying to figure out how to say it best to him.
“Or we’d be on our honeymoon?” Vic said. She loved his easygoing nature.
“Yes,” she said, with a smile. “Yes. So, send my loves to me.”
“OK, if you are very sure,” Vic said. “And if you get to San Francisco and you think this man is a bozo and still do not trust him? You will call me. And I will take the next plane down and we will fix things differently.”
“Thank you, my friend,” she said sincerely. “But it is time for Ryan and me to work out our differences and see if we love each other enough to make commitments for a lifetime.”
She laughed. “But it is always good to have options.”
“OK, then,” Vic said with a snort. “We want to send Ryan and Rafael to rendezvous with you. Then you’ll proceed to San Francisco. From there to Mexico. But the first thing we have to do is figure out a way for you to meet up.”
“I could probably take the bus to Burns,” she began.
“Let me look at the map. You’d go to Ontario, down. Good, you miss Grant County. Under no circumstances do you go into Grant County,” he said.
Joseph, who was listening apparently, nodded his head vigorously.
“OK, Burns. That’s in the middle of nowhere. Could get you to Medford from there. No, better to have him go to you than you stay on a bus. ICE watches buses sometimes.”
Joseph said something to her. She put Vic on hold to listen. He said they would drive her into Burns.
“But your family needs you,” she protested.
Carlos got out a map and spread it over the tailgate of the pickup. They looked at the almost empty land between where they were and where she needed to be.
“I really need to go back to Nampa, don’t I?” she said, discouraged. “But if ICE checks buses?”
Joseph and Carlos were saying something in Spanish so rapidly she couldn’t follow it. That depressed her further. How was she to live in Mexico if she couldn’t understand it when Mexicans talked to each other? She took a deep breath. One step at a time.
Finally, Joseph turned to her. “We will take you back to Nampa,” he said. “It is only an hour back. Then you can buy a bus ticket from there to Burns. Your novio can meet you there.”
Novio, she thought. Fiancé. She liked that sound.
“Your family? They might be in danger if I am with them,” she protested.
The family would move on to Twin Falls, but they would stay with her, Joseph explained. Then they would drive on to Twin Falls, make arrangements with their next orchard grower, and go back. And the family would have a place to go to as planned. But she would not go to Twin Falls with them. She would go to Burns. Then they would go to Twin Falls.
She thought that through. Looked at the map again.
