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Abuelo most of all. I was just shooting the breeze with Guillermo and I overheard Abuelo telling Tia Sylvia that he had one regret.” He paused and met her eyes. “Can you imagine? Living that long and only having one regret?”
    “And this regret is?” Ava prompted him, already knowing what the answer was going to be.
    Mateo stood and began to pace like a caged animal in the tiny kitchen. Finally he stopped and met Ava’s eyes. “His only regret was not living long enough to see me happily married.”
    “Oh.” Ava didn’t know what else to say. She could only imagine Mateo’s desire to please his beloved grandfather. “But why me? We haven’t seen each other since-”
    “Since your mother passed away and you took off without a word to any of us.”
    “That’s unfair, Mateo, and you know it. After my mother died I wanted to get as far away from the memories of her being sick as I could.” She made a sweeping gesture with her arm. “I couldn’t stay here.”
    “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. We knew why you left. It was just hard not to have a chance to say goodbye.”
    Ava blew out a long breath. “Let’s get back to your grandfather.” She didn’t want to talk about the past. “What about the woman I saw you with at the restaurant last night? You two looked friendly.”
    Mateo shook his head. “Jill’s a professional colleague. There’s never been anything between us.”
    “Surely you’ve been dating all these years.” Ava tried to ignore her sense of relief that Jill wasn’t his girlfriend, current or former. It was none of her business. Mateo was none of her business. She felt a sudden urge to flee. “If you absolutely have to go through with this charade, and I really question that you do, there has to be someone else.”
    Mateo shook his head. “You’re the perfect choice. You’re not a stranger, despite being gone for so long. Grandpa knew and liked your mother, he knew you as a little girl and we all care about you.”
    Tears pricked the back of Ava’s eyes. Mateo was right. The entire Ortega family had always cared for her, they were such a loving family. Aside from her mother, they’d been the closest thing she’d had to a family. And they’d been so good to her mother when she was ill. Ava didn’t doubt that when her mother passed away, she did so with a sense of peace knowing that the Ortegas would be there for Ava if she ever needed them.
    Except now they needed her. She closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands. Mateo’s family had given peace to her mother when she was dying. Was it her turn to do the same?
    No. The whole idea was crazy. Insane. How could she possibly put herself through something like this? She’d stayed away from her old neighborhood all these years to keep the pain and loneliness of her childhood at bay. Why would she willingly thrust herself into the middle of the Ortega family? Posing as Mateo’s wife-to-be of all things? No.
    Ava placed a hand on Mateo’s arm, surprised at the jolt of electricity that ran through her as she touched him. When he looked down, his eyes were so full of his feelings, so expressive, that she was caught off guard and couldn’t speak for a moment. But then the rational part of her brain ordered her to let him down gently. It wasn’t fair to let him have hope when she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she couldn’t pretend to be his fiancée.
    But he spoke before she had a chance. “Ava, I’m sorry.” He covered her hand with one of his own. “I don’t have any right to ask something like this of you.”
    Something about this man made her heart and mind want to do battle. His gentle touch, the sincerity in his voice, the warmth in his eyes…it all was too much. She needed to get away before she was drawn too far into his world. “Mateo, I understand why you’d want to do anything for your grandfather, I really do. He’s a wonderful man. But I-”
    Her next words were drowned out by a hearty