MasukJavier and Diego came back from the kiosk at the top of the dune, their arms loaded with cones already melting under the afternoon sun. Two enormous vanilla-chocolate ones for the boys, dripping with chocolate sauce that ran down their fingers, and a lemon sorbet for Sofia pale yellow, tangy, with bits of zest glistening like shards of glass. Javier handed hers to his daughter with a tired but tender smile."Here, *mija*. Careful, it's dripping everywhere."Sofia took it, her fingers brushing her father's for a second. She thanked him with a distracted smile, but her attention was already elsewhere on Pedro, sitting a little apart on his folding chair, elbows on his knees, staring at the horizon as if he could find an answer there to everything eating at him. He'd refused his ice cream with a simple wave of his hand, claiming he wasn't hungry, that the heat was killing his appetite. But Sofia knew. She saw the tension in his jaw, the way his eyes carefully avoided meeting hers. He was
Javier and Diego came back from the kiosk at the top of the dune, their arms loaded with cones already melting under the afternoon sun. Two enormous vanilla-chocolate ones for the boys, dripping with chocolate sauce that ran down their fingers, and a lemon sorbet for Sofia pale yellow, tangy, with bits of zest glistening like shards of glass. Javier handed hers to his daughter with a tired but tender smile."Here, *mija*. Careful, it's dripping everywhere."Sofia took it, her fingers brushing her father's for a second. She thanked him with a distracted smile, but her attention was already elsewhere on Pedro, sitting a little apart on his folding chair, elbows on his knees, staring at the horizon as if he could find an answer there to everything eating at him. He'd refused his ice cream with a simple wave of his hand, claiming he wasn't hungry, that the heat was killing his appetite. But Sofia knew. She saw the tension in his jaw, the way his eyes carefully avoided meeting hers. He was
The sand was still warm under Sofia's bare feet, despite the late afternoon hour. The sun was slowly sinking toward the horizon, painting the sky in orange and pink hues that reflected on the ocean like a living watercolor. The family beach was almost deserted at this spot just their little tribe: a large towel spread out, a striped umbrella planted crookedly, and an open picnic basket with leftover tuna sandwiches, warm water bottles, and a pile of crumpled napkins. Javier and Diego had gone to get ice cream from the small kiosk at the top of the dune an excuse to walk a bit, Javier had said with a wink, but Sofia knew he mainly wanted to keep Diego from staying still too long. Ellie, meanwhile, had joined a group of surfers further down, his board under his arm, laughing with friends he'd known for years.Sofia was alone with Pedro.She'd chosen this bikini on purpose the same red one from the barbecue, the one that hugged her breasts with quiet insolence, that showed off the soft c
A soft knock at the door made him start, as if someone had just rapped directly on his raw nerves. Pedro looked up, his heart pounding a little too hard."Dad?"Ellie's voice, hesitant, almost fragile, from the other side of the door.Pedro cleared his throat, desperately trying to find a normal tone that of the solid, reassuring father he'd always tried to be, even when he felt himself crumbling inside."Come in, son."The handle turned slowly. Ellie pushed the door open, still in faded gray pajamas, his hair tousled like a child who'd just woken from a nightmare. He stepped in quietly, closed the door carefully behind him, and leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest a defensive posture, almost fearful, as if he expected to be sent away.Pedro felt his heart tighten. Ellie had always had that look when he sensed something was wrong with his father—since Maria, since the nights Pedro came home late, eyes red from exhaustion and alcohol, since the silences that had lasted
She settled onto the large sofa, beside Pedro not too close to seem suspicious, but close enough that their shoulders brushed when she leaned forward to grab the throw blanket abandoned on the backrest. The fabric was heavy, soft, still warm from the day, and she unfolded it slowly, almost ceremoniously, as if performing a secret ritual. She draped it over both their knees, murmuring in a nearly inaudible whisper."It's a little chilly with the AC."Javier, already absorbed in the screen, grunted a vague assent without turning his head. Diego, sprawled on the loveseat with his father, eyes bright with excitement at the explosions to come, paid no attention. Pedro, however, stiffened instantly. Sofia felt it: a tiny jerk of the muscles in his thigh, a shorter inhale, as if he were holding his breath. He kept his eyes fixed on the screen, jaw clenched, hands flat on his knees under the blanket a posture too rigid, too controlled to be natural.The movie resumed: a cascade of burning car
The drive back from the party was spent in an almost comfortable silence, rocked by the hum of the Jeep's engine and the whistle of wind rushing through the cracked windows. Sofia, in the front seat, let her gaze wander over the coastal road lit by the sporadic headlights of passing cars, the shadows of palm trees cutting through the black sky like ghostly silhouettes. The evening had been a whirlwind of laughter and music, a bubble of temporary forgetting where she'd danced until her feet ached, laughed at Carlos's stupid jokes, and dodged Mike's insistent shots. Ellie drove with his usual caution, his hands at ten and two on the wheel, but she could feel his tension that conversation in the car on the way there, where he'd brushed against his feelings without daring to fully confess, still hung between them like an invisible fog. She didn't want to think about it now; her mind was already occupied by Pedro, that persistent shadow that refused to fade, even in the superficial joy of







