Maribelle had been with the Cruz family since Alicia was a baby and was less an employee and more a bonus abuela. “Whoa, whoa, who’s coming to breakfast?” Alicia asked as she surveyed the counters and the ever so slightly frazzled Maribelle. It had been only three weeks since Alicia’s older brother, Alex, had gone off to college, but Maribelle, more than Alicia’s parents, even, seemed to be experiencing a bad case of empty-nest syndrome. She still set the table for four at dinnertime, still picked up a six-pack of coconut water every time she went grocery-shopping, even though the unopened cartons now crowded the second shelf of the pantry. Alicia walked over to Maribelle and gave her a hug. “Alex is at college. Who are you cooking for?” Maribelle wagged her finger and said, “I’m not senile yet! I know Alex is at college. I light a candle for him at church every week. But this breakfast is for you, niña. Isn’t today the big college-fair day?” Alicia gulped. In all the excitement over Carmela Ortega’s quinceañera, she’d completely forgotten that today was the day when college reps from around the country descended on C.
