Rio Grande Wedding by Ruth Wind

one for her dog.
    Scratching the ragged mutt’s soft ears, she said, “Everything is going to be okay, pequeña. You’ll see.” Meanwhile, it was nice not to be alone.
    Â 
    Molly drove under the Wiley Farms sign, waving as she passed a woman selling red wooden buckets of peaches, long green Anaheim and tiny, blisteringly hot habañero chiles. The farm offices were located farther in, in a building with a red roof painted with the orchard brand. “Hi, Joe,” she said to the leather-faced foreman as she stepped out of her car. “Where’s Wiley this morning?”
    â€œHow you doing, Molly?” He winked. “Ready to marry me yet?”
    She smiled. “Maybe tomorrow.”
    He cocked his head toward the orchard. “He’s back there. But beware—he’s in a foul damned humor.”
    â€œThanks.” She headed toward the trees and shielded her eyes. “Hello, Wiley!” she called to a wiry man in a plaid shirt, jeans and boots. “You got a minute?”
    â€œAlways have time for a pretty lady.” He jumped down from the seat of a tractor. “What can I do for you?”
    Molly glanced over her shoulder. Three other men, obviously working on the engine, looked at them curiously. “Let’s walk a minute,” she said.
    He allowed himself to be led to a spot beneath a plucked-clean tree. “What’s up, Moll? Is there a problem?”
    â€œThere is, actually,” she said. “I’m looking for a little girl. Her name is Josefina, and she was with one of your migrant workers during the raid. But—” she bit her lip, stuck her hands in her back pockets “—she’s missing now.”
    He pursed his lips. “I’d like to help you, honey, but there’s nobody here. Whoever was left after the raid were gone by morning. I got about twenty guys working the chile fields, but they’re all from the valley.”
    Molly sighed. “Do you remember her? About eight?” She realized she still had no clear description. “There couldn’t have been too many girls her age.”
    He frowned. “You know, there was a tyke about that age. Had a bad cough, and I sent her and her uncle over to Health Services to have it looked at. He got nabbed in the raid.”
    Her uncle. Bingo.
    For a minute, Molly hesitated, unsure whether to trust him with the whole story. This lying business wasn’t as easy as it looked on television.
    But in the end, she chose to err on the side of caution, and repeated the myth she’d generated for her brother. “I don’t know about the uncle, but she used to come see me in the garden.” She pointed in the direction of her land. “I’ve been worried about her, and asked my brother if they got her, but they didn’t.” She closed her eyes, no longer faking it. “It’s been a full twenty-four hours. Will you keep an eye out for her? Maybe send someone around to check the fields?”
    â€œIt won’t hurt anything to look around, I guess. Poor kid.” His blue eyes sharpened. “As I recall, that uncle of hers was a real good-lookin‘ fella. Sure it’s not him you’re worried about?”
    Molly bowed her head before she realized it looked like an admission of guilt. On the spur of the moment, she said, “Well, I might have seen him once or twice.” With an abashed smile, she lifted her eyebrows. “Not my type. It’s Josefina I’m worried about.”
    â€œI’ll keep an eye out, honey.” He frowned, concerned now. “Don’t you be mixing with these guys, now. I know it gets real lonely, you being a widow and all, but some of these fellas are downright mean and ain’t got a thing to lose.”
    She smiled. “Not to worry.” She lifted a hand. “Thanks, Wiley.”
    â€œYou might distract that bulldog brother of yours the next day or two.” He made a