Valentina Rojas & Adrian Keller

Valentina had built her business slowly over eight years, carefully, the way her father had built his in Cartagena. Adrian had moved from Buenos Aires in his twenties and still dreamed occasionally in Spanish. They wrote long messages to each other in a half-Spanish, half-English hybrid that neither could explain.

Their first date was late lunch at a small Cuban spot in Little Havana, followed by an unhurried walk around Vizcaya. Miami in January is gentle; they took advantage of it. By February they were cooking dinner together on Sundays, splitting recipes from his mother and hers.

They got engaged on a catamaran anchored off Key Biscayne at sunset, with no guests except the captain, who had been with Valentina’s company since the first boat.