"Why wouldn't I be?" Mitch said with an unmistakably defensive tone.
"No reason," Rico said and he smiled down at Sammy, who was looking around at all the people and waving at anyone she recognized. When she became extra animated, Rico knew that his grandmother must have arrived.
And there she was way too dressed up to go picking out construction supplies. She was wearing a dress in her favorite color, burgundy, high heeled shoes, though she was plenty tall already, and a piece of jewelry everywhere she could stick one.
"I hear I'm going with you," Rico told her reproachfully as she sauntered over picking up greetings and compliments along the way.
"Didn't I tell you?" she asked innocently.
"Of course you didn't. You like to spring things on me," Rico said. "My tuxedo is at the cleaners, you know. Now I'm going to be underdressed."
"Oh, you," his grandmother said and dismissed him with a wave of her hand. She turned her attention to Sammy. "You like my outfit, don't you, sweetheart?"
"It's nice, but you need a big hat," Sammy told her.
"I knew I forgot something," Grandma said. "We all ready to go?"
Outside Sammy stopped on the sidewalk. She and Mitch were going in his car so he could bring back some supplies. Seeing that Rico was heading to his grandmother's car, which matched her burgundy dress, Sammy called out to him, "Come with us, Rico."
He gave Mitch a quick glance and told her, "I have to keep Grandma company."
"OK. We're going to the same place, aren't we, Daddy?" she asked, looking up at her dad.
"We are," Mitch reassured her.
"When you see us on the road, wave to us, OK," Rico told her and they got on their way.
Once they arrived at the building supplies store in Ashbury, Mitch and Grandma got busy. She was going to be picking out paint, countertops, blinds, some stuff for the bathrooms and probably buying whatever else her eye landed on. Mitch would be advising her, trying to keep her from going crazy. Rico's job was to keep Sammy occupied, and try not to obsess about kissing Mitch.
Rico was still confused about what happened. Mitch's reaction wasn't what he expected. But if he expected Mitch to shove him away and get mad, why the hell did he kiss him in the first place? Did he need to test him that bad?
As of now, the test results hadn't come in yet. It's not like Mitch could tell him off while Grandma needed to be talked out of slapping burgundy paint on all the walls and buying the gaudiest bathroom fixtures.
Meanwhile Rico hung back with Sammy so they could be bored together. "Maybe I'll just chill with you," he told her.
"You can be my buddy," Sammy told him.
"It's a deal. Now let's go look for something pretty," he suggested and they went to explore the massive store.
As they went in search of anything pretty, Rico hoped that Sammy wasn't sensing the strain between him and Mitch. Rico already felt it was crushing even if Mitch was pretending there was nothing going on. In fact, his act was making it harder to deal with the tension between them.
While he and Sammy roamed through the store, Rico caught a glimpse of Mitch now and then. He looked so serious as he consulted with Grandma. Rico imagined what Mitch's expression would be once he confronted him. It would be grave, maybe even angry.
Every time he saw him, Rico tried to predict what would happen if they were alone and then his mind would stray. Instead of the likely cold brush-off, Rico was picturing throwing himself at Mitch again, risking an even harsher rejection.
No matter how hard he tried, Rico couldn't abandon fantasies like those and even wilder ones where Mitch was the one dying to kiss him and do a lot more.
By the time he and Sammy met up with Mitch and his grandma, Rico still hadn't beaten back his crazy imagination. But at least Grandma was done making her choices and orders had been put in. Mitch was at the register with other supplies he needed.
"So did you find anything good?" Grandma asked Sammy while they waited for Mitch to check out.
"Little, pink tiles," she said. "This big." She showed her the size, and Rico could tell his grandmother was dying to add them to her order.
Actually the choices she made for the house seemed pretty subdued, not Grandma's usual style. That must have been Mitch's influence.
"Look at you being sensible," Rico praised her then he got serious. "OK now, no kidding around. Who the heck are you and what have you done with my grandma?"
To prove her identity, his grandmother whipped out a lavender paint chip. "This is the color I picked out for Sammy's room," she said.
