Page 72 of Pining for You

“Yeah,” Eve says. “Carlos is amazing. But I’ll literally kill you if you tell him I said that.” She points a finger at me.

“Wow, death threats? And I didn’t even spill anything on you today,” I say, thinking on my feet for once.

“The night is young, Strudel,” Eve says, carrying the tamale tray in one hand and tossing the end of her scarf around her neck with the other. And I feel a swell of sparkles every time she calls me that.

“So, wait—close your eyes for a second,” she says as we’re about to turn a corner. She shifts the tamales now so she’s expertly holding the tray on one upturned hand like a waitress. Clearly not her first rodeo.

“Okay…,” I say, and do as I’m told. All my other senses are heightened as she takes my hand with her free one and leads me forward a few steps. Her hand is extra toasty from the steamy tin.

“Careful,” she says, then as an explanation, adds, “Ice.”

I barely breathe, as if my life is in her hands. Maybe my heart, too. And then just as abruptly, she says, “Okay, stop,” and then, “Open.”

When I do, I see that she’s led me onto a block that looks like it’s been attacked by a glitter cannon. There are multicolored lights everywhere—framing doorways and lining awnings, curled around wrought-iron fencings and railings, nets of them draped over bushes and trees—and because of the glistening, wet street, they all reflect off the ground, too. Between that and the stars in the sky, it suddenly feels like we’re surrounded by sparkles on all sides.

“Woooooow,” I say.

“You like?” Eve asks.

“I love,” I say.

“Don’t tell anyone I brought you—this is the long way, and Tía would kill me if she found out I was compromising the tamales. But I just knew you’d appreciate it.”

Now that we’re alone again, a memory surfaces—of what it was like to be around Eve yesterday at the farm. She has another setting—this thoughtful quality that can make you feel like you’re the only person in the world. And it has such a calming effect on me—like nothing I’ve ever felt before. Some of my nerves begin to fade.

“I really, really appreciate it.”

She gives me another moment to take it in, but when I turn to see her own reaction, she says, “Well, we should keep moving. Trivia waits for no one.”

“Right, of course,” I say, even though I just want to stand there forever with her.

“So, your friends seem chill,” she says as we head back to the main road we turned off.

“They’re the best.” I grin. There are so many stories I want to tell Eve that would prove it, starting with the one about how just this morning at Pag’s, they all came up with the ridiculous plan that led us to this exact moment.

Not that I can ever tell her that. Like, not now, not in ten years, not even in a ’til-death-do-us-part scenario could I admit that this whole thing was about tracking her down.

“Your family seems pretty amazing too,” I say. “And super close.”

“Yeah. I mean, we have to be.” She looks down now. “With my brother especially.”

“So, he doesn’t talk at all?” I ask cautiously.

“Not a word.”

“Ever?”

“Since my parents died,” she says, lifting her head up as if she wants to seem strong right now.

I’ve wondered about Eve’s parents after what she said about her mom in the past tense yesterday, and because it seems like she and Hugo live with Tía and Carlos now. But the way Eve delivers the information—so matter-of-fact—almost stops me in my tracks. It seems like the kind of thing you sit someone down for…

I try to play it cool, keep walking, and not change my tone. I don’t want her to regret saying something.

“I know people probably say they’re sorry when you tell them that,” I say after a moment, thinking out loud a little, which is usually scary, but somehow feels okay with her. “But I’m sure that’s not… enough.”

“ ’Preciate it, Strudel,” she says a little roughly. “It’s cool. I mean, everybody’s got stuff, right? And I’ll just tell you, so you don’t have to ask. It was Covid. Both of them. Within a month.”

I suck in a breath involuntarily. How many times has she been asked? And when did she decide it was easier just to offer the information?