Page 18 of Against The Boards

She gestured around the room. “Mijo, you paid off our mortgage, you gave your cousin Sal that loan for his bar, and you paid off your sister’s student loans. You do enough. We know you care.”

“But I’m not here,” I argued and shoved a spoonful of yogurt into my mouth.

“We’re proud of your accomplishments. You don’t have to be in Boston for us to know that you’re here for us, okay?”

“But what if I—”

She put her hands on her hips. “Don’t you dare ask for a trade, you hear me?”

I sighed and sipped on my coffee. “Okay, okay.”

It didn’t mean I wasn’t still thinking about it.

“Good. Now tell me about the woman.”

“Abuela,” I groaned.

She shrugged. “What? Your sister told me you made her your pozole. You only cook my recipes when you’re trying to impress a woman.”

“No, I don’t,” I grumbled, but when I thought about it, my grandmother was right. The first thing I did when Stephanie and I got serious was make her one of my grandmother’s recipes.

“Did she like it?”

“Yes,” I muttered.

“This is the woman you have issues with, right?”

I snorted. “We hate each other.”

My grandmother frowned. “I don’t think it’s that.”

“Nina told me about the pool.”

Abuela smiled at me. “We only want you to be happy. Maybe this is a woman you could settle down with, no?”

“Nope. She hates me. Besides, you know how I feel about marriage.”

She waved her hand to dismiss me.

I drained my coffee cup and put it in the dishwasher along with my dirty spoon. I chucked the empty yogurt into the bin. My grandmother peered over at me, and I knew she wanted to press me more. I was pretty sure I would hear it again when my sister and her wife got home from work, too. I loved my family, I really did, but they could be all up in my business about my love life sometimes.

“I’m gonna go see what Abuelo’s up to,” I said and escaped into the den to find my grandfather.

He was sitting in his chair with the sports news on like nothing was wrong with him. The old man was probably gonna outlive me.

“How ya doing?” I asked as I took a seat next to him on the couch.

He shrugged and waved me off with his hand. “Oh, who me? Ah, you didn’t have to drive up to see me.”

“I was worried,” I said in a voice that was smaller than I intended.

“Ah, you shouldn’t be worrying about a big, strong ox like me,” he said with a chuckle and pounded his fist on his chest.

I smiled at him. “Well, I was due for another visit anyway.”

“You were just here.”

“I wanted to see you.”