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“Check that out!” Bri said. Her emerald green eyes shone brightly as Joel and Gavin rolled out the biggest cake I’ve seen in person. But not just any cake—a mantecado that I’d tasted at Beth’s uncle house with a replica of her face on it. It was guaranteed to be delicious and it was so exquisite that I almost didn’t want to eat it.
A trickle of tears wet Beth’s face.
“Oh my God! H-how’d…” Beth swallowed her words and Chase looked at her with an immeasurable amount of desire and fulfillment. He took her hand, kissed it, and clasped it in his. She went on her tippy-toes and kissed him deeply.
“Nancy baked the cake,” Chase said against her lips and her face broke out into a smile. She’d forgotten for a moment that they weren’t by themselves. “Hunter offered to paint your face
on the cake when I told him Nancy was going to bake one for you.”
Impressed, Jake lifted his chin up to Hunter. We hadn’t known that Chase set this up, because Beth wasn’t really into sweets. She hadn’t gorged on the mantecado, like Jake and I had.
Pulling away from Chase, Beth signaled Hunter and I to move so she could get up from the table. Once all of us were standing, she gave Hunter a tight hug. When he bent his head, she kissed his jaw. “This is awesome. It must have taken up all your free time.” She peered at him for a second. “Thank you. It’s very thoughtful.”
The side of Hunter’s face quirked up. He moved away from her and motioned her to cut the cake.
He and Chase had a strong resemblance for fraternal twins, and when Hunter’s face relaxed into a grin, he was more handsome than Chase. He could be mistaken for being as equally friendly as Chase was to us. And then I saw something I hadn’t seen in his eyes when I’d seen him at school: longing. But what could Hunter be longing for? He had Chase in his life, and Beth. It didn’t get any better than reuniting with your estranged brother and making friends with his girl.
Beth’s cousin, Pierce, held the knife out to Beth, and she cut the first slice.
“Huh, Hunter’s got himself some skills,” Jake remarked as he cut a slice for himself and handed the knife to Bri, who was behind him in the line. “It was like Beth was staring at us.”
As Bri and I nodded, I glanced at Hunter for less than a second. He’d waited for everyone to be seated and then he took a spot that enabled him to leave without being in anyone’s way. But it was probably for the best, because he hadn’t looked okay when the only available chair was the one next to me.
Chapter 2
Hunter
“WHAT ARE YOU IN the mood for?” I asked Manny, an old-timer of Little Havana, and the owner of Lasting Impressions. I hadn’t thought he’d consider me for the job when I’d applied a year ago before my guest tattoo artist registration to tattoo in Florida was processed. Hector and Vince, the other artists, had taken me under their wings, too. I’d completed my courses in California and did my apprenticeship at another approved shop in Miami once I’d moved out here, to be close to Chase. It’d taken me months to get a call from Manny for an interview.
“I am feeling like La Caridad today.”
“The new place?”
He shifted his eyes from the computer screen to me. “Everything on their menu looks like it’ll hit the spot.” He arched an eyebrow and then returned his gaze to the computer screen. “Surprise me.”
“You know what Hector and Vince want?”
Manny wore a thoughtful expression as he leaned forward in his chair. “They’re in the zone right now. I’ll see what they wanna do about lunch later. They won’t be done with their clients for a while.”
***
“WE’LL BE RIGHT WITH you,” an older female with very short dirty blonde hair told me. She looked like she could’ve been the boss or manager from the authoritative presence she had as she helped the other employees deliver hefty plates of food to the customers. Practically every table and chair by the counter was full, so I leaned against the wall. I was getting hungry from the delicious smell of sweet plantain and seasoned meats.
I waved my hand at her. “I am not in a rush,” I told her in Spanish. I’d had three customers this morning who wanted very simple and common tattoos, and one customer scheduled for the evening.
A pleased grin started on her lips before she dashed to the kitchen worktop and took three dishes as some of the waiters came to get other dishes that the chefs had set down.
When I looked at the other tables again, I saw a group of men looking at the back of a tall and thin waitress who wore a cap with very loose dark brown curls down her back. The apron around her waist emphasized her tiny waist and her wider hips. She walked toward the kitchen worktop and took off her cap.
It was Mariska. She accepted a tissue from an employee and dabbed her forehead. I didn’t know that she worked here. I figured that she’d maybe have a work-study job, because she looked so busy at school. Based on the conversations I’d listened to Beth and Jake have, Mariska was either in the dorm room she shared with Beth, or in class.
“I am Blanca,” she told me. “Thanks for waiting.”
“I’m Hunter, and it was really no problem.”
“Welcome to La Caridad, Hunter.” A smiled bloomed over her face. “What would you like?”
I hadn’t looked over the menu yet. I moved my mouth and thought about it quickly. I went with the Cuban meals I’d had before and liked. “I’ll have a regular Cuban Sandwich, yucca croquettes, and the imperial rice.”
