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“Yeah, your social life is really kicking.” She turned back to the door as Dean came in again. “As is mine.”
Chapter 5 - Carmen
“Pá, it’s getting dark. Let’s wait for Eddie. He said he’d do it tomorrow.” My hands felt frozen as they clung to the bottom of the ladder, but more importantly, I wasn’t sure I was actually doing much to help. I wouldn’t bet my strength against the momentum of a tall ladder once it decided to lean. And yet I held firm anyway.
“Eddie says lots of things,” Papá called down to me, unclipping another section of the Christmas lights that had lined the rooftop of the house since the day after Thanksgiving. “I love the boy, but I don’t wait on him for anything.”
“ThenI’llhelp you tomorrow. I keep my promises, don’t I?” I’d also insist on being the one at the top of the ladder, no matter how afraid of heights I was.
“Okay, tomorrow.” But he didn’t move to get down. Instead, he reached out a little further and unclipped a new section. Papá would not be swayed from his task by promises, trustworthy or otherwise.
I scrunched my nose, knowing what I was about to say would get him down in a hurry, but would also cost me in unwanted attention. “Pá, I’m supposed to be getting ready for a date. The one Maria set me up on.”
At that he stopped working and peered down at me. “I didn’t think you would go.”
“Well, I could always tell Maria I was helping you and couldn’t make it.” It was a tempting excuse. But I hadn’t been lying when I said I kept my promises. This date, disastrous or not, was happening.
“No, no. You go get ready. I’ll be down in a minute.”
Nice try. I shook my head at him. “Not on your life. I’ll go get ready when your two feet are on the ground. My date can wait for me. And Maria doesn’t have to know I showed up late.”
“Okay, fine. I’m coming down. You’re right. We can do this tomorrow.”
I bit back a smile. He feared Maria just as much as everyone else, and she would never forgive him if he made me late.
As he came down step-by-step in his scuffed old cowboy boots, I wasn’t sure who was groaning more, him or the ladder. Papá was getting too old for this stuff, but he’d never admit it.
“You are meeting him somewhere, no?” he asked, trying to sound unconcerned. He didn’t fool me one bit. Papá’s feelings about my dating life were a strange mix of hope and dread. He wanted me to get married someday, but he also couldn’t deal with the particulars of getting there. That made two of us.
“We’re meeting at Steamers.”
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What kind of place is this?”
“It’s a coffee shop.”
“Oh.” He relaxed at that and walked with me to the front door. “And you’ll wear at least three cardigans to scare him off?”
“Pá.” I put my hands on my hips, trying to appear stern even though I wanted to laugh. “What is wrong with my cardigans?”
“Nothing. It’s just all those layers tell a man you’ll always be cold. He’ll have a lifetime of rubbing your feet and fetching you blankets.” He opened the door for me and followed behind as I walked in.
“Well, maybe I want to send that message. This is a man Maria picked out, after all.” I would not mention that I knew the guy. That was going in the vault, along with my complicated feelings about him.
“In that case, wear four sweaters. Maybe add some….uh…” He clearly couldn’t think of the word, but I knew what he was talking about when he pointed to the collar of his shirt.
“Felted flower pins?”
“Yes. Those. And some heart ones. And thechupacabraswith the googly eyes.”
“The frog pins?”
“Yes. Wear those.”
Mamá came around the corner from the hallway and stared us down. “You’re giving her fashion advice? No frog pins,mija. Wear somethingmuysexy.” I wished she was joking. She was not. Making Papá stalk off and grumble to himself was only a bonus.
The women in our family were short and generously curvy. We could slay with the right outfit and a set of stilettos. But this was not a night for something like that.
“Pá,” I called out before he left the room. “What do my felt pins tell a man about me?”
