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“Yeah. I bet he will.” Piper ran back to her desk, satisfied in the way only a five-year-old could be, because she didn’t understand subtext yet.
“How did your spaghetti night go?” I asked Grace.
“It was delicious, as always.”
“Oh, come on. I told you about Carmen.”
“Yeah, but I’m just realizing you knew your date was going to be her all week. And you said nothing until I forced it out of you!” She dropped the last part to a whisper as a guy in his thirties came in and stopped to look at our display of balloon bouquets.
“Can I help you find something?” Grace asked, all sweetness in her hurry to ignore me.
Unsurprisingly, the guy had no idea what he wanted, but he needed it today, which was her favorite kind of customer. Mine too, actually. I got to play someone’s hero multiple times a day.
There was more than one way to get my answer, though, so while Grace was occupied, I went and checked on Piper, picking up the crayons that had rolled under the desk and listening to her ideas for new cards.
When there was a natural lull, I asked. “Did you guys make breadsticks last night?”
“Yes, and they were so good. We dropped some off to Dean with a plate of spaghetti.”
“Oh, really.” So my sister, in an effort to please Piper while keeping her own firm boundaries in place, had found a middle-ground solution. How very Grace. “That was nice of you two.”
“Dean said it looked delicious and he’d be sure to return the plate, but Mom said he should keep it. Why would she want him to keep our plate? It’s one of our good ones.”
“That is a mystery. I think he’ll find a way to get it back to you guys, though.”
“I think so, too.” Piper giggled. Maybe she understood subtext better than I gave her credit for.
Chapter 11 - Carmen
“Why would he do this?” Mamá asked for what felt like the millionth time. “Are you sure this is a good idea? You just met the man last night.”
“He wants to help.” It was a true statement, and the only one she needed right now with everything else going on.
As it was, Mamá kept flitting back and forth with all the bingo prizes, putting them in the back of the van and then changing her mind on which ones to send with me. Papá had repeatedly told her she should go with us, but she didn’t want to leave him, just as I had suspected.
“Má, I’ll be the one driving the van. Isaac is coming along to be my charming errand boy.” I smiled, knowing the exact look Isaac would give me if he heard me say such things.
“If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure.”
I shared a knowing glance with Papá. He knew it all. Unlike Mamá, what he needed was distraction and lots of it. So yes, I’d told him Isaac was Zac, my old friend, the one I used to print out pictures of after he ghosted me just so I could stick pins through his eyes on my bulletin board. We all grieve in our own way.
Despite Isaac’s worry that Papá would stomp him into the ground if he knew his secret identity, Papá had only laughed. “Fate has given you two a second chance,” he’d said.
“To be friends,” I’d added firmly.
“He’s a very handsome friend,” was all Papá added.
The doorbell rang, and I hurried over before anyone else thought about getting the door. Eddie was lurking around here somewhere. He’d gotten all the Christmas lights down as promised, including the ones in the backyard from the New Year’s Eve party, but I didn’t need him trying to go all macho and interviewing my date.
Not my date, I immediately corrected. My friend. What was wrong with me?
I opened the door and immediately knew what was wrong with me. Because I almost stopped breathing at the sight of Isaac in a soft-looking blue-gray jacket over a fitted white T-shirt—one that outlined his muscles way too well. When our eyes met, he broke into a smile that had my mother behind me sighing. I could literally hear her worries melting into hopes. To be honest, I preferred her worry.
“Let him in,mija. Isaac, so good to see you again.”
“Hello, Francesca.” He reached in and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and then from behind his back he pulled out a half-dozen gerbera daisies for her in colors so vibrant, neither of us could look away.
