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Chapter 37 - Carmen
Not surprisingly, Eddie tried to work Isaac into the ground, and by extension, me. Except for a short lunch break, we tightened the legs of kitchen chairs, climbed up into the attic to put away the boxes of Christmas decorations, painted a bathroom, installed a ceiling fan in my old room that had become the guest bedroom, and did about a million other things I absolutely knew were not on my mother’s to-do list.
Eddie would never admit it, but the three of us cracking jokes and giving each other a hard time made the time fly by. Occasionally, I’d look at him as if to say, “see?” and Eddie would roll his eyes. He hated when I was right, and I was so right that he and Isaac would get along if he could let go of his grudge long enough to see it. I was pretty sure the only time Eddie wasn’t enjoying himself was when he realized Isaac and I had been ‘getting towels out of the hall closet’ for a half-hour, and the closet was just big enough for two people to stand inside with the door shut if they tucked in close together. It was perfectly sized, as far as I was concerned.
I put my foot down at four-thirty and stole Isaac away so he could go home and get ready for our double date.
Meanwhile, I showered and dressed in my best jeans and a soft blue sweater with white polka dots. Isaac had assured me we weren’t going anywhere fancy, but dressing up to go out with friends did not give me as much pause as dressing up for someone I… loved. I let that word sit there, thinking about how blessed I was to know Isaac would one hundred percent think I looked beautiful no matter what I wore, or what I did with my hair. There was no need to be anxious. I put soft curls in my hair with an oversized curling iron and did my makeup carefully, watching the clock so we could be on time when he came back to pick me up.
He sent me a gif of the beast from Beauty and the Beast banging on Belle’s door, followed by polite knocking on mine. Goofball.
“Coming,” I called. I threw the door open and took him in from head to toe at the same time that he did the same to me. He was freshly shaved and his hair looked touchably soft. But it was the expression on his face that had me weak in the knees.
“You look gorgeous, Carmen.” He reached out his hand and I took it, letting him pull me into one of his bone-melting hugs. “I’m not going to mess up your makeup, am I?”
“Not that I’d care, but no.” I sighed in his arms. “Are you ready for this?”
“Not even a little bit. Let’s go before I change my mind and stay here. I’m sure Eddie could find something for me to caulk or scrub. He mentioned sweeping spiderwebs off the north wall of the house before we left. We didn’t get to that.”
“No, we’re definitely going if that sounds tempting to you.”
He hurried us out to his truck, my hand tucked firmly in his.
“You weren’t kidding,” I said, getting into the passenger side. He dropped a fierce kiss against my lips before shutting me in, jogging around to the driver’s side, and getting in.
“Nope, not kidding. I’d rather sweep off spiderwebs.” He started the truck up and gripped the wheel, staring straight ahead. And then his smile dropped, and he looked like the weight of the world was on his shoulders.
“You’re worried about Grace?”
He turned to look at me and nodded. “Her, Piper, us.”
“Us?”
“I’m always disappointed in myself after any interaction with my former brother-in-law, and I’m not loving the thought of you being disappointed in me, too.”
“Why? What happens?”
“Nothing. He’s charming and funny, and Piper has a great time. Grace and I roll our eyes a lot. One of us pays the bill. Never him. And then he leaves, and I stew. I want to tell him what I think of him and his dumb standup comedy. He still tells jokes about Grace, even though she never asks him for anything. She’s the opposite of a nagging ex. I dream of lifting him up and sending him across the bar with drinks flying everywhere. It makes me terrible company after his visits. Because I’m a coward, and I always play along like this is all normal. That he isn’t living way below his potential. I think he knows. I think his jovial attitude is a cover for how much he’s disappointed in himself. So, I say nothing.”
“Then why would I be disappointed in you?” I took my seatbelt off and climbed over the console, kneeling in my seat so I could wrap my arms around him. “You’re forgetting we’re friends first. That means you’re allowed to be terrible company because it’s not your job to entertain me. We can be irritable and morose together. I can even be disappointed in you and still like you.”
He tucked his head against mine. “Promise?”
“Promise. And by the way, it doesn’t make you a coward to say nothing. To create some normalcy for Piper. Sometimes showing restraint is the bravest thing we can do.”
“Thank you, Carmen.”
We stayed like that for a long time, until my knees felt numb and Isaac’s breathing slowed to a pace that felt more like contentment.
He turned and studied my face, his gaze lingering on my lips before he leaned in slowly and kissed just my bottom lip. The whisper of it awoke something inside of me, but we did not have time for kissing right now. No, we did not.
“Isaac, what are you doing?” I murmured against his lips.
“Prioritizing,” he whispered.
“Are you really?”
He shook his head, breaking out into a lazy smile. “I wish.”
