Friends & Fortune Cookies: A Sudden Falls Romance (18 page)

She stroked my face, and I closed my eyes for a moment.

“Can we agree that we want to find an answer? And that if we put our heads together, we might find it?”

She jerked her chin in a nod, and I squeezed her closer for a moment. My heart was pounding, and I wasn’t sure why.

“You’re still pissed that I called Mike a weasel.”

“Actually, you can chuck that one in the dud pile. I was mad, but you were right. He
is
a weasel. And I’m much better without him.”

I released a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding—metaphorically, at least.

“I’m angrier that you left and didn’t contact me for a year.”

Perhaps I let it go too soon. “Goes both ways,” I said. “You didn’t even tell me you didn’t marry him.”

“Would that have made a difference?”

“Hell, yes. Gracie, I was dying at the idea of you marrying him. And not just because he’s a twerp. It was because he wasn’t…”

“…Wasn’t what?”

Fuck
. I needed to lay it all out on the line. We never did that. We pulled our punches and danced around each other, and all we did is hurt the other. If we were going to get hurt, let it be because we jumped in not sure of the depth of the water, rather than by getting eaten by the crocodiles on the banks. “
Me,
Gracie. Because you were marrying someone other than me.”

Chapter 29 — Grace

“The greatest gift in life is getting born into the family you’d choose.
The second greatest gift in life is having them mind their own business.”
~ Luddite in Love: A Cautionary Tale of Dating in the Modern Age,
Grace Mendoza

Holy Guacamole.
Joe had upped the stakes in a big way. I really
really
wanted to believe him one hundred percent. But part of me didn’t. Or couldn’t. Or was afraid to. Speaking of nuclear ordinance.

“I’m terrified that you’re going to rip my heart out and leave me here bleeding,” I said. “I
want
to believe this will work, but I’m not sure that I do.”

“Brace yourself. I have a big red flag here that I’m about to plant.”

Joe tightened his grip at my spine. I wasn’t sure I wanted him to plant a flag so big he felt he needed to hold on tight to keep me from getting up and leaving. But this was supposed to be an exercise in complete honesty. “What?”

“Deep down, you don’t think you deserve to be happy.”

“What!?”

“You’re so busy comparing yourself to your ridiculously overachieving family that you don’t see how amazing you really are.”

I didn’t even know what to say to that. “So you think you’re what I deserve?”

He chuckled ruefully. “I hope I can be good enough to deserve you.”

I pressed my forehead to his. “God, you’re hard to resist.”

“Good. So stop resisting.” He dropped a kiss on my nose. “It’s getting late. Should I stay or go?”

I wrapped my leg around his hip holding him in place. “Is that even in question?”

He chuckled and leaned in. “Not anymore.”

The next morning, I woke up with Joe’s front wrapped around my back and his long legs tangled with mine, one arm acting as my pillow and the other wrapped around my waist. A whisper couldn’t have fit between our two bodies. Based on his steady, even breathing, he wasn’t yet awake. I let my eyes fade close and savored the scent and feel of him all around me.

I sensed the moment he went from dead asleep to wide awake. “Well, this is a nice surprise.”

“Given the number of times you woke me up for nefarious purposes last night, I can’t imagine it’s that much of a surprise.” Not that I was complaining. I turned to face him.

“Nefarious?” he raised an eyebrow at me. The pillow crease along his cheek was adorable, and his grin was slow and sleepy.

“What would you call it?”

“Amazing. Heavenly. Devine. Delightful.” He dropped a peck on my nose. “I think I’d convinced myself it was just a dream. A
really good
dream, but just a dream.”

I sat up and stretched. The sheet fell from around me as I did so.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, tugging the sheet farther down. His motivation was not to un-hinder me from getting out of bed.

“My parents’ house. Sunday dinner. It’s my turn to cook.”

“Oh.” He sighed. “I haven’t been to Sunday dinner at your parents’ house in years.”

“That was shameless.”

He gave me an innocent
Who me?
sort of look.

“If you come, you have to help.”

“I can do that.”

We got ready, which according to Joe, required joint showering.

“As it turns out, this is somewhat less efficient than showering alone.” To underscore my observation, I slid my soapy breasts against his chest, which caused him to groan and press me against the cold tile wall.

“Whose fault is that?” he asked.

I didn’t answer, but he didn’t seem to mind.

Eventually we made it out of the apartment. “What do you think about hitting Jungle Jim’s?” The giant grocery store was actually one of the biggest attractions in the area. Which might say unfortunate things about the area, but they had pretty much anything a foodie might want or need.

“I haven’t been there in years.”

We entered, and I immediately went for the spice store located in the front. “Can I get three ounces of the Berbere spice?”

“What are we having?” Joe asked as the clerk measured the fragrant, red spice mix.

“Ethiopian chicken stew, injera flatbread, and a jicama matchstick salad.”

“Are we being extra
magnificent
today?” I ignored the slight edge to his voice.

Katie was unequivocally the best cook among us. She could easily have become a chef, and I think she’d toyed with the idea at one point. But all the Mendoza girls could cook. Inky only cooked for family get-togethers, but she understood how foods best went together in a scientific way that gave her an advantage. I suspected she survived on power bars and peanut butter the rest of the time.

“Actually, this is pretty simple. It just doesn’t taste like it.”

He didn’t respond. I paid for the spices, and we moved on through the store. I picked up lentils from the Asian and Middle Eastern part of the International section of the store.

Joe picked up a small package of fortune cookies with maybe ten cellophane-wrapped cookies. “For dessert?”

“Ha. Good idea. It doesn’t quite fit with the theme, but mom will be happy that we’re not feeding Dad something rich with a lot of sugar.”

“Is your father ill?”

“No. His cholesterol is a little high, so mom worries. But he’s fine.”

We wandered through the seafood section on our way to meat and produce. “This place is huge,” Joe remarked.

I nodded. “But I never leave without having what I need.”

I picked up chicken thighs and tossed them in the basket. The produce department provided carrots, jicama, cucumbers, cilantro, peppers, and onions.

On our way to checkout, Joe made a side trip into the health and beauty aisle, grabbed a pack of condoms, and tossed it in the cart. I couldn’t help but notice it was an economy-sized package.

“That seems extremely optimistic.”

He wiggled his eyebrows in my direction. “Let’s count how many we had between us yesterday. And we used my last one in the shower this morning.”

“So you’re saying it’s simply general preparedness, not optimism?”

“I was a boy scout in another life.”

I laughed. I found myself laughing a lot this morning, having more fun that I could remember in years.

Grabbing me around the waist, he pulled me to him. I put my hand on his chest, unsure for the first time all morning.

“Planting a flag,” I said quietly, stepping back.

“What?” The fact that I’d put that stricken expression on his face made my heart hurt.

“I’m not ready to tell anyone.”

“Oh. Are you… ashamed?”

I reached out and put a hand on his forearm. “Oh, God, no.” I took a deep breath. How could I explain how hard the last year had been for me? “But this is a tiny town where everyone knows everyone. If we don’t find a way to defuse our big giant atom bomb of a landmine—you going back to Denver—then I’m going to be left here enjoying the pitying looks of the town for yet another year. And I just… I just can’t.”

He raised his hands. “I got it. Hands off in the grocery store. What about your family?”

“Do you want to have to face my dad if this doesn’t work out?”

I watched him take that to its logical conclusion. My dad is actually a big teddy bear… much in the same way as a Kodiak grizzly is a big teddy bear. It’s great to be his cub. Not so much to be a
threat
to one of his cubs.

“Er. No.” He leaned in close enough that I could feel his breath against my ear. “But then, I don’t want to consider this not working out. Here’s another flag: I hate that you’re making contingency plans in case this doesn’t work out.”

I took his hand and squeezed. “I’ll try to think more positively.” Suddenly, things seemed less rainbows and bunnies than they had waking up with a sleepy warm man wrapped around me.

He squeezed back. “This is new. We’ll figure it out.”

I wished I shared his optimism.

Chapter 30 — Joe

Keeping my hands off Gracie for the entire day was going to be annoyingly difficult. But more than that, there were more landmines than we’d identified last night. I needed Gracie to be all-in if we were going to figure this out. And there wasn’t much time to figure that out between the grocery and her folks’ house. Suddenly, Sunday dinner with the Magnificent Mendozas didn’t sound like such a treat.

At least until we arrived. “I didn’t warn my family you were coming,” Gracie said as I pulled into the driveway. “In fact, I don’t even think Mom and Dad know you’re in town unless they’ve heard it through the town grapevine.”

I wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that she hadn’t told them. I tried not to read anything into it, but I stuck a flag next to that landmine for later discussion.

Gracie opened the door and yelled “We’re here!” into the two-story foyer, which I knew would echo into every chamber of the house.

“Who’s we?” her mom asked as she came around the corner at the top of the stairs. Then she shrieked. “Joe!” Flying down the stairs, she wrapped me in her warm embrace. “Oh, kiddo. It’s so good to see you.”

Only Melodie Mendoza would refer to me as
kiddo
. Of course, outside of my own mother and Gracie, Melodie was the only woman who’d known me since I was a ‘kiddo’.

“You, too. You look well.” And she did. The years had been kind, and it seemed she’d barely aged since Gracie and I were in school. Melodie wore her long, honey-blond hair in a straight cascade down her back and her typical “at home” uniform of long, colorful hippie skirt and simple blouse.

“Let me look at you.” I put down my bags of groceries and got a head-to-toe perusal. “What did you do to yourself?” she asked when she got to my foot, still in the walking cast.

“Fell off a roof, actually. It’s healing well.”

She shot a daggered look at Gracie. “I’m sure there’s a very good reason why you didn’t tell me Joe was in town.
And
that he fell off a
roof.
”

Gracie’s dad saved her from answering. “What’s all the ruckus?” He shook his head when he saw me. “Well, I’ll be damned…”

Shaking my hand, he pulled me into a manly bear hug. “Good to see you, son.”

“You, too, sir.”

I wondered if her family would be so happy to see me if they knew everything that had transpired the night before. I found myself unable to meet her father’s gaze. At least they weren’t still angry about what happened between Gracie and I last summer. How much had she told them?

“Hey, Mom. Did you start the teff for me?” Gracie asked.

“Yes. But I’ve got to tell you, it looks a little bit like brains.”

“Perfect,” Gracie answered.

“Umm…” I looked between the two women. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s for the flatbread. Kind of a sourdough starter.”

I nodded slowly, not understanding, but picked up the groceries and followed Gracie into the extremely well-appointed kitchen anyway.

Gracie emptied the grocery sacks and arranged everything on the island. She handed me a cutting board and a sharp chef’s knife. “Can you julienne these?” She indicated the vegetables.

“It looks like you have all of this under control,” Melodie said. “I’ll let you work. Katie and Inky should be here shortly.” She scratched my back affectionately. “It really is great to have you here.” Giving me a final pat, she left the kitchen.

“My parents may be more excited that you are here than they are that I am,” Grace said.

“So what did you tell them when I left last year?” I asked.

“As little as possible.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

I didn’t feel like she was avoiding the question, more gathering her thoughts, so I stayed still and chopped vegetables and tried to wait her out.

“I guess I didn’t want them to be as angry with you as I was.”

“Is that because you hoped I’d be back one day or because you thought you might have been too hard on me?”

Her gaze was sharp at first, but then she sighed as if I might have a point. “When did we get this honest?”

I leaned into her. “Somewhere around your second orgasm last night,” I whispered in her ear.

Her eyes got wide, and her face turned bright red. She nudged me away gently, making contact with her whole body in the process rather than just stepping back.

I took it as a positive development, even though I was very much hoping her mom wouldn’t walk in and discover the toll this conversation had taken on my below-the-waist blood supply.

Gracie chopped an onion and red pepper then tossed a bunch of ingredients into a big pot before closing the lid.

“God, that smells good!”

Katherine walked in with a guy who could easily be confused for a Hollywood star or a model. “You must be Joe,” he said, extending his hand. “Quinn Mitchell.”