Page 53 of Mending Me
I just hoped that she wouldn’t hate me for breaking her trust all in the effort to help her heal at the same time.
30
BAILEY
The timer I had set went off and I jumped from the couch to pull the tamales from the pot to check and see if they were done.
I had asked Hank to come over for dinner tonight after checking to make sure Ophelia was okay with it. She rolled her eyes at me and reminded me that it was Saturday and she would be heading out for the night with some work friends.
“And if I have to come home, that means I will have failed to make a man fall in love with me and ask me to go home with him,” she cooed at me with a wink. I love my friend with everything I am, but sometimes I worry about her decision making skills.
Earlier in the week, I had reached out to Amanda, an old caterer I knew from back when I worked at the event hall, and asked her if she could teach me how to make authentic Mexican tamales. Hank had made them for me when he took me on our picnic, so I wanted to try and make them for him in return. As I carefully pulled the steamer basket from the pot of boiling water, I pulled back the husks on a few of them to check to see if theywere done. After rewrapping the ones I checked, I lowered them back into the boiling water and set the timer again for another five minutes. Amanda had told me to steam them a little longer than I thought they needed to make sure that all the masa had cooked through and you could easily eat them.
Just as I covered the pot back up with the lid, a knock came from the front door. Excitement and anticipation grew inside of me as I hurried towards it, stopping only for a moment to check myself in the mirror. I had my hair wrapped and secured behind my head with an oversized claw clip and a few pieces had fallen around my face. I smiled at myself because of how genuinely happy I looked. I hadn’t looked, or felt, like this in years and it was all because of my soldier. I reached for the door and swung it open to find him standing in the hallway holding a stunning bouquet of deep blue hydrangeas.
“These are for you,” he stated, handing me the bouquet as I took a step towards him. “I saw them and they reminded me of your eyes and I knew I had to get them for you.”
Unable to hold myself back from him, I flung my arms around his neck, smashing the flowers in between us. I hung onto him tightly, breathing him in and letting the sense of safety and security he brought wash over me. He gently laid his hand on the side of my waist, his other trapped between us still holding the flowers.
“Uh,” he muttered into my ear as I continued to squeeze him, “I think you’re smashing your flowers.”
“Oh!” I pulled away from him quickly and our eyes fell to the now slightly smashed petals. “Oh, I’m sorry! I was just so happy to see you I couldn’t help myself. I have a surprise for you!” I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the condo.
He took a deep inhale as he stepped inside and I carefully took the bouquet from his hands, setting them on the counteras I walked into the kitchen. “What is that smell? It smells amazing.”
“Yeah?” I chewed on my bottom lip, hopeful that I had gotten the dish right. I wanted to show him how much I loved his history and culture, which is why I tried so hard to get the meal right. It might have taken me almost five hours to make because I had to start over. Twice. But god damn if these weren’t the best tamales ever. “I…I made tamales.”
“You did?” He looked at me with a dreamy expression, almost as if he couldn’t believe what I had said.
“Yeah. You made them for me that night when you took me on a picnic and I loved them. I wanted to make them for you because I know how much you love to cook. I can’t say mine are as good as yours but, I tried to get them right.” I shrugged.
He took a few steps closer to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me back into him. He looked down at me, his dark brown eyes fixated on mine. As I looked back into them, the ember flecks that scattered the edges of his irises caught the light and seemed to dance.
“This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me, hermosa?1. Thank you.” He pressed his lips to my forehead and then lifted my chin with his fingers and pressed his lips to mine. I felt the blood rush to my cheeks and couldn’t fight the shy smile that grew across my face before he said, “Let’s eat, I’m starving.”
We served up our meals, which included tamales, red rice, refried beans, and some fresh salsa Amanda had made and brought over for me. We both made our plates and took a seat at the small dining table that Ophelia and I normally ate at together when we were both here for lunch or dinner.
As we ate, I couldn’t help but picture what my life would look like if this is how it always went. Hank and I, sitting across from one another, eating delicious food and talking about our day. I loved the idea of him coming home to me after work and the twoof us cooking together. I hadn’t even realized I was smiling at the idea of it all until he pointed it out.
“What are you smiling about?”
“What? Oh, nothing,” I chuckled. I didn’t want to tell him what I’d been daydreaming about in case he didn’t feel the same way. I thought I knew how he felt about me but I didn’t want to scare him off by telling him that I liked the thought of us living together and having every night be like this one. We had only really been dating for a little over a month and it felt too soon to share this with him.
“So,” he started, taking a big bite of rice, “I wanted to ask you something.” I laughed as a piece of rice fell from his mouth back onto his plate.
“Why don’t you finish your bite first and then ask me, soldier?”
“I would but this food is so good, I can’t stop eating it,” he gushed, causing my insides to swell with pride. He chewed his food, swallowed, and then started again. “So I wanted to ask you something.”
“You said that already,” I teased.
“There is a veteran’s benefit here in the city in a couple weeks and I would like you to go with me as my date. A couple of my buddies from my time in the service will be there and I would love to show off my girl if you’ll let me.” He gave me a sheepish look from across the table. “So…what do you think?”
“Is this the one held at the library downtown each year?” I had heard of the benefit before but had never attended. It was a big deal around town as many of the city’s wealthiest families attended to donate and support the troops.
“Yeah, that’s the one. Will you go with me?” he asked again, waiting for me to answer his question. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go, it was that I hadn’t been to this kind of event since the night I was attacked. The thought of going to any event ofthis caliber brought up emotions I had trained my body to ignore and push down over the last two years. But looking at him, I knew I couldn’t say no.
“Of course I will. When is it?” I asked, swallowing my apprehensions and fears.
