“I know some people like that. Not hockey players, but I knew a guy that made it to the MLB and completely forget about everybody back home.”
“The what?”
“Major league baseball,” I explain. “Not my sport, but I remember Roy. He lived next door until he got a contract with Cincinnati. After that, I only saw him maybe once a year. Maybe.”
“I guarantee hockey players do it too.”
“Probably. Just not ones I know.”
“You know a lot of professional hockey players?”
“Well, no, but I follow them.”
“And you know for a fact they don’t forget people?”
“Well…”
“That’s what I thought. Doesn’t matter what anyone else does, though, only what you do.”
“That’s what my grandma always says.”
“She’s a smart lady.”
“She cooks better than Mom, but I’ll deny that if you ever tell her I said that. I’ll call you a bald face liar to your face.”
She laughs. “There’s no better cooking than your grandma’s.”
“Did your grandma teach you to cook?”
“Yeah. I remember standing in a chair helping her make biscuits when I was maybe four or five.”
“Your cooking is good.”
“I’ve only ever cooked tacos for you. How do you know that?”
“Because you made everything from scratch. Only good cooks do that. Not even my mom makes taco stuff from scratch. She buys one of those kits and a jar of Pace’s Picante chunky salsa to add into it.”
“That actually sounds good.”
“Oh, it is, but your homemade stuff was just a smidge better, but again, I’ll call you a liar if you ever tell her that.”
She laughs again and my entire being settles. Why does she make me feel like this with just her laugh? Like all is right with the world.
“I’m surprised you’re not getting a culinary degree and opening up your own place or something.”
“I’ve watched enoughRestaurant Impossibleto understand that restaurants are a fickle business. Things go wrong. I might like to own my own place one day, but for now I’m good with studying psychology so I can help people with drug addictions.”
“Because of your mom.”
“No. It’s more for the families dealing with addicts. Yes, the addict needs help, but so do the families who gets their hearts broken again and again by the person they love.”
Makes sense. She wants to help people deal with what she and her brother dealt with all their lives.
“That’s noble.”
She snorts. “It’s practical.”
“Uh huh. I don’t see why you can’t do both. Have your own practice and your own shop. They can both be open for set hours or something.”
