Then Maria leaned over the table a bit to ask, “Has your dad perfected Rosa’s taco-makin’ process? Tell me he has!”
Lily said, “He’s been cookin’ all afternoon, so you’re about to find out.”
“Hot damn and hallelujah!” Maria rarely cussed, but this was apparently a special occasion.
Hyram returned a little while later with a huge platter of tacos, and Cat behind him with all the sauces, salsas, and chips galore. A cheer went up, and Lily sent an extra bright smile Cat’s way when she leaned over to put some of them on the table like only a pro could do. “I didn’t know you’d been a server. We should compare notes sometime.”
Cat beamed. “I’d love that. I tended bar for twenty years, too,” she said, then with a wink, “I know things.” Then she continued placing condiments, before she and Hyram headed back to the kitchen for more.
As usual, all the Brands were talking at once, yet somehow communicating perfectly. She noticed the way Ethan looked around the crowded cantina after taking off his hat.
People were looking at him. Not because he was a small-time celebrity, but because they’d known him for most of his life and had probably never known his true origin story. Maybe the left-on-the-doorstep part, but not the father-murdered-mother part. She’d certainly never heard anyone mention it outside the family.
He was hot gossip, all right. It was obvious, now that she was paying attention. People looked openly and even glanced her way with speculation in their eyes. And then they whispered behind their hands. Not very subtle, were they? She saw one person doing that and stuck her tongue out at them, an act witnessed by most of those staring Ethan’s way since she was sitting right beside him.
People turned their attention back to their own business in a hurry.
Lily faced front in her seat again to find Ethan looking at her.
“Thank you,” he said. “That was…” And then instead of finding the right word, he just smiled, all the way to his eyes. “That was very cool.”
“Screw the gawkers,” she said. “You own the place. You can throw ‘em out on their collective backsides if you want. I’ll help. I’d enjoy it!”
There was a bite in her voice. She heard it herself and it surprised her as much as it seemed to surprise him.
“Huh,” he said.
“What?”
“You’re really not all sweetness and light after all, are you, Lily?”
She looked across the table at her brother, talking and laughing with his new bride. “Don’t blow my cover with Dad and Harrison, okay?”
“That’s a promise.” Then he said, “Do you feel like you can’t be real around them?”
The taco platter was passed their way, saving her from having to answer right away. Ethan took the tongs and set three of them on her plate. He was going for a fourth but she held up a hand, so he started filling his own. And man, did he fill it.
She asked for the mango salsa, her favorite, and slathered it over her tacos. “It’s more that I don’t want to disappoint them.”
“I don’t think that can happen.”
“Oh, it can,” she said. “Mom left a big hole in our family.”
“And you’ve been tryin’ to fill it.”
She nodded. “Trying, and failing, mostly.”
“But you’re so?—”
“Don’t tell me it’s not a valid way to feel. You don’t feel worthy of your family, either. Ridiculous as that seems to me.” She dug into her tacos. And she didn’t talk again until her plate was clean, and she was chugging sweet tea to wash it down.
She wasn’t too busy eating to notice when Maria took her first bite and looked as if she’d tasted heaven.
The family was noisy, all talking over each other and laughing. The Brands really enjoyed being together. You couldn’t fake that kind of affection. And she enjoyed it, too. So did her brother. They’d melded seamlessly into the clan. The Brand brothers, Garrett, Ben, Wes, Adam, and Elliot, and their baby sis Jessie, treated Hyram like a long-lost seventh sibling.
A fresh tray of tacos came, and she took one more as it made the rounds.
They took their time, eating until they were full. She knew when the bellies were topped off because the conversation got louder again. And that’s when Ethan said, “So on the advice of my manager, I’m gonna be stayin’ home for a while.”
