Rock Chick 07 Regret (56 page)

* * * * *

The rest of the day
weirded
me out, so much, I couldn’t handle it so I decided to ride with it and memorize every last second so I could carry it with me forever.

We went to the brownstone and I did my business (with the addition of Buddy begging Hector and me to take YoYo, even if she was spending the night at Hector’s because, he explained, Ralphie was becoming so attached to the dog, Buddy feared there would be a
dognapping
).

We loaded up my stuff (Hector told me to “pack heavy” which meant more than a night’s worth and, after my rant, I didn’t have it in me to put up a fight so I did as he ordered), YoYo,
YoYo’s
doggie paraphernalia (under Ralphie’s maniacal
dognapper
-in-the-making glare) and we headed off to Blanca’s.

Jet and Eddie were getting married imminently and Jet was barely holding onto her dream vision of a wedding. She’d given into the whole Catholic Mass thing (for Blanca) but for a reception, she’d hired a barn somewhere in the mountains, replete with a hog roast, hayrides, a bonfire and s’mores at the end.

Bizarrely, at the same time, Blanca and Nancy had rented the local hall, Blanca’s cousins were catering and Nancy’s neighbor was going to croon lounge music during a sit down, four course meal.

And, apparently, Blanca and Nancy’s vision included
loads
of lavender bunting.

After a gut-busting lunch, Nancy and Blanca ganged up on Jet.

I sat with YoYo in my lap and noticed right away that Jet was going
down
.

First off, Eddie was removed, entirely. In fact, he looked like he thought the whole thing was funny and didn’t even flinch when Jet glared daggers at him. Hector and Carlos stayed silent but they also appeared to find the whole thing amusing. Gloria, Rosa and Elena were also silent. I could tell they were commiserating with Jet but they didn’t have the guts to jump in. Carlos’s girlfriend Maria sat silent too but she looked scared out of her mind (probably exactly what I looked like). Tex, on the other hand, was busily eating through the leftovers on the platters of food on Blanca’s table and it appeared he didn’t even know the meeting was happening at all.

So it became apparent that it was going to have to be me.

I thought about how to do this without Blanca’s house exploding under the force of a Full Blown Blanca (and Nancy) Hissy Fit.

Then I came up with a plan.

“I’ve never had roasted hog,” I announced during a lull in Jet’s browbeating.

Everyone’s (surprised) eyes came to me.

Even though they were scaring me (particularly Blanca but also Nancy), as per usual I sallied forth.

“And I’ve never taken a hayride.” I looked at Jet and informed her in a chirpy voice, “I’ve always wanted a s’more but my father never let me go to camp. Or take a hayride. Or go to a hog roast. He was weird that way, you know, being kind of suffocating and not letting me be social or have friends.” I glanced across the table and declared, “Sounds like fun!”

So I was manipulating the fact that they were nice people and trying to make them feel sorry for me.

It was the only card I had to play and, for Jet, I played it.

Jet was smiling at me, beautiful and huge.

Eddie wasn’t smiling, exactly, but I could see his dimple.

Hector was shaking his head but his eyes were warm and intense in a new way that was mixed with humor and affection and
that
brought back that lovely, snug, comfy feeling.

Tex’s head snapped in my direction.

“Fuckin’ A, woman, you’ve never had a s’more?” he boomed.

I shook my head.

“Christ, everyone’s gotta have a s’more before they die. Fuck that shit, I’ll build a fire in my backyard tonight and I’ll stop by Kumar’s on the way home to get the stuff. Everyone can come by –”

Damn and blast!

Tex was being really nice but he was
ruining
everything!

“No,” I cut in quickly, “I can wait until Jet’s wedding.”

“There’s no waitin’ for s’mores,” Tex boomed back.

“But –” I started.

“No lip!” Tex boomed again.

“Sadie and I have plans tonight,” Hector put in smoothly and Tex’s eyes went to him, they narrowed then I watched as the light dawned and, slowly, he sat back.

“I’ll make you a s’more latte so you’ll have somethin’ to go on until Jet and Eddie’s wedding,” Tex told me then his eyes moved to Jet. “Now, where’s this fuckin’ barn and do I have to wear a fuckin’ tie?”

The power, I could tell, had shifted.

I could tell this because Nancy and Blanca went thin-lipped.

“Yay!” I shouted as my finale, hoping to shift the balance irrevocably to Jet’s side. To do this, I clapped, YoYo yapped happily in my lap and maybe I went a little OTT. “Roasted hog!” I cried happily. “Hayrides! Bonfires!
I… can’t… wait!
”

Blanca and Nancy looked at each other.

I held my breath.

They stayed silent.

That’s when I knew we won

They didn’t like it but they didn’t push it.

I let out my breath and sat back.

My work was done.

And, believe it or not, Jet gave me a look of such shining gratitude, no kidding, I almost cried right there on the spot (I, of course, did not).

Then before we left (believe it or not again!), she asked me to be a bridesmaid.

Me!

A bridesmaid!

For a second, I was so excited at the prospect of being a bridesmaid, I forgot I was moving to Crete and I couldn’t stop myself from hugging her and saying yes.

Then it hit me but I didn’t take it back. I wanted to live that one glorious moment and, even if it made me selfish, I didn’t care.

I wasn’t going to give it up.

No way.

I promised myself I’d call her and explain everything.

I’d just do it… later.

Shortly after, I was still in the moment when Hector and I left but we didn’t go to his house, we went to the grocery store.

Sadie Townsend, daughter of a fallen Drug King and ex-DEA Agent Hector “Oh my God” Chavez
grocery shopping
.

If my father saw us (or when he heard), he’d have a kitten!

Since I was in the moment and enjoying said moment, I didn’t fight it.

Instead, I went with it.

Even when Hector put his hands on the cart handle beside mine which meant the heat of his body was pressed against my back, his chin was resting on my shoulder and we walked a whole aisle that way (a whole aisle!). Even when Hector laughed at me when I asked him where the
Pilsbury
crescent roll dough was (what was funny about that, I wanted to know but I didn’t ask). Even when he ran into some guy he knew, a handsome, African American, off-duty police sergeant named Willie and he introduced me. Even when they chatted all the while Hector had his arm wrapped casually around my neck, me tucked firmly into his side, making me feel like a real girlfriend, someone who actually
belonged
tucked firmly into his heat while he chatted with a friend.

Yes, even through all of that.

The moment continued when we got to his place, unpacked the groceries and he asked me if I wanted to watch a movie. In turn, I asked him if I could help him on his house by sanding his floors. His chin jerked at my request and he looked at me funny, like I surprised him, but he agreed.

He patiently showed me what to do and we spent the afternoon in the living room sanding his floors. Him using this big sander
thingie
and me on my hands and knees using a small handheld sander close to the wall and in the corners. Other than doing dishes, laundry and cleaning my house once in awhile (I had a cleaning lady, what could I say? I was rich), I’d never done manual labor in my life and even if it made me a freak, I didn’t care…

There was nothing better than sanding Hector’s living room floor with Hector.

Nothing.

Okay, maybe there were some things but those involved Hector too.

At that point, I was beyond “the moment”, I was living the dream and I fell into it, letting the warm, lovely, snugly, comfy waters sweep over my head, sucking me down.

Happily, gratefully, I let myself sink.

We finished sanding the floor and took another shower (yes, together!), got dressed and Hector barbecued pork chops outside on the grill while I made a salad (I could cut up vegetables, no problem), boiled some new potatoes (boiling! easy!) and baked
Pilsbury
crescent rolls (they ended up perfect, absolutely delicious, all you had to do was follow the directions!).

Since it was still warm(
ish
), I put on his flannel and we ate in the backyard at his outside table by his huge hot tub with YoYo sitting on one of the other chairs and me feeding her tidbits with my fingers.

When we were done eating, I was rinsing the dishes and loading up Hector’s rickety old dishwasher, Hector was outside at the grill again, YoYo with him, racing around the yard and I watched through the window as the flames went high.

Then he came back inside, disappeared into the house, reappeared with a wire hanger and a tool and grabbed some stuff out of the cupboards. Then, without a word, he tagged my hand and pulled me back outside.

He positioned me by the still flaming grill and started to cut the hanger with some wire clippers.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

He picked up a bag of marshmallows and tossed them to me.

I caught them but kept looking at him.

“S’mores,” was all he said.

My breathing went funny (so maybe I
was
slow, he bought the stuff with me at his side in the grocery store but how was I to know what he had planned, I just thought he was a man who liked marshmallows, chocolate bars and graham crackers in the house, I’d, personally, never had all three in my house at once but each item individually, sure!).

I decided not to make a big deal of it like burst into tears, throw myself in his arms and declare my everlasting love for him.

Instead, I asked, “Did you ever go to camp?”

He grinned and it was a new grin, an
effective
new grin because it was so wicked, it made my belly melt. “If you count three months in
juvie
when I was fourteen then, yeah. But we didn’t have s’mores.”

My mouth dropped open.

Then I asked, “You, Agent Hector Chavez, did a stint in
juvie
?”

He was straightening out the hanger and still grinning. “Yeah.”

It was too much, I couldn’t help it.

I burst out laughing.

My eyes were closed so I didn’t see him move until his arm was wrapped around my neck, I was yanked against his body so hard, I slammed into him and he kissed me, hot, wet, open-mouthed and long enough for me to melt into him (and then some).

Then his mouth broke from mine, he touched his forehead to mine for a nanosecond before he moved away and I felt my breath catch at the sweetness of it.

“Like it when you laugh,
mamita,
” he said quietly and I stared at him then I swallowed.

He didn’t wait for a response, maybe didn’t need one. I didn’t know and I didn’t ask. Instead, he handed me the hanger and took the marshmallows from me, opening the bag with his teeth.

“What’d you do?” I asked.

“Probably better to ask what I didn’t do.”

I let out another small laugh as he made me hold my hanger up to his hand and he fed some big, fat marshmallows on it.

“Okay, what didn’t you do?”

He gave me one of his glamorous smiles. “I never killed anyone.”

My body started shaking with laughter.

Through my laughter, I said, “So I take it you’re one of the ones who fucked around enough to cause your parents problems.”