My mouth was already watering, but then I caught what she said. “Wait,startthe tortillas?”
“Yep. I make them from scratch.”
“You do all of this yourself?”
“It’s one of my favorite pastimes. Usually, I just don’t have others to cook for, but I make enough to feed an army.”
“Where did you learn this?”
“From my mom.”
“Is she here?”
“No,” she said softly. “She passed away about three years ago.”
“Shit, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. It’s part of life.”
I didn’t know how she could talk about it so calmly. Some days, I still felt like the kid who came home to his mom sobbing on her knees on the living room floor.
All I could do was stare, and she caught on to that.
“Have you lost someone?”
It was tempting to answer. But also dangerous to.
“Some days, I think I’ve lost my mind,” I said. “Does that count?”
She laughed. “Not really.”
“Iamsorry about your mom, though.” It was easier to say it as she was focused on flipping a tortilla. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “It was a fair question. And I’m doing okay. Other than ... you know, managing a house. She made it look easy.”
“The best moms are good at that,” I replied.
“I don’t know how I’ll manage to make it happen, but I’ll get there somehow.”
“You’ll be great. Certainly better than I’m gonna be at being a dad.”
“You’re not all bad. You did fix my step instead of running like I thought you would.”
I huffed out a humorless laugh. “That was never an option. Even when I was acting like a jerk.”
“Really? But you seemed so ...” She trailed off, wincing.
“Sometimes how I sound doesn’t match up with what I mean,” I said. “I’m used to a one-and-done thing, so I don’t have to rethink things when I mess them up.”
Grace paused in her work and looked up at me. “So, are you willing to rethink things?”
“Not about dating,” I said quickly.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not gonna ask about that. Trust me, I remember that you don’t date.”
“Then, what is it?”
“I wanna know what went through your head when I told you.”