“The gorier the better, little miss independent,” he deadpans, but his tone is off, and he’s still tense. Then he shakes his head as if he’s trying to get rid of something unpleasant, before he looks at me intently.
“So, before the dinner tomorrow, I wanted to ask. Should I, um, introduce you as my girlfriend? Is that what we are now?”
“Is that what you want us to be?”
“Firecracker, I've wanted us to be that for weeks now. I'm more worried about rushing you. I know you want to take it slow.”
“In that case I'd say to call me your girlfriend, because I'd really like to call you my boyfriend.” Then I shake my head as I laugh at the words that just came out of my mouth. “We sound like we're teenagers.”
There's that blinding grin again.
Chapter 22
Lyra
Taran has his hand on my lower back as we walk up the front path to the Hernandez house. I'm clutching the container of salted caramel thumbprint cookies I made earlier, while his free hand carries a wine bag with a nice red. In my favorite dark wash jeans, black cashmere sweater, comfy leopard print booties, and camel peacoat, I'm hoping I'm dressed nice enough without looking fussy. I hate fussy. When Taran picked me up, I was relieved to see he was dressed similarly in jeans, white collared shirt, under a baby blue sweater that looks way too good on him.
As we walk up, I try to take in every detail of the home. Everything speaks to it being such a well loved and inviting place. The manicured lawn and flower beds lead up to a covered white front porch that goes the entirety of the front of the house, much like mine. There are a couple of blue Adirondack chairs on it with a bistro table, and some hanging plants along the top edge. The house itself is a matching white with deep indigo shutters and a matching front door with frosted glass in the middle.Taran reaches around me to open the door and walk in without knocking.
“They'll have music blasting and be busy in the kitchen. If you're expected, you just walk in. Especially if they consider you family,” he explains when he sees my questioning face. I nod, because it's the same going to Gina and Wayne's for any gathering. Before I can say anything back, the most lovely older woman is barreling toward me from where I'm guessing the kitchen is. I barely have time to put the container of cookies on the entry table before she's on me.
“Mija, you're here, it's so wonderful to meet you!” Then I'm enfolded in a crushing hug as she kisses both of my cheeks.
“Mami, at least let her get her coat off,” Carlo calls as he comes up behind her. She looks back at him and lightly smacks his cheek.
“Don't tell me how to greet Lyra, I'll be excited if I want to.”
Taran sighs indulgently as he starts introductions.
“Alejandra, this is my girlfriend Lyra. Lyra, this is Carlo's mom Alejandra. You never got to meet Carlo either even though you saw him, so meet my favorite doofus in the world.” Carlo smacks him upside the head before bringing him into a side hug, and then he turns and hugs me.
“It's really nice to finally meet you, Lyra.” He says it with a lot of feeling and sincerity, even while giving me a cheeky wink.
“Likewise, Carlo. I'm happy to be here.” I can’t help smiling hugely back at him. He’s a charmer, and knowing how important he is to Taran makes me like him immediately.Alejandra has moved on to giving Taran the huge hug and double kiss treatment before she takes our coats, grabs the cookie container, and leads us all into the kitchen. It's full of sound, movement, and the most incredible smells. There’s a lot to take in, but it's also so homey and comforting. A colorful mosaic backsplash makes a statement against the white countertops and white raised panel cabinets. The island is butcher block, which adds some depth and even more warmth. Before I know it I'm introduced to Carlo's dad Hector, his sisters Lucia, Rosa, and Anita, and his sister-in-law Daniella. The women are dancing around and singing to the music while they prep what look like empanadas, Hector is at the oven checking on what smells like the most gorgeously seasoned pork, and Alejandra gets next to him at the stove to check the pot of what is unmistakably rice and beans.
“Can I help with anything?” I say it to the room at large, but Taran answers at my side.
“We’ll probably be on salad duty. Alejandra doesn't like me doing any actual cooking ever since the fire I almost caused in 2012, which will never be forgotten. I set a dish towel on fire when I had it too close to the stove flame, but we put it out quickly,” he says sheepishly.
“Ah, yes, the great almost fire of 2012, even I heard about it before I met you. It's legendary,” I tease him. Everyone bursts out laughing, and Hector booms out, “I like her, Taran.” He just leans down and whispers in my ear.
“Getting you back for that later, Firecracker.” The wicked promise in his deep voice makes my toes curl.
“Counting on it,” I whisper back.
I hear the front door open then, with a cacophony ofmore noise coming in with the cold air. Children's voices chatter, accompanied by the percussion of them stomping their feet on the front mat, harmonized with a deep murmur and a higher voice giving clear orders to behave and not make a mess while they're here. Alejandra rushes back out to greet Taran's family, and before long she's herding them into the kitchen as well. Seth is unmistakable as Taran's brother. They have the same hair, same facial structure, but Seth has Evelyn's baby blues. Sienna is stunning with thick strawberry blonde hair, a smattering of freckles, and bright hazel eyes. Addison and Mason are both mini carbon copies of their dad with their dark hair and blue eyes, though Addy has freckles like Sienna. They're adorable and clearly high energy. Addy reminds me so much of Ava, and I immediately decide the two girls need to meet and have a playdate somehow, someday. Taran slips his arm around my waist and draws me close.
“Uncle TarTar, do you have a girlfriend?” Addy asks, basically with hearts in her eyes as she looks at us.
“Ew, gross,” Mason adds while making a spectacularly disgusted face.
“Mason, it's not gross, it's a wonderful thing for your uncle,” Sienna chides. She's the first to come up and hug Taran, then me while he introduces us. The kids rush their uncle once Mason seems convinced I don't have cooties before they both shake my hand. Seth greets me warmly with a hug and a very heartfelt, “So nice to meet you.” Seth is so tall that I hadn't noticed Evelyn right behind him until he bent to hug me. She comes right up and squeezes me, too. This is a whole lot of overwhelming hugging, but I think I'm ok with it. It's actually nice.
“It's so good to see you, sweetheart,” Evelyn sayswarmly to me before Taran wraps her up in an absolute bear hug. Alejandra and Evelyn go right over to help the ladies finish making the empanadas, while Taran and I start to put together a quick salad. The oldest sister Lucia comes over and grabs my hand, though.
“Only Taran is banned from anything resembling cooking. Want to learn how to put together empanadas? Too bad if you don’t.” She smirks as she pulls me over to where there is an assembly line going on, giving me a twirl to the music first that I luckily don't stumble through. Lucia shows me all of the steps for the empanada, from cutting the circle of dough, the exact perfect amount of filling to put on the one side, folding the other half over, and then finally sealing the edge before crimping it with a fork. It's soothing work, almost zen like as I fall into a rhythm with the other ladies. Alejandra is frying them in batches in a big pot next to the rice and beans before transferring them to a cooling rack to drain. They smell so incredible.
Taran, Carlo, and Seth are playing with the kids while Sienna volunteers to set the table. Rosa steps away to help her because Hector announces that we're just about all ready to eat. Alejandra finishes the last batch of empanadas before she moves out of the way for Hector to get the pork out of the oven. He calls me over with a friendly wink.