Chapter Nine
June shook some cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and paprika into a pan of sizzling ground beef. She stirred the contents with her wooden spoon, inhaling the cumin as it mingled with the other spices. She hummed as she added the last of the spices. The crushed red pepper. She finished stirring the ground beef and checked on the Mexican rice. After giving that one last good stir, she opened the oven for the taco shells. They were just beginning to brown so she, with an oven glove on, slid them out and set them on a cooling rack on the counter. Next, she removed the glove and stirred her pot of refried beans on the back burner. They, like everything except for the taco shells, were homemade. Vaughn insisted on it. The child never had liked the processed version of anything, especially refried beans.
June left the stove and cut up the lettuce and tomatoes at the cutting board on the kitchen island. She got out the cheese and sour cream and set the table. She returned to the stove and turned off all the burners, wiped her hands on her apron, and walked outside to ring the bell for lunch. It only took a few rings for the boys to come jogging toward the house, hungry for a midday meal. Vaughn soon followed, looking a little worse for wear and June wondered if her back was hurting. Poor child needed to see a doctor, but she knew she’d fight her on it, so most of the time she didn’t even try to press her about it. She was just as stubborn as her headstrong mother, and there was no convincing that woman of doing anything she didn’t have a mind to do.
“What’s for lunch, Miss June?” Benny asked, tugging off his hat. His skin was coated in sweat, and he had a metallic smell to him that let her know he’d been working hard.
“Tacos.”
He smiled at her. “Whew-ee. I sure do love your tacos.”
“You love everything I cook, Benny. Who you kidding?”
“That I do, ma’am.” He headed inside as Greer joined her on the porch.
“Did I hear you say tacos, Miss June?”
“You did.”
“Whoo-hoo!” He hurried inside, wiping the sweat from his face with his faded bandana.
“What’s got the boys so excited?” Vaughn asked. She was squinting in the sunlight and her arms and cheeks were tinged red. She looked like she needed a good soak in the bath and a cool lemonade to sip on. But June could offer her neither at the moment. There was still too much to be done.
“You know them. Food in general gets them all excited.”
“True. But just out of curiosity, what did you make today?”
“Tacos.”
“Oh, boy. That does sound good. Thanks, Gram.”
“Got you all excited too, huh?” She playfully whipped her with the apron she’d untied from her waist.
Vaughn looked out toward the guesthouse. “Natalie here?”
“Not yet.” June checked her watch. It was noon. “She’ll come. Don’t worry.”
“I wasn’t worried.”
But June knew better. She didn’t voice it. She just followed her inside and got busy helping everyone to their plates and glasses of iced tea.
The boys made three tacos each and spooned out big heapings of beans and rice. They sat and started scarfing the meal down, chatting loudly about the day’s work so far. Vaughn made her plate quietly and kept eyeing the kitchen door. June rested a hand on her arm.
“Maybe you should just go get her.”
“What? No, she’ll come.”
“Well, you seem concerned and maybe she’s lost track of time.”
“You think?” She again looked toward the door. Natalie gave a little knock just then, and entered. She had on a pair of black-rimmed glasses, giving her a cute studious look. It made Vaughn glance at her twice and June smiled.
“Grab a plate and help yourself to some tacos,” June said as she welcomed her inside. “And you don’t have to knock. You can just come in anytime. Our casa es su casa.”
Natalie returned the smile, though it looked a bit shy, and took her plate to the stove. She made herself two tacos and helped herself to a small portion of rice. She sat at the table and sipped her tea as June made her own plate and joined them.
“How’s your day going?” June asked, directing her question to Natalie as the other three continued to eat.
“It’s going great,” she said, seeming to perk up. “I’ve been working on a mock website all morning. I’m hoping you’ll like it.”
“I’m sure we will,” June said. She was pleased to see Natalie so happy. She seemed to be in her element with the website work, just as Vaughn was with the outdoors.
“It’s ready if you want to take a look after lunch,” Natalie said.
June looked to Vaughn and answered. “I’m sure Vaughn would like that very much.” She stared at her until she got the hint to speak.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll take a look.”
Natalie smiled as if pleased and took a bite from her taco. She’d piled it high with lettuce and cheese but no tomato. June mentally made a note of her likes and dislikes since she was the resident cook. She wanted Natalie’s stay to be a pleasant one. Poor child had enough to worry about as it was and she looked like she could use a few good, hearty meals in addition to a safe place to rest her head. She wondered briefly what her ex-husband was like and what had drawn Natalie to him. She seemed like such an intelligent young woman, one who could tell a rabbit from a rattlesnake, so why had she fallen for such a bad seed? She was curious about her story and hoped she would learn it in due time. But until then, she was going to do her damndest to keep her safe.
“So, you seem to enjoy the work with computers,” June said. “That’s fascinating. I can’t even work a cell phone.”
Natalie chuckled. “I could teach you some things. It’s really not that hard.”
“On the computer? Lord, I don’t know.”
“I’ll keep it simple, I promise.” She held up her fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
“What kind of things could you teach me?” She’d never had much use for computers or cell phones. She liked doing things the old-fashioned way, which meant speaking to someone face-to-face whenever she could. All this technology kept people at a distance, and it wasn’t healthy. Relationships shouldn’t be built on a keystroke. They should be built on a good, firm handshake.
“I could show you how to check the email from the website and how to respond to people who have interest. That way you could keep tabs on your visitors and interest every day.”
“That does sound good,” June said. “What do you think?” she asked Vaughn.
“Sounds okay to me. It would sure help me out. I don’t have time for the website as it is. Nor do I know what I’m doing.”
“So we’ve understood,” June said. “Not that I’ll be much better. But somebody’s got to do it.”
“I can help you for as long as I’m here,” Natalie said.
“We’d appreciate that,” June said.
“And by the time I’m gone, you’ll be an old pro at it.”
“That sounds great, but I don’t like the word old,” June said with a laugh.
Natalie lowered her fork as if she’d done something wrong. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Vaughn looked as alarmed as June felt and she spoke. “She knows, Natalie. No need to worry.”
“Yes, child, I was only teasing.” June patted her forearm, concerned at how browbeaten the poor woman seemed to be. She looked like a scared little rabbit. Good God, what had her ex-husband done to her?
Natalie set her fork on her plate and sat quietly. If she was trying to recover, she was doing it inwardly. June refilled her tea and encouraged her to drink.
“A little extra tea never hurt anyone.”
“Thank you.”
“You need to stay hydrated as well as fed.” She eyed her half-eaten taco. “Eat up, darlin’. It’s getting cold.”
Natalie seemed to slowly snap out of her cloudy mood. She lifted her taco to her mouth and finished eating it without speaking. Benny and Greer started up again, both of them yammering on about something or other as they went to the stove for more beans, tacos, and rice.
“You boys save one more taco for Natalie,” June said.
“Oh, no, I’m fine,” Natalie said. “Really.”
“Then save one for me,” Vaughn said.
“There’s two,” Benny called back.
“Good,” Vaughn said as she bit into her second taco. She chewed carefully, her gaze fixed on Natalie. She looked worried, like she wasn’t quite sure what to do to make Natalie feel more at ease. June tried to remedy it on her own.
“Vaughn will show you more of the ropes around here after lunch. After you show her the website.”
“That sounds great,” Natalie said. “And I was thinking about what you said this morning. About the eggs. I could gather them in the mornings for you. If you like.”
June felt her eyebrows lift. “Why, that would be wonderful. Wouldn’t it, Vaughn?”
“It would. I only hope Diablo likes her better than he likes you though.” She grinned as she took a bite of rice. “He’s pretty territorial.”
“Oh,” Natalie said. “I didn’t consider that.”
“I’m sure he’ll like you just fine,” Vaughn said after she swallowed. She winked at her and Natalie blushed. June noticed and hid her own smile. Natalie seemed to be greatly affected by Vaughn. She wondered if there was an attraction there. June didn’t know much about women loving women. Only what she’d seen with Vaughn in the past. But she did know that women loved fiercely and deeply. And she’d hoped for a long while now that Vaughn would find someone good and true to love her that way.
Was it Natalie? She didn’t know. But she did seem to be kind. If not a bit shy and reserved. Vaughn was right however, she had too much going on with her ex-husband to be concerned about anything else. Much less another relationship.
It was too bad though. June was growing very fond of her. And it seemed, if she was reading things right, and she usually did, that Vaughn was growing fond of her as well.
She’d have to wait things out and see. As her own mother used to say, only time would tell.