Chapter 11 #2
She wagged a finger at him. “Don’t get sassy with me, young man.”
“Sorry, Mama. But I’m in perfect health. Would you like a note from my doctor stating such?”
“There goes that sass again.” Her face softened as her gaze roamed over him again. “Good. I’m glad you’re okay.” She breathed in deeply then exhaled as if taking her first full breath of the day.
“Missy, are you done examining our boy yet?” his dad called from inside the house. “I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving,” she yelled back, then turned to Tai. “I know for a fact he’s stolen at least two cornbread muffins, so he’s not wasting away.” She rolled her eyes, but the small upturn to her lips belied her feigned annoyance. “And he says I’m the dramatic one.”
Tai followed his mom into the house. Family members rose from lounging on the furniture to greet him as soon as he stepped into the foyer. His aunt and uncle each gave him a quick hug, while Hayley’s younger brother, Elliot, held out his knuckles for a fist bump.
“Good to see you, son.” His dad slung an arm around Tai’s shoulders. “Can we eat now, Missy?”
She shook her head at her husband but directed everyone to the table where dishes of food sat with tea towels over them. With a flick of her wrist, she removed each cloth. Steam rose in aromatic waves over crispy fried chicken, golden yellow mac and cheese, cornbread muffins, and tomato casserole.
“Everything looks delicious, Aunt Missy.” Hayley pulled out a chair and sat down.
“Did you use Mom’s recipe for the casserole?” Aunt Bonnie slid her napkin off the table and set it on her lap.
Missy finished putting the serving spoons in each dish, then took her seat. “No, I—”
“Before we get into who makes what dish better, let’s pray so I can eat while you hens cluck.” Walter Davis bowed his head.
Hayley caught Tai’s eye as his chin dipped. Hens? Really? she mouthed with a look of exasperation on her face.
Tai shrugged but closed his eyes as his dad said a blessing over the food.
Thankfully, the conversation turned to other topics instead of a sisterly disagreement about cooking.
“So, Tai, Hayley tells me you were hoping to get to Telluride to do some skiing before the season ends,” Uncle Bob said before biting into the drumstick clutched between his fingers.
Tai glanced at Hayley, who mouthed sorry as she winced. The sound of silverware clattering against a plate crashed down the table. Tai sighed but turned in that direction. There was a reason he hadn’t let his parents know of his trip.
“Skiing? Really, Tai?” His mom’s disapproving tone filled the dining room like it was another member of the family. Which it might as well have been. He’d lived with that disappointment enough growing up that the sentiment should probably have its own room in the house.
“Yes, Mama. Skiing. One more trip before the season ends.” Tai kept his voice modulated. He was an adult. If he wanted to go skiing, he’d go.
“Why? The cold, dry air, all that continuous activity . . . you know that combination is the worst thing for your lungs.”
“I’ll be fine.”
She clucked her tongue. “‘I’ll be fine,’ he says. You don’t know that. Not when you put yourself in these dangerous situations. Why do you have to worry me like this? Don’t you care that I’ll be a ball of anxiety every second that you’re away?”
“Of course I care.” He didn’t like seeing his mom when she got worked up, but he couldn’t let that dictate his decisions either. “I’ll be perfectly safe. My asthma is no longer the same issue it was when I was a young child. I’m not going to let it control my life.”
“You may not have a life anymore if you keep engaging in these risky adventures!” she cried.
“Missy.” Walter covered his wife’s hand with his own. “You can’t helicopter parent the boy.” His tone was more comforting than rebuking, and he met Tai’s gaze with a sympathetic look.
“Well, you stuck your foot in it, didn’t you, Bob?” Aunt Bonnie said in a stage whisper to her husband.
Awkward chuckles sounded as the family picked up their forks and resumed eating. His dad and mom were speaking quietly at their end of the table while Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Bob did the same. Elliot had his eyes glued to his lap, where Tai guessed he was scrolling on his phone under the table.
Hayley turned to Tai, speaking low. “Were you at the library this morning?”
“Yeah. Why?”
She contemplated him over the rim of her water glass. “I’ve just been wondering if you’re the reason Evangeline was acting out of sorts earlier.”
He tried not to show any outward reaction. “Why would you think I was the culprit?”
Hayley snorted. “Oh, please. Like I haven’t noticed the way you’ve been flirting with her any chance you get.”
He couldn’t defend himself by saying he acted that way all the time because it wasn’t true.
Honestly, he wasn’t usually flirtatious.
He was cordial and friendly, but nobody would lay the moniker of lady’s man at his feet.
Only Evangeline had brought out that side of him.
More playful and carefree. Her buttoned-up persona made him want to push those buttons and glimpse the spark in her eyes.
There was attraction there. Definitely on his side, without a doubt, but he had a feeling she was struggling against the pull toward him as well.
He hadn’t been oblivious to the overlong looks she’d cast his direction.
Before she shuttered her reaction behind a wall of perceived misconception, he’d witnessed a certain level of captivation when she looked at him.
He just needed to get her to stop stifling that response and be willing to explore it instead.
“I might have . . .” Tai pulled a hand across the back of his neck, unsure why he was confessing this to his cousin. “I might have asked her out.”
Hayley’s eyes widened, and she shoved lightly on his shoulder. “Shut up! What did she say?”
She must have seen the answer on his face because the hand on his shoulder turned to a conciliatory pat. “Turned you down, huh?”
Tai shoved half a cornbread muffin into his mouth in response.
“Well, my advice is to not give up too easily. Evangeline keeps her cards close to her chest and swears up and down that she’s not interested in dating, but I don’t believe her for a second.
She’s the most in-love-with-love person I’ve ever met.
Definitely a hopeless romantic.” Hayley took a sip of her water.
“If I had to wager a guess, though, I’d say she’s been hurt pretty badly before and is scared of getting burned again. ”
“Hmm,” Tai murmured as he chewed. He’d asked her that very question, if someone had hurt her. She’d appeared uncomfortable and had laughed the whole thing off as a silly book trope.
But maybe some tropes were based more on reality than people gave them credit for.