Chapter 19
Charlotte
Sitting in Taysom’s car, his muscular arms casually resting on the steering wheel, the scent of him taking up the whole space, makes this feel like a date.
Lately, everything we do seems like we’re teetering on the edge of dating—flirting with the idea.
At face value, it’s a ridiculous notion.
A man like Taysom wanting to date me with the faulty hips?
Come on. Except, the way he looks at me sometimes makes me think otherwise.
Which is silly because he can have any woman he wants, a fact I’m reminded of when we walk up to the counter at Umpah’s Tacos.
“Hello!” the woman at the counter drawls, her southern accent especially thick. “How are you?” She grins and flicks her gaze up and down Taysom like I’m not even there.
I might imagine it, but I sense Taysom stiffening. He takes half-step towards me.
“We’re good, how about you?” he says, not even looking at her. He’s studying the menu behind her.
“Never been better,” she says, brightly. There’s an edge to it, like she’s daring him to look at her.
I squirm. Who does she think she is?
But Taysom doesn’t even seem to notice. He turns to me and casually moves a lock of hair behind my shoulder. Like it’s no big deal. Like we touch each other all the time.
My body tingles at his nearness. This man cannot get traded because hanging out with him is too much fun.
“Have you been here before?” he asks me.
“Never.”
His eyes sparkle. “Everything on the menu is good. You can’t go wrong.”
I order a couple of tacos, and he orders his, as well as a side of nachos and horchata. On our way to find a table, I swipe a large, thick pad of paper napkins from the chrome dispenser at a drink station.
“I’m gonna need a zillion of these,” I say.
We sit down at a table, facing each other, near the back to wait.
The cashier, who can’t be much older than a high schooler, sulks as she watches us.
She probably knows who he is. And even if she doesn’t, she’s definitely interested in learning more.
The sheer beauty of this man draws people to him like a shimmering oasis.
“How do you manage it?” I ask.
“Manage what?” He rests his arms on the table.
“Being drooled over all the time.” I wave him away. “I would hate the attention.”
“Drooled over?” His eyes look quizzical and he turns his head to look back at the cashier. “Her? She wasn’t.” A pause, then, “Was she?”
I scoff. “You didn’t even notice?”
He sighs and shakes his head. “Like I said, people don’t know me. I try to stay polite, but I’ve learned not to be too friendly. I can’t give people the wrong idea.”
I click my tongue. “Huh.”
“What?” His smile is brief. “Does it bother you?”
I open my mouth to say No. Of course not. But something inside of me warns against it.
“Honestly? Maybe a little. I just don’t know how you deal with it.”
“I ignore it. It’s not real, anyway.”
“Oh, it’s very, very real. I saw the way her whole being responded to you.” I know my laugh is bitter, and I don’t want it to be, but I can’t seem to control it.
Taysom leans on his elbows and takes me in with his gaze, his blue eyes burrowing into my soul. “She doesn’t know me. Nothing she says or does matters. You, on the other hand, are a different story.”
I grunt out a laugh, but before I can give a snide remark, he continues. “Charlotte, you are worlds more interesting than her.”
I try to protest again, but he cuts me off. “Why do you think I’ve wanted to spend so much time with you lately?”
“Because Miley’s our cash cow. She’s what’s helping us create a full and successful gait screening night. We’ve got to milk our little cash cow.”
He laughs but grows serious again. “That’s part of it. We’ve got to exploit our little diva somehow.”
“Gotta make her worth our while.” Even as I’m joking, I know she’s gotten her little hooks into me. I’m having a hard time imagining life without her.
“Yeah, she’s gotta earn her keep.”
“Oh, come on.” My head drops to one side. “Even if she did nothing all day except lie around and look adorable, you’d still love her shamelessly.”
He agrees immediately. “Yep. But back to you.” He hesitates and then looks over at me, and I can’t read his expression.
“The actual reason I’ve wanted to spend so much time with you is because…
I like it.” He clears his throat. “You keep me on my toes. And I feel like I’ve both known you forever and am just discovering you for the first time. ”
I can’t find any words, except a feeble, “Thanks. You’re not too shabby yourself.”
I want to say something more, maybe about how much fun I’ve been having with him and how I’ve started to mind less and less the idea of being all over social media.
But as I open my mouth, a woman’s voice sounds behind us.
“Taysom?”
He’s up and out of his chair in a flash.
“Mom?” Her dark hair is trimmed short in a stylish pixie cut and she’s holding a man’s hand.
He’s burly and has thinning hair. A quick dart of a gaze from him to her tells me one thing, loudly and clearly: He knows he’s the luckiest man in the world to get to hold her hand.
The sheer openness in his gaze makes a shiver tingle down my spine.
His mom lets go of the man’s hand and pulls Taysom into a hug. He dwarfs her with his lean bulk. “What a nice surprise,” he says.
“We came to pick up our takeout,” she says once they’ve pulled apart.
“Mom, this is Charlotte Mercer, Kyle’s sister.”
“Oh, I remember!” She grins and offers me her hand to shake. “I’m Mary.”
“And this is Raul.” Taysom gestures to the man, who steps to him and wraps him in a hug that ends with some big back claps from both of them. The air between them is sort of…jolly.
“Nice to see you, TayTay!” Raul says with a laugh.
“TayTay?” I ask.
Mary grins. “Raul sometimes steals my nickname for him. He doesn’t mind, though, do you, TayTay?”
Taysom throws his head back in a chuckle. “It’s all in good fun. But no one else is allowed.”
“I have to do something to get my mind off your mother’s rejection of me.” Raul’s still smiling, but there’s a vulnerability in his dark eyes.
Mary sighs. “Raul, you know I love you.” She places a hand on his cheek and they share a look.
My heart does a funny little bump in my chest.
“Did you propose again?” Taysom asks, his expression stilling.
“He did,” Mary says with a solemn face. “And I didn’t reject you, Raul. You know this.”
Taysom nods his head. “She told you ‘not yet,’ again, huh?”
“Exactly. And I can be patient.” But a sadness sinks into Raul’s eyes, belying the kindly smile.
“It’s just…” Mary’s gaze darts to me and then back to Taysom’s. “Oh, I can’t explain myself right now.”
“And there’s no need to,” I assure her. “You two are…really sweet.”
Mary’s smile is small. “Well, we had to find a way to feel better, you know? I don’t like postponing our engagement again, and what feels better than tacos?”
“Especially Umpah’s Tacos,” Raul agrees.
“Tacos fill the cracks of the heart,” Taysom says.
“I thought that was ice cream,” I say.
“I thought that was pie,” Mary says.
“Now I really want pie and ice cream!” Raul says, and we all laugh.
“Well, I’m really happy to see you and Taysom hanging out. Those videos with that kitten are really something!”
Taysom frowns. “You watch those?”
“Of course I do. Charlotte, I love your house. And that Miley is a little peanut!”
“Something like that,” I mutter in feigned frustration before laughing. “She’s pretty cute, though.”
“It was great meeting you,” Raul says to me. Something about his expression makes me believe him.
Mary hugs Taysom again and then turns to me and gives me a hug, too.
“How long are you planning to be in town?” Taysom asks Raul. “We need to hit the links.”
“I have to go back on Friday,” Raul says. “But I’m trying to convince your mom to come back with me.”
“Oh, Raul.” Mary lightly taps his arm. “You are a devil. You know I have work.”
“When are you going to retire, Mom? You deserve a break.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’d be so bored. Maybe I’ll wait until Raul retires. Imagine if we did it at the same time. We’d have so much fun!”
“If we’re both retired, there would be nothing stopping me from finally getting that ring on your finger,” Raul says, and then Mary leans in and kisses him.
If Taysom is bothered by the gushing and affection that his mom is displaying, he hides it well.
They say their goodbyes and turn to the counter to pick up their order.
“Do you remember my mom from before?” Taysom asks after we sit back down. He’s trained on me, watching me closely. He doesn’t even seem to see that the cashier has brought our food to us.
“Thanks!” I say to her breezily, laying it on thick. I don’t know what has gotten into me, but I suddenly want her to know that he’s off-limits—because of me.
Not that that’s true. But she doesn’t have to know that.
“I remember seeing her at the high school football games. She and my parents would talk sometimes. She seems really happy.”
Taysom gives a small smile. “She is. Raul’s a great guy.” He divides the tacos and sets the nachos in the middle of the table.
“That’s too bad that they can’t seem to manage to get engaged. She obviously wants to marry him.”
Right as I say it, though, I cringe. Maybe I’ve overstepped.