Free Web NovelChapter 327: Meal at Carmen’s [2]
Truthfully, Carmen was something else when it came to cooking. I don’t know where she’d learned it or how she’d kept the skill sharp through everything the world had thrown at her, but the woman had a gift. An honest-to-god gift. The kind that made you close your eyes after the first bite and just sit with it for a second. I’d eaten Rachel’s cooking more times than I could count, and Rachel was good, really good but sitting there at that table with a plate of food Carmen had put together from whatever scarce ingredients they had lying around, I had to admit it, even if just to myself. Carmen was better.
Then again, she had years on Rachel. Experience had a way of showing up in unexpected places.
"You seem to like it, Ryan," Shannon said next to me, grinning. "My mom cooks amazing, right?"
"Yeah." I nodded, swallowing another bite before I’d even finished appreciating the last one. "No wonder Maribel and Summer come here every day squatting just to eat her food."
"Don’t exaggerate!" Maribel shot back immediately, her cheeks flushing.
Her reaction said I wasn’t that far from the truth.
"Is that so bad though?" Summer said with a small shrug, completely unbothered, like she’d already made peace with the accusation.
"At least Summer’s honest," Shannon giggled.
Maribel just grumbled under her breath and went back to eating, dropping the argument like it wasn’t worth her energy. Stubborn as ever.
Carmen laughed softly at that.
"I really don’t mind cooking for both of you every day, you know?" She said, setting her elbows on the table and folding her hands together. "Just bring me the ingredients and I’ll always have something ready for you."
Summer tilted her head. "Well, every day might be a stretch. I don’t want to impose that much."
"Indeed," Marlon cut in from across the table. "Sometimes I also need my private time to eat with my daughter alone."
I blinked.
What kind of obsession was that?
Though, somewhere in the back of my mind, I turned the thought around, imagined myself, years from now, with a daughter of my own. And honestly? I wasn’t so sure I’d be any different. Probably worse, if I was being real about it.
"Gross," Shannon said, her expression twisting like she’d bitten into something sour.
"Shannon, that’s rude!" Carmen frowned at her.
"I mean it is gross though!" Shannon turned toward me, dragging me into it without warning. "Right, Ryan?!"
I was mid-bite, barely paying attention, chewing on a piece of the fish that was too good to be distracted from. Without really thinking, I nodded. "Gross and embarrassing somehow..."
The words left my mouth and landed like a dropped plate. freewebnoveℓ.com
Silence fell following that.
DAmn.
I looked up slowly. Every single person at that table was staring at me. Carmen looked mildly surprised. Summer had her lips pressed together. And Marlon, Marlon was looking at me with eyes cold enough to frost over glass.
"Hahah!" Shannon burst out laughing so hard she nearly knocked her chair back. "I knew it! That uncle is truly creepy with Summer!"
"Hey, Shannon!" Summer called out sharply.
"Aren’t you even a little embarrassed, Summer? In your position I’d be dying right now," Shannon managed between laughs.
"Of course I am," Summer replied quietly, and the look she shot Marlon was sharp enough to cut. He caught it, blinked, and had the grace to look at least mildly bewildered before clearing his throat and pivoting hard.
He turned toward me, like the last thirty seconds hadn’t happened.
"So then, boy, how was the work this morning? I hope Maribel didn’t make things too difficult for you," he said, voice settled back into its usual even tone.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Maribel’s eyes snapped to him.
"Well, you’ve always been a little rough on the people around you, Maribel," Summer said lightly, a small smile playing at the corner of her mouth.
"That’s...that’s not true! I’ve been kind, right?!" Maribel’s gaze cut straight to me like a blade, daring me to say otherwise.
I looked back at her. She was watching me with those eyes that somehow managed to be both piercing and anxious at the same time, waiting. I thought about it for a half second, then smiled a little.
"Yeah," I said. "Maribel’s been very good to me. She took care of me really well this morning. Very kind, very thoughtful. I’m very grateful."
The words came out almost robotic. Even I could hear it.
Shannon’s smirk stretched wide across her face. "I cannot believe it. Maribel being this kind to someone?" She glanced sideways at Maribel with barely contained delight.
Maribel looked like she wanted to disappear under the floorboards.
Maybe I overdid it.
"Looks like Maribel’s taken a real liking to Ryan," Summer added with a soft, knowing smile.
"Oh my, finally, Maribel," Carmen chimed in, pressing a hand to her cheek.
Maribel’s fists were clenched on the table. She wasn’t saying a word. Just sitting there, trembling slightly, drowning in it.
What was even happening right now?
It felt like everyone at this table had found a shared hobby, and that hobby was Maribel. I had to admit, quietly, to myself that she made it easy. Every reaction was right there on the surface, unguarded, immediate. She couldn’t hide a thing despite on the outside looking very tough.
"Hm." Marlon set his fork down thoughtfully, like something had just occurred to him. "From what I’ve seen, he already has a woman. That little blond one."
I nearly choked.
Why was this old man getting into my love life at the lunch table?
Every head at the table rotated toward me at the exact same speed.
"N...No way!!" Shannon was on her feet before I could even open my mouth, staring at me with an expression somewhere between shock and betrayal.
Now I felt the heat creeping up the back of my neck.
I wanted to keep things vague. Between Cindy and me, nothing was simple, nothing was fully defined, and honestly, I didn’t think either of us was ready to put a label on something out loud yet. There was too much world in the way for that.
"It’s... complicated," I said.
Shannon leaned closer. "So you don’t have a girlfriend?"
"Shannon!" Carmen stared at her, visibly at a loss.
I stared down at my plate, at the last bite of Carmen’s excellent fish, and thought very sincerely that I would like this lunch to be over now.
Thankfully, Carmen had a way of smoothing things over without making it a whole event. A word here, a gentle redirect there, and just like that the table settled back into something resembling normal. Forks picked up again, the tension dissolved into the smell of good food, and lunch continued the way it was supposed to.
"So Ryan," Carmen said after a moment, folding her hands around her cup and looking at me with that easy, warm curiosity of hers. "How are things going with your group? We’re practically neighbors at this point, aren’t we?"
"We are," I said, nodding. "And honestly, I hope we’ll be proper allies down the line, once things settle a bit more. Helping each other out matters in a world like this. Probably more than anything else."
"Of course." Carmen smiled like the idea pleased her. "I’d be glad to help however I can."
"Then can I visit your place?" Shannon jumped in, already leaning forward like the answer was obviously going to be yes.
"Shannon," Carmen sighed.
"What? We’re allies, right?" Shannon pressed. "Aren’t you curious to meet them too? Come on —" She turned to the others. "Maribel? Summer? What do you think?"
Summer tilted her head slightly, turning it over. "Well... I don’t know."
"We don’t have time for that," Maribel said, not even looking up from her plate.
She wasn’t wrong, technically. But a short visit wasn’t exactly a military operation either. If they wanted to come, it probably wouldn’t hurt anything.
"If you’re up for it, I don’t mind at all," I said. "I’m sure Margaret would be happy to welcome you. She’s good like that."
It was a little strange to think about, actually. Despite everything, despite us practically living in each other’s backyard at this point , Marlon’s people and ours had barely crossed paths. Most of them had only ever seen my little group, nobody else.
Marlon set down his fork and looked across the table at Carmen, unhurried. "It’s up to you. If you want to go, go."
Carmen went quiet for a moment, thinking it through. "Well," she said finally, "if the others want to go, I’ll come with them. Shannon too."
"Yes!" Shannon’s face lit up immediately. Clearly she’d been starving for new faces.
"Then I’ll come as well," Summer added, glancing at me with a look that sat somewhere between curiosity and something more careful. "I’m honestly a bit curious. I just hope they’re good people over there."
I thought about Brad. About Kyle. About Billy.
"At the very least," I said, keeping my voice even, "I can promise no one’s going to point a gun at you the second you walk in."
Maribel’s eyes cut to me instantly. "You are such a petty man," she said, reading the jab for exactly what it was.
"I’m just being honest," I replied with a straight face. "Anyway, just let me know before you come so I can give the others a heads-up."
They nodded. Fair enough.
After that, lunch wound down the way good meals do, slow and comfortable, nobody rushing. By the time I pushed my plate back, I was properly full for the first time in longer than I wanted to think about. I made sure to thank Carmen more than once, because honestly once didn’t feel like enough.
"You can come eat with us any time, Ryan," she said warmly.
"Yeah, any time!" Shannon echoed with full enthusiasm. "Please come, actually, wait, shouldn’t you just move in already? Maribel stuffed you into a abandoned store without even giving you a decent bed." She shot a pointed look across the table.
"Why am I the villain here?!" Maribel’s voice jumped an octave.
"I really do appreciate the offer but—" I glanced at Carmen half-expecting her to politely close it down, but she just sat there with that same soft smile, perfectly still, perfectly okay with it.
Huh.
Was she genuinely fine with that?
"I’ll think about it," I said carefully.
"That usually means no," Summer said drily, not looking up.
"No, please, really think about it." Shannon’s voice dipped a little, something quieter slipping into it. "It gets lonely here."
The words landed differently than I expected. I looked at her for a second, then nodded, feeling slightly guilty for something I hadn’t actually done yet. "Yeah, I mean it. I’ll really think about it."
I started gathering myself to leave after thanking Shannon again, already mentally mapping the walk back, when Marlon’s voice cut across the room.
"Boy."
I stopped. "Yeah?"
"This afternoon, you’re with me."
I blinked. "Huh... okay?" I nodded slowly, not entirely sure what I was agreeing to but also not feeling like I had much of a choice.
Marlon let a beat pass, then shifted his gaze across the table. "Hope that doesn’t bother you, Maribel."
"As if!" She fired back without missing a single beat. "Just take him already!"
I stood there for a moment after that, staring at nothing in particular.
What exactly had I done to earn that kind of response?
