Chapter Twenty-nine

Chapter Twenty-nine

After Tita Rosie dropped the bombshell that she was counting on me to somehow make the restaurant (our currently closed and trashed restaurant, by the way) turn enough profit to pay back three months’ worth of rent in less than two weeks, Lola Flor decided to make her grand entrance. This meant all talk of money went out the window and we spent the next hour and a half bickering about the “lazy” way I chopped vegetables.

My aunt, in an attempt to redirect the conversation, asked, “So how did your lunch with Terrence go? You were supposed to meet him today, weren’t you?”

Oh no, I totally forgot to call Terrence back after dropping off Bernadette. My conversation with her had turned my attention to my aunt and I completely blanked on him. And my non-date with Jae was supposed to be happening in a couple of hours, too. “Oh sh—shoot, I forgot about Terrence! I’m supposed to meet Dr. Jae tonight, too. I have to make a couple calls.”

I washed my hands and dashed out to the living room. I really hated the phone, but considering I had stood up Terrence and was canceling on Jae at the last minute, again, I should do them both the courtesy of a phone call rather than a text.

Terrence, thankfully, didn’t pick up. Nobody actually listened to their voice mails anymore, so I sent him a quick text explaining what’d happened and begging his forgiveness. His response came less than a minute later, meaning he’d been screening my call. All he said was,

I understand. See you tomorrow.

Oof, that period after ‘see you tomorrow’ felt super aggressive. Also, see me tomorrow? Was he trying to reschedule? Before I could text back, Jae messaged me.

My brother just told me about your restaurant. You OK?

I smiled. How thoughtful of him! Not just that he was checking on me, but that he texted first instead of calling. I selected the “Call” option on his contact and he picked up right away.

“Lila! How are you? I’m guessing we should postpone dinner again?”

“Hey, Jae. Yeah, I’m sorry to ditch you again, but—”

“No worries, I understand. Your family needs you. You still busy cleaning up? I can stop by to help.”

“Aww, that’s sweet, but we had a bunch of people volunteer to help us clean. We got the place in great shape, but to thank them, my aunt and grandma are cooking up a big meal for everyone. They’re insisting I be here to show my appreciation for everyone.”

“Wow, that . . . that sounds really nice. It’s great that you have so many friends willing to help you out.”

He sounded so wistful, I wondered what his deal was. Then I remembered how happy he was to be out at dinner with me and Adeena. That he lived alone and didn’t have many friends in town.

“Hey, I hope this isn’t too weird, but would you like to join us for dinner? My family always makes way too much food, and my aunt really likes your brother. I’m sure she’d love to meet you as well.”

“Yes! What time? Should I bring anything?”

Pretty sure his eagerness was because he couldn’t stomach another night alone or with his parents, but I still flattered myself that I was part of the draw.

“Hold on, let me ask.”

I wandered into the kitchen. “Tita, what time are people coming over? I invited Detective Park’s brother to dinner and he wants to know if he should bring anything.”

“Why? Does he think we won’t feed him properly?” my grandmother asked. “What would he need to bring?”

“Lola, he’s just being polite. People usually bring like, wine or dessert or something.”

“Bring dessert? Into my house?”

Tita Rosie cut in. “Tell him that we don’t need anything, but thanks for the offer. And everyone’s coming over at six o’clock.”

I went into the other room and relayed the information. “Don’t you dare bring food or dessert into this house or my grandma will kill you. Wine is a possibility, but my aunt doesn’t drink and we don’t even own wineglasses.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I overheard. I’m looking forward to meeting your grandmother. I’ll just bring flowers or something. And did I hear your aunt say six o’clock?”

“Yeah, but we all run on Brown People Time. Do not come at six, you’ll just stress everyone out. Any time after seven should be safe.”

He chuckled. “Sure are a lot of rules when coming over to your place.”

I laughed. “Just be glad we’re not dating. The level of scrutiny you’d be under has made tougher men than you crack under the pressure.”

He was silent for a moment. “I bet I could handle it.”

That was . . . not the response I was expecting. “Oh, um, I’m sure you could.” A beat passed. “Anyway, see you tonight?”

“After seven o’clock, bearing zero edible items, and ready to run through the gauntlet. See you later, Lila.”