“Where’s all this coming from?” Cassie asked as she got up, but Joseph took her plate and utensils from her and bade her to sit back down.
“Dad called sis a few weeks ago.”
“Yeah,” Tamara said, biting her lip. “I’m like any kid whose parents have divorced. I have the fantasy about them getting back together and everything being perfect again. But I’m not dumb. He’s trying to employ us to get to you. He came right out and asked me to tell you today that he wanted to try for reconciliation.”
Cassie looked at her hands in her lap, and a spear of unease shot through Ivan. He didn’t want to overreact and nudged Samson to be quiet when he would’ve spoken up. After a few moments, she looked over at Ivan and Samson.
“Bill’s been calling me at the coffee shop as well. I didn’t tell you because you have nothing to worry about. My father has also called me a couple of times. He says I’m a big disappointment to him because I’m not doing my duty by my family.” Cassie glanced at her mom but said nothing else.
“And I’ll bet he said I was a bad example, didn’t he?” Delicia asked, shaking her head in consternation. “Macho asshole. It’s my fault for not setting him straight in our younger years. Not that it would’ve done much good. His father was even worse than he was. Talk about an iron fist.”
“Yeah, see?” Joseph said, his posture stiffening. “If I was at the shop with you, that would be one of the first things I’d nip in the bud. There’s no reason for him to be speaking to you like that.”
Ivan was liking Cassie’s son more and more all the time.
“I don’t need a babysitter, Joseph. You have a better use for your time than keeping the macho assholes in our family at bay.”
I plan to make it job number one as soon as I can.
“This topic of conversation is bad for my digestion,” Cassie said as Tamara gave her a kiss on the cheek. “But you two are the most wonderful children ever. All right. We’ll talk about all your ideas, plans, and dreams after the kitchen is clean.”
Tamara and Joseph stopped any of them when they offered to help and Tamara said, “Nope. It’s our turn to take care of you for a change, Mom, Abuela. Go sit and relax. Digest. The game should be on by now.”
“Fine,” Cassie said with a giggle as she reached out for him and Samson. “Then we’ll decorate the Christmas tree. It should be easy this year with such tall helpers!”
Remembering that special Christmas so long ago, Ivan gladly helped her with the tree as the storm tuned up and the delay between flashes of lightning and roars of thunder decreased.
“Hey, Mom?” Joseph called from the kitchen. “You know what I miss?”
“What?” she replied as she stretched up to place an ornament, tightening the fabric of her top until it was tugged taut around her full breasts and revealed an inch or so of the sweet curve of her waist. Ivan lost track of the conversation for a moment as he watched.
Joseph came to the doorway with a dishtowel, drying his hands. “Remember when we were little how you used to play your guitar and sing to us? Do you ever do that anymore?”
“Yeah!” Tamara said as she wiped down the dining room table. “I think that’s one of my favorite memories from my childhood. Do you still have your guitar?”
“Like you’re so old,” Cassie said with a giggle and then said, “I do still have it. Matter of fact, I accidentally knocked it over in the closet looking for my boots this morning. I haven’t played it since then, so I’m sure it’s out of tune and needs new strings. Why?”
A pretty blush colored her cheeks as she glanced directly at Ivan, and he grinned and held up his hands. He hadn’t said anything to Joseph, but he was glad he and Samson weren’t the only ones who wanted to hear her sing and play her guitar. He wished he had a piano for her to play and filed the thought for later.
Samson said, “Why don’t you dust it off and play for us tonight. I bet even with strings that need replacing, you’d sound fantastic.”
Ivan grinned like a big idiot and said, “And you have to sing for us, too.” Hesitancy was in her body language so he added, “Pleeeease?”
“Oh, all right, after we’re done with the Christmas tree.”
With a big smile on his face, Ivan handed her the angel tree topper, and Samson squatted down and grasped her around her thighs, chuckling when she squealed before placing the angel on the tree.
“You know, it’s kind of cool you asked about that. Uncle Rudy caught me one day at the bank and told me he’s building a shady, garden-type seating and serving area, complete with a bar, onto the back of the restaurant. He wants to offer live music out there, and he asked if I’d be interested in playing and singing for his guests.”