"Yeah. I'm not trying to get out of anything, Kaden. It's just my job to make dinner - don't you remember?"
He smiled. "Yeah, I do remember. You were a damn good cook in high school, Tasha - you're probably an even better one now."
I glanced outside. Still no taxi. We were standing very close to each other.
"Are you going to be OK until I get back?" I asked, reaching out and grabbing the bottom of his t-shirt without thinking about it. We both looked down at the same time, watching as I snatched my hand away, embarrassed. "Sorry," I said, looking up to see him looking right at me, not smiling. I knew that look.
"Kaden," I whispered, warning myself as well as him. He put his hands on me at the exact same moment the taxi honked its horn and the surprise at hearing it was the only thing that allowed me to pull away from him, quickly, because I knew if I tried any other way it wouldn't have worked.
"I've got to go," I said breathlessly, already on my way out the door. "I'll see you in a couple of hours, OK?"
Chapter 23: Natasha
Alisha was already working on dinner when I got in. My mom was sitting at the kitchen table, chatting with her. They both looked up when they saw me and my mom tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes.
"What's that look on your face, Tash?" She asked in that whispery, husky voice of hers.
"What?" I asked, turning the tap on to wash my hands. "What do you mean?" Alisha was looking at me strangely by then, too. Dammit. "What're we making?" I asked her, hoping a distraction would put them off the scent.
"Rice and beans with braised pork. Now tell us why you look like you've just seen a ghost, Tash."
Both of them were looking at me expectantly. I wasn't going to be able to brush them off. "Kaden Barlow is back in town," I told them, pretending to be busy drying my hands so I wouldn't have to meet their eyes. "His mom was in a really serious car accident and she might not make it. Kaden came to see me at work today, and he's really upset."
Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Alisha and my mom exchanging a look.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Tash." My mom said. "Tell him I'll be praying for Mrs. Barlow."
"I will, mom."
They were both dying to question me further but I think the sad circumstances put a damper on that. It was one thing for Kaden to be back in town. It was quite another for him to be back in town for the tragic reason he was.
We ate dinner - all of us except Ray, who was still working late hours - together and when it was finished and I got up to get started on the dishes Alisha came up to me and waved me off.
"I got this, Tash. You can go. Just, uh, just give me a sec, OK?"
She disappeared upstairs while I put my shoes on and grabbed the car keys. When she came back down I could see she had something in her hand, which she held out to me. I took it. It was two condoms.
"I don't need these," I said, embarrassed.
"Just take them."
"No, Alisha. I really don't need these. He - it's just about his mom, OK? It's not - it's not like what you're thinking."
But she kept pressing them into my hand. "Tash, don't get defensive, I'm not implying anything. I just know how men are. Even when they're sad. I know how easy it is to fall back into old patterns when things get emotional-"
"No," I said, more forcefully than I intended, handing the condoms back to Alisha. "I don't need these."
She stood there for a few seconds, just looking at me. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, Alisha, I'm sure."
"OK, then." She said, her voice sounding slightly doubtful.
I drove to Kaden's house annoyed with Alisha and her presumptuousness. Of course, she ended up being entirely right. I remember that drive in the rickety old Toyota we used as a back-up when Ray was using the main car - a slightly less-rickety Ford. The evening was tinged with pink light and the feeling of the impending summer was in the air. The only thing on my mind, after I'd gotten over being irritated with Alisha, was Kaden and his mother. A deep wish that she was going to pull through somehow combined with dread at the possibility that she might not - and what that would do to Kaden. No part of me sensed that that night was going to change my life forever.
"Hey," I smiled when Kaden answered the front door. "How are you doing? Have you heard anything?"
He shook his head. "No. My dad called but only to tell me that there was no news. I'm going to go to the hospital first thing in the morning."
"That's good," I told him, following him into the living room, desperately searching my mind for something meaningful to say, something comforting. "Do you think you'll-"