Just a Taste (21 page)

Liam stood outside the mall and cringed at the crowds. How the hell had Jimmy convinced him to go shopping a week before Christmas? And on the weekend. He saw Jimmy crossing the lot, so Liam waited for him.

When Jimmy hit the sidewalk, Liam said, “I hope you know how much you owe me. This place is a zoo.”

“I appreciate it.”

Inside the mall, they pressed through the mob of people to get to the jewelry store. As he got shoved and bumped, Liam was glad he'd ordered his grab bag present for Quinn online. Sitting in front of the computer was looking better and better.

“Nervous?” he asked Jimmy.

“Nope.”

Liam looked at his friend and saw no signs of nervousness. “You're really getting married?”

“Yep.”

“To Moira? Are you sure you know what you're getting into?”

Jimmy laughed. “Yeah, I do. All I need to do now is figure out what kind of ring to get her. Any suggestions?”

“What do I know about jewelry? I thought I was here for moral support.”

They walked through the store, peering in case after case of rings. Liam had no idea how a guy was supposed to make a decision. He wandered to another case. They all had stones other than diamonds. “Hey, Jimmy, come here.” Jimmy joined him. “What about an emerald? It's different.”

Jimmy looked into the glass. “You're a genius.” He pointed down at a ring. “That's the one.”

While Jimmy spoke with the salesperson, Liam continued looking around. He wanted to get Carmen a Christmas present, but the idea of jewelry made him a little nervous. They hadn't been together that long, but he really cared about her. He looked at earrings and although Carmen had pierced ears, he hadn't seen her wear any. He moved on to bracelets and necklaces.

Jimmy bumped his shoulder. “Shopping for Carmen?”

“Thinking about it.”

“This is serious.”

Liam shrugged. “It's Christmas and she's had a hard couple of months.”

“So buy her a teddy bear.”

“What?” He looked up from the case.

“A girl sees jewelry as taking the relationship to the next level. If you're not serious about her . . .”

“I am. I care about her. A lot.” He looked back at the necklaces. “I want to get her something special. She's important.”

“Better plan to bring her to family dinner then.”

“What do you know about that?”

“I know the O'Learys do a trial by fire. If you plan to keep her around, she needs to know what she's getting into.” Jimmy pointed at a necklace. “That one.”

It was a simple silver chain with a claddagh. He liked it. He could imagine it around Carmen's neck. She wasn't Irish and probably wouldn't understand the symbolism, but it was a piece of him, his heritage. It held meaning without being too serious. He waved the salesperson over and asked to have the necklace wrapped.

With their packages in hand, they left the store. “When are you going to ask Moira?”

“I think Christmas Eve or maybe Christmas morning before we go to your mom's. I want her to have the ring before we have dinner with your whole family. I can't have her open it in front of all of you.”

Liam clasped a hand on Jimmy's shoulder. “You'll make my mom very happy.”

“You bringing Carmen to the family thing?”

“I don't know. We haven't talked about it yet.”

“But things are good?”

“Very. We work together and spend our free time together. She's pretty fucking amazing.”

“I know the feeling.”

They pushed through the crowds and headed back into the cold. Before they parted ways, Liam said, “You better find a good hiding spot. Moira was always the first to snoop out where my parents hid presents.”

“I'm well aware of your sister's nosy ways. I'm leaving it at my dad's house.”

“Good move. See you later.”

Liam walked back to his car questioning his purchase. He and Carmen hadn't talked about exchanging gifts, not that he expected one. He wanted her to know how special she was, but he didn't want to put pressure on her to make their relationship more than she was ready for.

Winter rolled in full force over the next few days. A storm came in and dumped a foot of snow in the city. Bad weather caused fewer people to be out, which meant the truck wasn't as busy. After two days of miserable sales, Liam was ready to throw in the towel. It didn't help that Carmen had tried to tell him not to take the truck out.

She'd refused to go with him, citing that business would be down because of the weather. She stayed in her nice, warm house and worked on the books.

When he strode through the back door on the second day, she smiled. “Good day?”

“Hell, no.”

Instead of saying “I told you so,” like either of his sisters would've, she just said, “The weather's supposed to be better tomorrow and I've been thinking about how to draw people out to see us.”

“Okay.” He poured himself a cup of coffee and looked out the window at the piles of snow. “Who shoveled the sidewalk?”

“I did.”

He should've done it before he left in the morning. If he had, he would've been late getting on the road, though. “I would've done it.”

“It's not a big deal. Anyway, remember how much fun we had when we fought over cooking tacos?”

“What?”

“When you got all mad and bossy and tried telling me I don't know how to cook.”

“I never said that.”

She shot him a look. “You didn't need to say it.”

“You're the one who said you couldn't cook.”

“I said I didn't. As in I don't like to.” She walked up to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. “But when it comes to my dad's tacos, I'll outcook you every time.”

“You wish.” He patted her ass. “What does this have to do with your idea?”

“I'm thinking that everyone loves a competition, so we can make it one.”

He leaned against the kitchen counter and tried to process what she said. “Competition with who?”

“Between us—girl versus guy, Latina versus white boy, home cook versus educated chef—however we want to promote it.”

He had no idea if it would work, especially in the dead of winter, but he knew they'd at least have fun. The last two days without Carmen had been far from fun.

“Do you think your sister could help spread the word on social media? I've already crafted some tweets and Facebook posts. I'm ready to put them up as soon as you check them out.”

“You don't need my approval. I trust you.” He finished his coffee and called Moira.

“Hey, Liam. What's up?”

“I need your social media skills again.”

“Sure. What do you need?”

“Carmen has some ideas for getting people to the truck.”

“Hold on. Let me grab a pen.”

“Actually, I'll pass the phone to Carmen and she can explain.” He held the phone out and Carmen's eyes widened.

She shook her head.

“Just take it.” He placed the phone in her hand. “I'm going to shower.”

He kissed her quickly.

As he left the room, he heard Carmen say, “Hi, Moira. This is Carmen,” followed by a laugh.

Forcing Carmen to interact with Moira was a good move. Carmen could explain her plan easier than he could. Then there was the added benefit of Moira's personality—his sister made friends with everyone and he wanted Moira to be Carmen's friend.

The first day of Carmen's experiment yielded decent results. They weren't insanely busy, but Liam wasn't bored. The real surprise came the following day. He didn't know if it was because the sun was shining or if Moira really did do some magic, but people were lined up and waiting.

Carmen had gotten two whiteboards and set one up on each side of the windows. One read “Girl vs. Guy—Whose tacos will win?” The second highlighted their individual experience: Liam's culinary school and Carmen's growing up in her dad's restaurant.

After yesterday, Carmen had decided they needed an actual wager. The loser of the competition would have to wear a hat proclaiming that he or she got whooped by the winner. Photos would be posted on social media.

Liam couldn't afford to lose. No way would he let Moira own an embarrassing picture of him declared a loser.

As soon as the grill was hot, Carmen started her trash talk. “Come on, everyone, let me show you what a real taco tastes like.”

“How about a real taco prepared by a real chef?” he retorted.

An hour and a half later, Carmen shook the ticket bins she'd put out for customers to vote. In order to vote, a customer just had to drop a ticket into the bucket for Carmen or Liam.

The paper swished against the plastic. “I don't know, Liam. I think my bucket has more votes. Worried?”

“Hell, no.” He was, in fact, a little worried because Carmen had started smiling and flirting with customers. He tried not to let jealousy ruin his attitude because he knew she was only doing it to get ahead. “Even if you're winning now, we have another stop. Maybe I'll bat my eyelashes to get a few votes.”

“First of all, I don't bat my eyelashes. Second, if you want to go the sex appeal route, roll up your sleeves and flex your muscles.” She shut the windows and locked up.

“You think my arms are sexy?”

She grinned. “Definitely.”

As he hopped behind the steering wheel, his phone rang. Moira. She'd love hearing how successful they were with her help. “Yes, Moira, you are a social media genius. I bow to your skill.”

“Liam.” Her voice cracked, followed by a hiccup.

His hand stilled on the key in the ignition. “What is it?”

The phone fumbled on Moira's end.

“Moira!”

“Liam, it's Jimmy—”

“What the hell is going on?”

“It's your mom. She collapsed. She's at the hospital.”

Jimmy continued to talk, but Liam heard nothing. It wasn't until the phone beeped with the end of the call that he blinked.

“Liam.” Carmen shook his shoulder. “What's wrong?”

He shook his head and blinked again to clear it. His throat tightened, and a rock tumbled into his stomach. He forced the words out. “My mom. She's in the hospital.”

“Oh, my God. You have to go.”

He stared at his hands, unsure of his next move.

“Liam!”

He looked up at Carmen. Did she say something?

“Liam.” Her hand touched his cheek. “Switch places with me and let me drive.”

He opened his mouth to protest, but then realized he couldn't drive. He couldn't focus. He opened the door and stepped down. As he passed Carmen in front of the truck, she grabbed him in a fierce hug. Tears burned his eyes and his throat closed completely. He struggled for air and couldn't swallow. The pain was too great.

Carmen patted him and rubbed his back before pulling away. He shuffled to the passenger side and got in.

The drive to the hospital was a blur. His only overwhelming thought was that he wasn't ready to lose his mother.

CHAPTER 13

C
armen watched Liam slip from the truck. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

“Do you want—”

He slammed the door and ran into the hospital.

She stared at the closed hospital doors for a moment before pulling away. She drove back to the restaurant to clean out the truck. She didn't trust her ability to run the truck alone. She definitely couldn't pretend to be happy and friendly toward strangers.

Her heart hurt for Liam and his family.

She tried not to be bothered that he'd rushed out of the truck without saying much. She remembered all too well what it was like to receive a phone call like that. Instead of wallowing on the sting of hurt, she focused on thinking about how to help. She cleaned out the truck, and since they had plenty of food left because they never made it to their second stop, Carmen decided to make food for Liam and his family.

Chances were no one would want to eat, but they would need to. It would be something small she could do to show her support for Liam. Although she hadn't met Liam's family, she knew he had five siblings and most of them were married. That was a lot of people to feed.

In the kitchen of the restaurant, Junior moved around filling late lunch orders.

“Hey, Junior. I need to take over a section of the grill for a bit, okay?”

He rushed to her side and laid his palm against her forehead. “Are you sick? Not only have you been here almost daily, but now you want to cook in this kitchen?”

She swatted his hand away. “Liam's mother is in the hospital. He got the call a while ago. I figured I'd make food to take to his family.”

“What happened?”

“I don't know. I didn't get the whole story, but he didn't look good when I dropped him off.”

Again the sting of being ignored as he rushed to his family hit her. She reminded herself that he was hurting and worried and it had nothing to do with her.

“I'm slow now. I'll help. What do you want to make?”

Carmen smiled. For all of her family's shortcomings, they always came through when someone needed help. “I plan to use the leftovers from the truck to make tacos. Something easy to eat.”

“Okay, let's go.”

Junior helped her cook up the meat for tacos, adding more when she told him how many people she hoped to feed. As she worked with her cousin, Carmen relaxed. She'd never felt comfortable in this kitchen, but today, she was at ease. She missed her dad a little less.

“You and this Liam guy, huh?”

“What?” Carmen asked.

“You and Liam are dating?”

“I guess you could say that. We're in a relationship and I like him a lot.”

“Is he good to you?”

“You sound like my dad.” She smiled at the thought. Junior was her age. “Yes, he is good to me. He makes me feel cared for and wanted and . . . not so uptight.”

“That's definitely a good thing. I was starting to think we'd place bets on how long it would take you to snap.”

She shook her head. “My own family turning on me. Sad.”

He bumped his shoulder into hers. “We worry.”

“You can stop now. I'm doing better.”

They worked to wrap the tacos and place them in a foil pan. Carmen looked at her clothes and considered going home to change, but then decided she didn't want to waste the time. The O'Learys had been at the hospital for a couple of hours already. She fixed her ponytail and wished for some makeup. This would be the first time she'd meet his family and the circumstances couldn't be worse.

She loaded the food into her car and waved at her cousin. On the way to the hospital, her nerves began to churn. Maybe she should've called Liam first and asked if they wanted food. No, he would've said no. But she wanted to do something for him. For his family.

After parking her car, she carried the tray in a bag through the doors of the hospital. She got directions and rode the elevator up. She stepped from the elevator and saw the waiting room. Even without having met Liam's family, she knew she'd found the right place. She stood in the doorway absorbing the shock of the grief in the room.

Everyone in the room was paired off. Liam stood with his back to her, a blonde rubbing his back. A surge of jealousy struck her when she realized it was Lily, the woman he'd said was nothing more than a friend. His
friend
was invited to be here, but he'd left Carmen without a word.

A short redhead came up to her when she noticed Carmen staring.

Carmen spoke quietly. “I'm Carmen, Liam's partner. I thought you guys might be hungry, so I brought some tacos.”

“Thank you. That was very thoughtful. I'm Moira.” She extended her hand. Her eyes were red-rimmed and her cheeks blotchy. “Nice to meet you.”

Carmen wiped her hand on her jeans and then shook Moira's. “Nice to meet you too. I wish it were under better circumstances. Any word on your mom?” She slid a glance to Liam, who still hadn't turned around.

“We're waiting for information.” She watched Carmen and then called, “Liam.”

Liam finally turned, but still didn't take notice of Carmen. Both he and Lily looked at Moira.

“Carmen's here.”

Liam looked much like Moira. His eyes were red and her heart sank. “Hi,” she offered.

“Hi.”

He stepped forward, and everyone else seemed to fade away.

“I brought some food. I'm sure no one really feels like eating, but you need to. Your bodies will run down and you'll all be useless. At least try to have something.” She longed to reach out to him, to touch him, to comfort him. Instead, she shoved her hands in her pockets and turned away.

“Thanks, Carmen.”

She left the small room and pressed the button for the elevator.

“Carmen,” someone called.

Carmen turned to see Lily approach.

“Liam's not really himself. It's nice to meet you. I'm Lily.” She extended her hand, and Carmen took it.

“Nice to meet you.”

The elevator dinged and Carmen put a hand on the door to keep it open.

“Thanks for the food.”

“No problem.” Carmen stepped into the elevator.

“Here's my number.” She held out a slip of paper. “Give me a call if you need help at work. I don't know if Liam will be up to it for a while. I think his family will need him.”

Carmen took the slip and held it tightly in her fist, but didn't answer. The doors slid closed and Carmen breathed a sigh. Like she would ask Liam's other woman for help. She was being unfair, but she couldn't muster enough energy to care. Lily was being nice; she didn't deserve Carmen's nasty attitude.

The truck and work were the last things on Carmen's mind right now. She hadn't come to the hospital because she was worried about Liam being on the truck. Christmas was at the end of the week. They could close for the holiday a little early.

Even if they couldn't afford to keep the truck off the street, she had her own family to rely on; she didn't need Liam's friends.

As she walked out into the cold air, the image of Liam's sad face tugged at her. She felt petty getting upset over Lily's presence when Liam had so much to deal with. He'd said that Lily was a friend. If Lily had been a man, Carmen would've thought nothing of it.

She shouldn't be jealous. She had no reason not to believe in Liam and what he said. But she couldn't help being saddened by the fact that he hadn't chosen her to give him comfort.

“When does Maggie's plane land?” Ryan asked.

Liam heard the question, but had no idea who it was directed to. “She was already on the plane this morning before . . . this. She called to remind me she was on her way. I'm supposed to pick her up at six,” Moira answered.

Why was Maggie already on a plane if she hadn't known about Mom?
Then he remembered she was coming home for Christmas.

“I'll get her,” Jimmy said.

Liam turned and looked at the way his friend sat with Moira. She gripped his hand like it was a lifeline. Her knuckles were white. Jimmy patted her hand and kissed the top of her head. Liam ran a hand over his face and watched the rest of his siblings. They all had someone they loved to turn to in comfort.

Lily took his hand and laid her head against his arm. As much as he liked Lily, he didn't gain any comfort from the contact. He remembered Carmen standing in the room and how much he'd wanted to go to her and hold her. He didn't know why he'd stayed rooted in place, but he had. Now he regretted it.

Movement at the door caught everyone's attention. Doctor Childress came in and everyone stood. Liam's heart pounded.

“How is she?” Ryan asked.

“Your mother suffered a heart attack. We're going to run some more tests, but she's all right and resting now. There's nothing you can do. You should all head home.”

“Can we see her?” Ryan pushed.

The doctor's eyes widened at the crowd around him. “Not all at once. Two people at a time. But really, there are so many of you, I would prefer if not everyone went in. She might not even wake up until tomorrow.”

The siblings all looked at each other. Liam swallowed past the lump in his throat. “Ryan and Colin should go in and let her know we're all here. We'll take turns seeing her later.”

Ryan made eye contact with each of them. The spouses and significant others had already taken a step back to let the family decide. Moira and Michael nodded. As the two oldest, Ryan and Colin should be the two to go in.

The pain in his chest loosened a little with the knowledge that the doctor said his mom was okay. A heart attack, though. The same thing had taken his dad almost five years ago. He didn't want to see his mother lying in a hospital bed.

Shit, he wanted a drink. He didn't often turn to alcohol, but sometimes a situation called for it. He grabbed his jacket before realizing that he had no vehicle.

“Where are you going?” Moira asked.

“I need some time away from here.”

Lily stood beside him. “I'll give you a ride.”

“Will you come back to Mom's later? Maggie will be home. I thought maybe we could all have a late dinner together.” Moira pointed to the pan Carmen had dropped off. “At least we won't have to cook. We can eat tacos.” She forced a smile that made her look almost like herself.

“Maybe. Call me if anything changes.”

He walked out with Lily trailing after him. He followed her to her car, grateful that she didn't feel the need to talk.

“Where do you want to go?”

“A bar. I need a drink.”

“Are you sure that's a good idea?”

“If you're not going to take me where I want to go, let me know and I'll call a cab.”

She started the car and drove to his neighborhood. She pulled up to a bar a few blocks from his apartment. “This okay?”

“If they have alcohol, it'll be fine.” He stepped from the car and turned to thank her for the ride when he realized she'd turned off the engine and had gotten out.

“Drinking alone is never a good idea.”

He shrugged and went in. He immediately ordered two shots and downed them before ordering a Guinness. The alcohol hit quickly because he hadn't eaten all day. Lily sat beside him and ordered a pop.

“You want to talk?”

“Not about my mom.”

“Okay. Tell me about work.”

He took a long drink of beer. “It's slow, but it's winter, so there's not much to do about it.” He thought about Carmen and realized he'd left her alone all day to work and clean the truck and prep for tomorrow. He couldn't work tomorrow. He needed to be at the hospital.

“Do you enjoy it?”

Again he thought of Carmen and how much fun he'd been having. “Yeah.”

“Wow.”

“What?”

“That smile was not an
I like my job
smile.”

“What do you mean?”

“It's Carmen, isn't it?”

He didn't pretend not to understand. “Yeah. She's pretty amazing.”

Looking at Lily, he was sorry for the sadness that crossed her face, but he couldn't help but wish it were Carmen sitting with him. He should've asked her to come in to the hospital or even asked her to stay when she did show up. But he couldn't think. Not until he had word about his mom.

And when he'd finally gotten that word, she wasn't there. Somehow, he felt like he'd fucked up.

Lily's lip trembled a bit. “Can I ask what it is about her?”