The Romance Novel Cure (26 page)

Quietly, he turned and went into the kitchen, ready to do some dishes. To his surprise, everything was tidied away. He saw an empty package of cookies in the recycling. Cookies he had just bought. He grinned, remembering Alma’s laugh, her legs, her eyes, that smile. That kiss. The babysitter could eat every box of cookies he bought, far as he was concerned. He made a mental note to buy more cookies. Same kind.

On Monday, it felt strange to Alma to get ready for work, and then not to have to go out of the apartment. She felt a sense of lightness and relief as she set up her work station for the day. She worked quietly and happily, absorbed in her tasks until about eleven o’clock, when she decided to have something to eat. It was then she had a pang of missing being at work, at the office. She would miss the sense of camaraderie.
Means to an end
, she told herself resolutely. As she made coffee, her phone rang. It was Daniel. She felt as though she were on a rollercoaster, the way her insides seemed to suddenly drop, spiraling, and the way her heart slammed in her chest.

“How are you, is this a good time?”

“Yeah, I’m just making some coffee. How’s your day going?” Alma leaned against the counter, smiling.

“Good. Doing some construction at a development site, having a quick break. Just wanted to tell you… I had a great time with you. On our date.”

Alma bit her lip, thrilled. “Me, too.”

“Yeah?” She could hear how his voice lowered, hear a smile in his voice.

“Yes, I really did.”

After a moment, he spoke again. “I want to see you again. The only time I could get a babysitter was for this Sunday afternoon. You wouldn’t happen to be free then, would you?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I have plans.” Alma felt her shoulders sag in disappointment.

“Okay, I understand.”

“Wait… I’m, I don’t know if you would want to, but… consider coming with me. I’m going to brunch at my friends’ house. They have young children. You could bring Elijah.” Alma shut her mouth, tightly. Was that weird, inviting him to come with her? Was that kind of a couples thing? And here it was just their second date?

“Sounds good. I’ve already got a babysitter, though, so I’m all set.”

Alma wondered if he had reserved childcare in hopes that he could see her. She felt simultaneously thrilled and scared. “Okay, great!”

They made plans to speak later and ended the call.

Alma immediately called Scott. “I just did something so stupid. Can you talk?”

“Hold on. Yes, what? What did you do?” Scott sounded instantaneously alarmed.

“Sorry, no, don’t worry. It’s nothing awful. It’s just. Ugh. Daniel asked me out and the only time he had free was Sunday afternoon so I ended up asking if he wanted to come with me to brunch with you. First of all, is that okay with you and Patrick?”

Scott exhaled noisily into the phone. “Ah, yes. The old premature promotion. But yes, of course that’s fine, he is welcome!”

“What?” Alma laughed. “Premature what? That sounds… naughty!”

“It’s when you jump ahead a few steps in a relationship. Laura told me that you and the friendly lion guy went out on a
muy fabuloso
date. And now you are including him in plans with friends. That’s not terrible, but I can see why you are freaking out. Just… don’t worry. If he doesn’t want to come, he’ll cancel on you.”

“That’s not helping me feel better!”

“No, don’t stress.” Scott sounded soothing, as if he were speaking to a frightened horse. “It’s not as if you’ve made plans with him and his kid or anything. Alma? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“I told him that he could bring his baby!” Alma covered her eyes with one hand, wishing she could go back in time and un-say what she had said to Daniel.

“Well, the lion cub would be welcome,” said Scott. “Did he say he’d take you up on that offer and would bring him?”

“No, no. He said he had a babysitter who was free only on that afternoon during the weekend.” Alma tried to calm down. What was it about dating or Daniel that had her so frazzled? She felt as though she was really screwing up everything. “I should have asked you if it was okay for me to invite Daniel… and his baby, Elijah. I’m sorry. I just kind of panicked! He asked me if I was free, I wanted to see him again, I knew I had plans with you and then suddenly, I heard myself asking him if he would like to come along with me.”

“That’s completely fine, don’t worry about it. And you know, it would be super easy to solve this, not that it’s even a problem. But if you feel stressed, we can just postpone brunch to another weekend. You can keep your plans with Daniel, and do something a little more typically second date, like, whatever you young people do on the second date.”

“Oh, that’s so kind of you,” said Alma. “But Patrick texted me earlier and he said he had made ahead these
polvorones
cookies that he and I had been talking about. He used my grandmother’s recipe, with some of my cousin’s additions, that I shared with him. He sounded so excited. He froze them and was afraid that the flavor would be off from being in the freezer but he just could not wait. He was wondering if he should make another batch. I would feel so badly cancelling, and for such a minor reason. And I’m really looking forward to seeing you and Patrick and the kids and Meemaw!”

“Okay, so try to look at it in a positive light. He’ll see you interact with friends who adore you, and we’ll get to check him out.”

“Thanks. Okay. I appreciate it.” Alma took a deep breath and let it out, looking out the sliding glass door. She saw the little succulent plant that Daniel had given her.

* * *

“No, really, that’s cool. I totally understand.” Daniel ended the call and put his hands on his hips, then ran them through his hair. “Dang.” It was Sunday morning, and Elsa had just called and let him know that she was sick, she couldn’t come to take care of Elijah. He had texted Maggie, the other assistant at Little Learners, but didn’t expect to hear back on such short notice, especially on a Sunday morning. Even if he did know of anyone who could care for Elijah, it would be too last minute. He took a quick breath, and called Alma.

“Turns out? Our babysitter is sick, she can’t make it. So, if the offer still stands? Elijah and I will be both be coming by to pick you up.”

“That’s wonderful, I mean, I’m sorry that she is sick! But, Elijah can meet Patrick’s children, and I’m sure they will become friends.”

After talking for a few moments, they ended the call.

“Hey Little Man, guess who is coming with? That’s right, you, buddy!” Daniel stepped over the baby gate and sat down on the floor in the living room. Elijah was on his tummy, looking at a fabric book with crinkly pages. It made Daniel smile. He looked like a little man reading a newspaper.

Alma caught sight of her face in the mirror in her bedroom. She had just got off the phone with Daniel. She looked terrified. Was she ready to meet Daniel’s son? She felt so unprepared. And to have Daniel meet her friends? It was as though she were treating him like a boyfriend.
What am I doing
, she thought.
I have no idea. No clue!

* * *

Daniel pulled into Alma’s parking lot and looked in the backseat. His glance confirmed what he had suspected. The unusual quiet in the car meant that Elijah had fallen asleep. It was his naptime. If he hadn’t fallen asleep, he would be fractious, exhausted. But now that he was asleep in the car, he didn’t know quite what to do about getting Alma. Feeling like a jerk, he texted her that he was here and that Elijah was asleep, so Daniel was unable to leave him. Within moments, he saw the bright blue door open and Alma came out. His breath caught. In some kind of short jeans and a dressy shirt with no sleeves, she looked amazing to him. She carried a covered container and walked quickly to the car. Daniel stepped out and came around the car’s other side to greet her. Just like the last times he had seen her, he got a vision of pulling her against him, putting his mouth on hers.
One of these days
, he wondered. Maybe one of these days he could do just that. He tried to stop imagining it, tried to focus. He rocked back on his heels, as she stood before him, smiling up at him, that container in her hands.

“Hi,” he said, opening the car door for her.

“Hi,” she whispered, getting inside.

When he came around to the driver’s side, he saw that she had turned around and was peering in the backseat. Elijah’s car seat still faced backwards, so she had to lean over to get a good look. Daniel waited, feeling strangely nervous and trying not to look at Alma leaning in the backseat. Alma sat back slowly and pulled her seatbelt on. “He’s so precious,” she whispered, looking down at her hands, busy with the seatbelt.

Daniel nodded, glancing at her, smiling quickly. It felt as though his stomach had flipped over. He looked in the rearview mirror as he reversed the car, catching sight of Elijah’s little foot peeking over the side of the car seat.

When they got to Scott and Patrick’s house, Elijah was still asleep.

“This is ridiculous,” whispered Daniel, halfway between laughing and feeling embarrassed.

“They have young children, Daniel, they’ll understand, believe me,” whispered Alma, texting Scott to let him know that they had arrived, but would be in the car until the baby woke up.

“He has never been one of those kids I could pick up when he was asleep, and transfer him. I’ve seen other parents do that, and I’m like, how?” Daniel kept his voice at a whisper. He turned on the seat and leaned closer to Alma. “If he’s really deeply asleep I can sometimes take his car seat out with him in it, but it’s a timing thing.”

“I wouldn’t be able to sleep if someone picked me up while I was asleep. I would wake up, probably screaming.” Alma shook her head, thinking about it.

“Yeah, me, too.” Daniel felt so relieved. “Thanks for being so understanding. I can’t imagine this is a typical date for you.”

“Oh my gosh, don’t worry, no. I just feel… Well, I feel like you must be thinking it was weird that I invited you to come to my friends’ house for brunch, when we’ve only had one date, when we just met.” She looked down, rubbing her hands on the knees of her jeans.

“Alma.” He waited until she looked up, back up at him. “I just wanted to see you again. I mean, I loved talking with you this week and texting with you. But, just being with you…”

“Yeah?” She started to smile, and looked down again.

“Yeah,” he whispered, grinning. “I would have done anything to see you again. The week felt really long.”

“Anything.” She looked back up, smiling even wider.

“Sure.” He nodded. “Trip to the gas station, whatever.”

“What if I ran out of cotton balls? You would have volunteered to come with me?”

“Definitely. You… you run out of cotton balls often? I can’t even remember buying cotton balls… ever.”

“What?” She made her face look shocked. “They are multi-purpose!”

“So, yeah. I’m glad you invited me. Me and Elijah. You can go in if you want to, I don’t want to make you wait.”

“I want to,” whispered Alma. “I want to wait with you.”

* * *

To Alma, it seemed as though the time went by so quickly. She and Daniel were talking about Albuquerque, what they loved about it, what drove them crazy, when she heard a soft snuffling sound from the back seat.

“I should have warned you,” said Daniel, grimacing. “When he wakes up, he…”

Just then, the baby started to wail. Daniel got out of the car and went into the back seat.

“What’s wrong? Is he all right?” She couldn’t believe the misery emanating from the back seat. She had turned around, kneeling, so she could see, but Elijah was hidden from view.

“Yeah, he’s fine, really. He wakes up crying from his naps, especially his afternoon one,” said Daniel, picking Elijah up, speaking over the loud cries. He brought Elijah into the front seat.

“
Pobretcito
!” exclaimed Alma softly. At that, Elijah stopped, startled. He blinked and turned his head, halfway between cries. When he saw Alma, his eyes widened. She started to worry that she was going to make him cry even harder. “
Hola
,
papi
… what is wrong? Nothing is wrong. You are going to a party!” She made her voice very quiet and confiding. He took a shuddering breath in, his blue eyes locked on her face, searching her eyes. She felt a pang right in her chest. She put her hand up to her heart. She literally felt a sense of tender pain. His eyes were so blue and innocent and curious, taking her in. “
Ai, que lindo
!” She whispered, smiling at him.

Daniel’s eyes widened as Elijah suddenly leaned forward, reaching for Alma, who glanced at Daniel questioningly, and then opened her arms. She cuddled Elijah close as he titled his head back, his eyes still locked on hers. “Oh, he’s all hot and sweaty,” she said, concerned. “Is the car too hot?”

“No, it’s cool enough with the AC running. He just always wakes up crying and hot and sweaty. I feel so bad for him. Usually I have to sing a song to make him stop crying, but look at that.” Daniel made no move to get out of the car, watching his baby and Alma.

“A song? Oh, you like to sing? Any song or a special kind of song?” She looked at Daniel for a moment before looking back at Elijah as she smoothed his sweaty hair into spikes on the top of his head.

“It’s a special wake up song, about the nap being over,” said Daniel, looking embarrassed.

“Oh, I never heard it,” she said seriously to Elijah.

“I made it up.”

Elijah lifted his hand and patted Alma on the cheek. “Da.”

“Yeah? You want your daddy to sing?”

“I think
da
means
that
. He says it a lot.”

“No, I have to disagree. I think he is saying daddy, sing for me please. Sing the song about the nap being over.” Alma nodded, smiling, looking at Elijah. The baby’s weight was so wonderful in her arms, he filled them perfectly. He was so warm and smelled so deliciously of pure baby sweetness.

She smiled hugely when Daniel sang it, and Elijah smiled too, looking into Alma’s face.

Daniel gathered Elijah’s things and got out of the car. He opened the passenger side door for Alma and Elijah.

“I’m sure he wants you to carry him,” she said. She actually was afraid of standing up and walking with him. What if she dropped him? She really did not have a great deal of experience with babies. Easily, Daniel bent down and lifted Elijah.

“Don’t worry, buddy, she’s coming with us. See that house? We’re going there.” Daniel pointed to the faux adobe house in the gated community. The houses all had a uniformity about them, and each had a small lawn of short, green grass. Scott and Patrick’s house stood out for one reason. “See the flag? That’s a rainbow, little man!”

“Da!” Elijah pointed.

* * *

Patrick and Scott opened the door as they walked up the path to the house. There was a flurry of greetings and introductions, and then Scott took the diaper bag from Daniel. Then two small children, Jylan, and his younger brother, Jaydon, rushed to Alma, holding her legs. Jasmine was close behind, and she sat at Alma’s feet, patting her shoe. Each child looked nearly identical, with bright, dark eyes and shiny, straight, black hair.

Alma bent down and picked up Jasmine, who then regarded Elijah steadily.

“Da.” Elijah reached his hand out toward her.

She hid her face in Alma’s neck, then peeked back at Elijah curiously.

“Let’s step out back and get them tuckered out before we even attempt to sit down and have rational conversation,” said Patrick, leading everyone to the back door. They stepped outside into the backyard which was shaded by some mature cottonwood trees.

“Remember? Before kids? When we would discuss oh, politics, films, current events…?” Scott smiled, taking Jasmine from Alma while Patrick handed Alma and Daniel chilled glasses of lemonade. Jasmine flung her head back and cried out in protest. “Here’s one for you, Minnie!” Scott gave Jasmine a sippy cup, which stopped her cries.

“Now we’re so boring. It’s all: kids! They hate to get into the bath, but once they’re in, you can’t get them out, am I right?”

Daniel looked at both men, surprised. “That’s exactly what Elijah does!”

Scott and Patrick laughed.

In the backyard, there was a small water table set up, a sand box shaped like a turtle, some toys on a large quilt and little scooters and tricycles.

“See my new shoes?” Jylan stuck his foot out and looked at Alma, his dark eyes flashing. “Want to see how fast I can run?”

“Oh, yes, show me,” said Alma, enthusiastically.

Jylan ran to the fence and then back, his arms pumping furiously, his face utterly intent.

“
Mijo
, you ran so fast, I was amazed!” Alma put her hands to her face.

He grinned and looked away. “Yeah, I’m so fast now.”

A small, older woman with white hair pinned in a chignon stepped out into the back yard.

“Meemaw!” Jylan ran to her. “Alma watched me run so fast!”

“Well, now, isn’t that nice.” The children’s grandmother greeted Alma and Daniel was introduced to her. Elijah fussed in his arms as Daniel shook her hand.

“Kindly looks as though he’s teething,” she said, peering at the baby.

“Yes, I think he’s getting another tooth.” Daniel nodded.

“What we used to do in my day was take a handkerchief, see,” she began earnestly. “Tie it in a little knot.”

Scott and Patrick looked at each other, horrified, and shook their heads at Daniel, out of sight of Meemaw.

“Dip it in the whiskey and the sugar. Then you let him suck on it. That’s a sugar-teat. Fix him right up, you’ll see.” Her Southern voice was melodic and slow.

“That’s…  Thank you!” He waited respectfully until she had turned away, then nodded reassuringly at Patrick and Scott, who were still violently shaking their heads.
Sugar-teat
? He tried not to laugh. Alma bit her lip.

Daniel set Elijah down on the quilt, joining Jasmine and Scott. Alma sat down, too, while Patrick filled the water table for Jylan and Jadon, reminding them to keep the water in the water table and reminding them that the sand was supposed to stay in the sand box. Patrick walked with Meemaw into the house.

Daniel reached into the diaper bag and gave Elijah his bottle of formula. “He just woke up.” Elijah put both hands up to the bottle and drank furiously, squinting his eyes.

“Oh,
papi
was thirsty,” said Alma softly.

“Whoa, look at him chugging that down,” marveled Scott.

Patrick joined them. “Meems is going to lie down for a while. She gets tired in the afternoon. Do you need anything else for him? We have baby food, finger food. Does he have any food allergies or intolerances?”

“Thanks, no, we’re good,” said Daniel, smiling.

“I can’t wait for Alma and you to try the Mexican wedding cookies I made!” He dashed into the house and came out with a plate, holding it out to each of them. On the plate were round cookie balls, sprinkled with powdered sugar. “It’s Alma’s family recipe, her grandmother’s, then with Edmundo’s enhancements, but I made them gluten free, too. I think Jadon might be gluten intolerant. He keeps getting tummy aches. Hey, this recipe would work for…”

He faltered, catching Scott’s eye, who, having widened his eyes at him, gently put a cookie up to Patrick’s mouth. “Babe, you got to have one! So good!”

Alma took another cookie. “Perfect, Patrick! These
polvorones
came out great.” She felt flustered, knowing that Patrick was about to say that the gluten free cookies would be good for Ben, who had celiac disease. She crunched the cookie, savoring its nutty, powdery sweetness, trying to not think of Ben.