“Because she’s gonna surprise Romero for Christmas,” Valerie chirped in delight. “He’s been wanting another baby for years!”
“Yeah, he has.” Alex laughed. “He was just talking about it the other day. He’s gonna be so stoked.” He walked over to Isabel and hugged her. “Congrats.”
After Isabel pulled away and thanked him, still feeling a bit choked up, Alex brought up something she hadn’t even thought of. “If you’re gonna want to keep this under wraps, don’t tell Manny and Max.”
Isabel’s eyes shot open. “That’s right,” she said, bringing her hand to her head. “Those two are incapable of keeping secrets.”
“Not to mention neither knows how to whisper.” Valerie laughed. “They’d probably discuss it right in front of him and then for the life of them not be able to figure out how he could’ve possibly heard them.”
“Yeah,” Alex agreed, laughing now too. “You may as well just tell Romero if you’re gonna tell them and ask them to keep it under wraps.”
“Okay, so let’s all agree no one tells Manny or Max,” Isabel said, pointing at them. “I don’t mind if anyone else knows like your family,” she said to Alex. “Just as long as they know I’m keeping it from him and his uncles until Christmas.”
As much as she mocked Max and Manny for their inability to keep a secret, she wasn’t much better. She’d never been good at lying, especially not to Romero, and she knew keeping this from him for the next few weeks would require lying to him. But the end result would be absolutely worth it. He was going to be beyond thrilled.
Isabel was already wondering how she’d get through Thanksgiving tomorrow when already just the thought of cutting up the pansa for the menudo made her a little nauseated. Still it was less than a month away. She could do this. Her morning sickness with her second pregnancy hadn’t been as bad as with her first. Isabel could only hope the third time was even better.
“Okay, I gotta go,” she said, remembering Romero was waiting for her at home with the kids.
The lying had already started. She’d taken advantage of the fact that Romero and the kids were caught up watching E.T. for the hundredth time to say she had to run out and get an ingredient she’d forgotten for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dinner. She’d been in the kitchen all day, but after another nauseous episode, she couldn’t stand it anymore and decided to run out and get the home-pregnancy test and make a pit stop at Valerie’s. Amanda was another one she didn’t trust to spill the beans. Her young daughter asked a million questions. Isabel would be forced to tell her what she was up to if she saw her buy the test, so she’d been forced to wait until Amanda was sucked into the movie and wouldn’t immediately tag along with her to the store as she normally did.
Isabel even covered her tracks by pushing the brown sugar to the back of the pantry because she would never forget to buy any of the ingredients for her contribution to their Thanksgiving feast. She knew Romero knew this as well. Just like with everything else she was meticulous about her grocery lists. That was where the new job came in handy. She blamed it on being so busy and exhausted last week when she’d started getting all her stuff together for Thanksgiving, and Romero had easily bought it, barely turning away from the TV when she told him.
“Was it crazy busy?” Romero asked as soon as she walked in.
“Yes,” she said, feigning annoyance. “The supermarket is always a mess the day before Thanksgiving.”
Romero kissed her then followed her into the kitchen. “No wonder you were gone so long.”
“Aha,” she said, putting the box of brown sugar on the counter.
“The kids polished off that casserole you made yesterday,” he said, opening the fridge. “But that boy of yours ate so much of it I barely got some.”
“The chili beans will be done soon.”
“Oh yeah!” Romero smiled big, turning to the pot on the stove. He closed the fridge and walked over to the pantry next.
“Did you get everything you’re in charge of,” she asked, turning to watch Romero searching through the pantry. “Honey, the chili is probably already done. Just get yourself a bowl if you’re that hungry. There’s corn bread and all the fixings right there on the counter”
The second she saw the box in his hand she froze. “Look, babe,” he said, looking at the box of brown sugar she’d set down on the counter then at her a bit dolefully. “You went to the crowded ass market for nothing. The brown sugar is right here.”
Isabel looked at him and frowned. “I knew I’d bought it.” She quickly turned away to look into the chili pot instead because she knew how bad she was at lying. She didn’t want to look him in the face when she did. “But I searched and searched and couldn’t find it.”
“Probably because it was way in the back.”
Romero closed the pantry door and proceeded to make himself a bowl of chili as he assured her everything he was in charge of for tomorrow was ready: the air mattresses for the out-of-town guests who’d be coming back here after dinner at Moreno’s, the table extension in the dining room for the day-after brunch they always had, and all the booze for the mimosas and Bloody Marys they’d have at said brunch.
She was about to sit down and have some chili with him when her phone rang. Romero reached for it, glancing at the screen before he handed it to her. “Elliot?”
How Valerie would think for even a second that she didn’t know about Romero hating her working with Elliot was beyond her. Isabel was certain of it now. Her husband wasn’t even trying to hide that fact, and his lethal glare now was proof of that.
Isabel took the phone from him, shrugging. She had no idea why Elliot would be calling her. He only ever texted her and even that was few and far between. “Hey Elliot,” she said, walking away from the kitchen table.
“Isabel, I hope I didn’t interrupt anything.”
“No, not at all.” She stopped before walking out of the kitchen, knowing it’d be better for argument’s sake that she take this call right in front of Romero. So she walked around the center island and leaned on it, facing her very annoyed-looking husband. “What’s going on?”
“My plans for Thanksgiving fell through. My buddy who was supposed to come with me to Mammoth is a cop, and he got recalled last minute.”
“Oh no,” Isabel said, genuinely feeling bad for him. She reached for a napkin to wipe a smear on the counter. “That sucks. So what are you gonna do?”
This was his first Thanksgiving divorced, and his ex-wife had the kids, so he’d be alone. They’d talked about his skiing trip to Mammoth, and he’d been really excited.
“Well, that’s why I’m calling you. I’d been trying to decide since I found out yesterday if I should be pathetic and spend tomorrow night sitting alone at Denny’s or just call you and ask if the invitation to spend Thanksgiving with you guys at the restaurant you mentioned still stood.”
Invitation? Oh, Good Lord.
Isabel glanced up at Romero, who was sitting back in his chair now, staring at her and not even eating. She’d never actually invited him, and she couldn’t believe now that not only had he taken it that way he was actually taking her up on it.
“Sure,” she said her voice nearly squeaking, and she smiled at Romero before saying the next part. “Yeah, that’s fine. You can even bring someone if you want to. We always make way too much food.”
Romero sat up slowly as if it just dawned on him that she’d just invited Elliot to Moreno’s tomorrow. His eyes went wide, so she brought her finger to her lips.
“Are you sure it’s okay. I don’t want to intrude or anything.”
“Oh no, no. That’s fine,” she assured him then gave Romero her best puppy-dog look and pouted. “I’m sure my husband would love to meet you.”
Romero’s head fell back, but it wasn’t in that playful way when he was exasperated about something. She knew him well enough to know he was pissed.
The moment she hung up she began to explain. “He was supposed to go out of town for the
holiday. It was the only reason I ever mentioned anything.”
She realized she was talking fast, but Romero had that look on his face, the hardcore one reserved only for when he was truly mad at her, which hadn’t happened in years, and she didn’t like it.
“He was talking about how hard this year’s holidays were going to be since they’re the first since his divorce and how glad he’d been when he got the invitation to go skiing, so I just mentioned he would’ve been welcome to join us at Moreno’s. But his plans were solid. It was a riskless invitation. I knew he’d be out of town. I’d get credit for being nice even though I knew—”
“Why do you want credit for being nice to him?”
Isabel nearly groaned. “You know that’s not what I meant. I just meant that—”
“So is he coming with us tomorrow or meeting us there?”
She exhaled deeply, feeling defeated. This was the last thing she needed. “Meeting us there. What was I supposed to say, baby? The friend he was supposed to go skiing with is a cop and got recalled at the last minute. His entire family is back east. All the family members here are on his ex-wife’s side.”
Romero stared her down for a long moment before once again surprising her as he’d done often when it came to Elliot. He shrugged. “I guess I finally get to meet this guy.”
The relief was instant as was her gratitude. The last thing she wanted was to be arguing during the holidays. She walked around the center divider and hugged Romero the moment she reached him then kissed his head. “Thank you, babe, for not making a big deal about this.”
Romero brought his arm around her and looked up, puckering his lips so she kissed them. It turned into one of his intense kisses, and she felt his hand travel down her waist and over her ass where he squeezed hard. When she pulled away, she was surprised to see him genuinely smirk.
“What?”
“This should be fun: your stuffy professor boss at the same table with me, Manny, and Max.”
This time she did groan, bringing her hand to her face. While she was incredibly relieved that this hadn’t turned into an argument, she hadn’t even thought about what Elliot was in for with this family.
Six
Sirens
T
he Morenos gave all their employees the day off on Thanksgiving. So even though they’d been having their Thanksgiving feasts at the restaurant for years now, ever since their families got just too big for any of their homes, they still did all their own cooking right there at the restaurant.
As soon as they’d arrived, Izzy headed to the kitchen to help with the cooking. All the men were on kid duty. While the women prepared the food, the guys hung out in the dining room, looking after kids and babies and watching football on the television screens hung all around the restaurant. Romero had long ago figured out the women didn’t mind doing all the work in the kitchen because the wine and sangria started flowing pretty early and there was a whole lot of laughing going on. Most of the food was already done. They just hung out in the kitchen, pretending to be busy, but the guys knew better.
None of them minded or dared complain. It was a good time for all of them. Besides, for Romero anyway, it’d been years since he had any kids in diapers or babies that needed to be watched every second. Though Izzy knew full well he wouldn’t mind if he did.
He frowned, taking a sip of beer, distracted from his thoughts for a moment by the amount of extended family that continued to arrive. “Damn,” he said as another herd walked in. “Who are all these people?” he asked Sal, who sat across from him. “I don’t remember you having this much family here last year.”
Sal turned and stood to see Alex greeting the herd with a smile. “That’s my Tio Chema and his family.” Sal turned back to Romero. “You remember my mom’s cousin, right?”
Romero peered at Sal’s uncle, but his name didn’t ring a bell. The door opened again as more people walked in. Alex finished greeting the first group, inviting them to take a seat anywhere, and then moved on to the next group. Sal, who was standing near where Romero sat, had started to say something about not being sure who some of the other people arriving were. “My mom goes nuts inviting everyone, even people from her senior club.” He turned back toward the door. “I don’t know who that guy is either.”
The guy Sal was referring to was a tall guy in a sports coat and jeans, holding a big flower arrangement. The young girl with him couldn’t have been more than ten maybe twelve.
“Mommy!”
Romeo’s voice behind him, calling out loudly, pulled Romero’s thoughts back to what he was supposed to be doing—keeping an eye on the kids. He turned in time to see Romeo rushing to Izzy, holding a cup full of something that splashed out some as he held it clumsily. Izzy had just walked out of the kitchen. Romero winced, glancing around, and quickly located Mandy over at a table with the rest of the kids.
“Oops,” he mouthed with a smirk as Izzy raised her brow at him in mock disapproval.
He was about to teasingly raise his beer at her when he saw her turn toward the entrance and her playful scolding expression morphed into a big bright smile. That brought his attention back to where Alex was standing talking to the guy in the sports coat and the little girl. He watched as Isabel walked over and greeted the guy with a half hug and he handed her the flowers. “Who’s that?” he asked Sal just as it hit him.
“I dunno,” Sal said, turning to Izzy, who handed the flowers to Alex then walked over toward Romero.
“One of her family members?” Sal offered, turning to look at Romero.
“Nah,” Romero said with the sudden need to take an extra-long swig of his beer.
Of course Manny, Aida, and Max would choose that moment to come over and take a seat at Romero’s table. “When’s the food coming out?” Max asked as he sat down.
Sal turned back to the kitchen area. “I think they’re already bringing things out.”
Romero managed to pull his sights from Izzy and the guy he was pretty sure was Elliot for a moment to glance back and see that the food was being brought out. It’d be served buffet style as they always did on Thanksgiving even back when they’d had it at their home.
That morning, Romero had already been irritated by Elliot when he noticed Izzy had a text from him. But he’d been relieved when she told him he was just confirming that he was in fact bringing someone. Romero wouldn’t tell Izzy, but he’d been hoping that meant Elliot was bringing a date. Not just for the sake of relieving his own mind a bit but for the sake of keeping his uncles from making any more implications.
Izzy reached them and introduced Elliot and his daughter, Denver. Romero took him in, greeting him just as nicely and politely as everyone else. He looked a lot younger than early to mid-thirties as Izzy had first said. And the very first thing he noticed when they got close enough was how much cologne the guy wore. For a second, he had a flashback of Cici, a girl who ironically he’d been in hot water over with Izzy once upon a time because her heavy perfume had lingered on him even hours after having hugged her. Romero couldn’t help but wonder if Elliot always wore this much, even at work, or if tonight was just special.
“So you’re teaching at the university level now,” Sal asked, impressed.
“Not really teaching,” Izzy said, visibly embarrassed by the sudden attention on her. “Elliot is the professor. I’m just assisting with a few of his classes.”
“Oh, you do a lot more than assist.” Elliot smiled at her widely then turned back to Sal and Romero, who could already feel the hair on the back of his neck beginning to rise. “She’s amazing.”
Whatever the hell else the professor said after that was no more than an annoying drone. If hearing another man—a man she worked side by side with–call his wife amazing wasn’t enough to light Romero up, seeing his beautiful Izzy blush over the compliment literally turned his stomach. Romero had always loved seeing her blush. She knew this. But right now he couldn’t think of a more exasperating sight. The moment his eyes
met hers he knew she understood because her timid smile went flat.
The only thing that forced him to keep his cool and not comment was the subtle but very telling lift of her brow. Over the years, he’d gotten to know every single little telltale sign of Izzy’s animated facial expressions. This one was her don’t-you-dare look.
Breathing in real fucking deep, Romero lifted his beer and took another swig. Logically, he knew she was right. This guy couldn’t be stupid enough to come here and say anything inappropriate about his feelings for her in front of her husband and family. Still, this only confirmed what Romero had already known before she’d even started working. Through no fault of hers, this guy would take to her the way Romero was certain most men did. How could they not? Izzy was perfect.
After some very brief small talk and trying to not glare at the guy going on and on about how great it was to work with his wife, Romero heard Izzy ask Denver if she’d like to go hang out at the table with all the kids. Denver looked up at her bashfully then at her dad. “Up to you,” Elliot said with a shrug.
The little girl thought about it for a moment then nodded. “C’mon,” Izzy said, holding out her hand with a sweet smile. “I’ll walk you over and introduce you.”
Denver tugged at her dad’s hand, and he laughed, looking back at Romero. “I’ll be back.”
Romero watched as all three walked off, his wife smiling brightly at the man who’d showed up with flowers for her—a married woman. Who the fuck does that?
Max fanned his hand in front of his nose. “Talk about loading up on the stink juice. I thought Manny was bad.”
“I only do that when I don’t have time to shower,” Manny protested.
Even as perturbed as Romero was still feeling, he didn’t want to upset or embarrass Izzy. “Will you keep it down?” Romero said with a frown. “He’s right there.”
“I am keeping it down,” Max said, whispering louder than some people talk.
“And who names their kid Denver?” Manny added in an equally loud whisper.
Tangled: A Moreno Brothers novella Page 5