Helen seemed to take it all well and was interested in more. I tried to get her to open up about her life a bit, but she was as cagey as I probably was. She told me her father was sick and that her mother took care of him. That she’d come back from Chicago to run the diner because her sister had made a bit of a mess of things. It explained a lot about how the diner changed over the last year.
She told me about some of her tattoos and some of her experiences in high-paced kitchens in Chicago, which only enticed me to want to know more. She was a fascinating woman, unlike anyone I had met in Ashford for sure. I hoped that our paths would cross again sooner rather than later, and I could try to weasel some more time with her.
I was still thinking about her when I parked at the general store. The tiny taco place next door had a line snaking almost to the door and the smell of them nearly doubled me over. I had already made up my mind to go grab a few for dinner when I nearly slammed my cart into someone coming out of another aisle.
“No way,” I muttered.
“Everett?” Helen asked, surprised. “How funny running into you again.”
“Well, clearly the universe is very interested in us shopping together,” I said. “What are you here for today?”
“Me? Just some lightbulbs and cleaning supplies. Stuff I didn’t think to buy for the new apartment yet. You?”
“Dog toys,” I said. “Deacon is hanging out with Lily for a bit and then dropping her back off at my place later this evening. They’re trying to introduce Eloise to her and see if maybe getting a puppy would be something that wouldn’t completely wreck their life.”
“That’s pretty cool,” she said.
“Hey,” I said, a feeling coming over me that I was helpless to stop. The universe was trying to tell me something by putting her in my path for the third time in two days. I was going to have to take my shot. “I have a question.”
“Sure,” she said. “What’s up?”
“I was thinking about grabbing some tacos for dinner after I got done in here. The little place next door is my go-to when I’m not grabbing dinner at the diner. Would you like to have dinner with me there tonight?”
“Do they do sit-down dinners?” she asked.
“Yeah, they do,” I said. “But the line outside is for the window for the street tacos. They have a little dine-in spot on the other side.”
“That sounds great actually,” she said. “I love tacos.”
We chatted as we walked side by side through the general store. She picked up a few things she needed for the apartment and then I grabbed a bunch of dog toys. It was nice spending time with her that way. It was almost domestic.
I was used to shopping with Deacon or even Carter. We often had to go grab supplies for cookouts and bonfires. I forgot how close you could feel to someone when you saw them shop, when you knew the things that they put in their cart and why they chose those particular items. Watching Helen choose brands of lightbulbs was weirdly intimate. Like I was seeing something that I wasn’t meant to see.
We continued around, gathering all the things we needed as the sun went down outside. Nightfall was coming, and with it, the taco place would stop selling street tacos and move to dine-in only. I tried not to hurry her but moved through the lines of stuff at the store quickly at the same time. When we had paid, I helped her load everything into her car and we walked over to the taco place.
It was a nice night, and from where we were in the parking lot, the restaurant didn’t look too terribly busy, so we strolled over. The conversation with her was easy and free, but there was still an underlying tension. A feeling that there was more behind every word we said. That we were both thinking things that we were trying to keep hidden, even from ourselves.
“Oh wow,” she said as we got inside. “This place is authentic.”
I nodded. The family that ran the place had literally come up from Mexico two years prior. I happened to have met the father when his brother came to us looking for day work. The whole family worked there, and he had brought tacos in to share and promote the restaurant. It took exactly one taco to know that was where I wanted to spend every lunch break that wasn’t going to be at Dina’s.
“So, how is Lily adjusting to your place?” she asked as we sat down at one of the tiny, red, circular tables.