Page 42 of Gentle Persuasion

“When are you due?” Debbie’s voice was wistful.

Tina rubbed her stomach, and her dark eyes softened perceptibly as her mouth curved upward. “I’m only five months. I have a way to go. But we’re hoping for a girl.”

“Cole’s sister just had a baby boy,” Debbie said. “Did you know Lily?”

“Only by name,” Tina said. “She’d already moved out of the house when Cole and Rick became partners.”

Tina saw the look in Debbie’s eyes every time Cole’s name was mentioned. All the worries she’d had regarding this woman from Oklahoma who’d captured Cole’s heart just disappeared. It was obvious that Debbie was very much in love with the man. She couldn’t understand what was holding them back from making an announcement about their relationship.

“So, have you known Cole long?” Tina asked.

“In here—” Debbie touched her heart “—all my life. It just took me a long time to find him.”

Tina caught her breath at the lyrical way Debbie described falling in love.

“Then what’s he going to do about it?”

The shocked look on Debbie’s face had Tina smiling apologetically. “I guess you see where Enrique gets his rudeness. Rick says I have no tact. But I care for Cole and I want him to be happy.”

Debbie’s hands stilled. Shadows darkened her eyes. “I don’t know what he’s going to do,” she said softly. “I’m just waiting.”

“I don’t understand,” Tina said.

“Sometimes I don’t either,” Debbie said. “But I think it has something to do with his being a policeman…and not getting married. What do you think?”

Tina threw her hands into the air and let loose with a string of Spanish. Debbie sat on the bar stool, stunned by Tina’s volatile outbreak as tomato juice ran down her elbows and onto the floor.

“You’re leaking,” Rick said, as he swiped a paper towel across Debbie’s arms and then down onto the floor. “And we can hear you in the other room, chiquita.” He leaned down and softened his criticism with a kiss.

Debbie looked down in surprise at the juice on her arms and jumped up, hoping that none of it had gotten on her clothing. She breathed a quick sigh of relief. She’d been spared.

“Now that you’ve cursed the four corners of the earth, my love, when can we expect our food?”

Tina made a playful swipe in Rick’s direction and shoved him away. “Get out of my kitchen. You eat when we’re through and not another minute before.” Then as he tried to make a graceful exit, she called after him, “Pour yourselves a little tequila. Soften up that fool you call a partner. Maybe my spicy cooking and this pretty woman will make him come to his senses.”

Rick’s eyebrows arched. His mouth pursed and a knowing expression came on his face. “Now, I know what set you off. You know what I’ve told you. Matchmaking doesn’t become you. Just let well enough alone, okay?”

Tina ignored him. “We eat in a few minutes. Go back to your Olympic games.”

Debbie smiled at the interchange between the pair. It was obvious from the way Rick touched Tina’s cheek and then her belly before he left that the love between them was strong. If only Cole could see, if only he’d let himself realize that marriages can work…and do.

***

The meal was finally served. And if Debbie thought the first bite was hot, she was totally convinced by the last one that Tina Garza had no spices left in her kitchen. She’d obviously used them all in her cooking.

“It was too hot?” Tina’s dark eyes mirrored concern as Debbie downed another glass of water.

“I’m not sure.” Debbie grinned. “But I think it took all the hair off my tongue.”

Enrique looked up from his meal and, for the first time since their arrival, took notice of the woman with his Uncle Cole. “You have hair on your tongue?” he asked with interest, and ran his finger across his own, testing the surface.

Laughter erupted. “It’s just an expression, Son,” Rick said. “I think it is probably a special one that only people in Oklahoma use.”

“Oh no,” Debbie assured him. “My grandmother always said that, and she was from Tennessee.” Then she lowered her voice and leaned over until she was eye level with Rick’s young son. “And, she also said that eating tomatoes sprinkled with black pepper made hair grow on a man’s chest.”

Enrique looked with interest at the bowl of pico de gallo that he’d refused all night long. He stared at Debbie and then back at the bowl and nodded sagely as if instantly understanding the logic of such a statement. And when he thought no one was looking, dished himself up a serving of the chopped tomato and onion, sprinkled it liberally with black pepper, and took it like a dose of medicine.

Cole tried not to laugh. But the intensity with which the child was chewing was too much. And when Enrique subversively slid his little hand up beneath the front of his Batman shirt and rubbed his chest, testing to see if anything had sprouted, it was too much to ignore.

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