Page 70 of Renegade

I’d meant to get around to that after David and Elizabeth’s wedding. I was supposed to be the next Martha Stewart by now. Instead, I’d relied on takeout and frozen dinners. Luckily, I had a friend who was a great cook so I called her for the easiest meal to make when you don’t know your way around a kitchen.

Her answer had been immediate.“Spaghetti. It’s so simple. And if you’re feeling intimidated, just brown your ground beef and then use jarred pasta sauce.”

Unfortunately, she’d also invited me over…repeatedly. I hadn’t quite told her about Mike yet. It was too soon and I’d feel like I was rubbing her face in it. That, and I still wasn’t quite sure what he and I were, and I didn’t have the courage to ask.

“Sweetie, I’m sorry, but I made plans. I haven’t seen these girls since college. But, while I have you on the phone, should I get six or seven boxes of spaghetti?”

To be honest, I hadn’t talked to the girls I went to college with since…well, college, actually.

Elizabeth laughed. “How many friends are you feeding? One box is plenty for four people.”

Oh, right. There it is right on the side.

I kept the one box of spaghetti and put the other five back.

“Look, I’m gonna let you go so that I can finish getting everything I need. I’ll see you on Monday.” I still needed ground beef and pasta sauce.

She sighed, “Okay, but if you change your mind, give me a call. I’ll be here.”

That was the problem with dating her soon to be ex-husband’s best friend, there was never going to be a good time to tell her.

God, she’d probably see me as a traitor.

Mike-

“Leaving work soon. I’m swamped with this case right now. Just make yourself at home.”

I read the text and put my phone back down on the kitchen counter with a dramatic sigh. A large pot of water was bubbling vigorously on the stovetop and I consulted the pasta box again for instructions.

“The water needs to come to a vigorous boil, but how do I know when that is?” I was immensely regretting my decision to try cooking.

At least the ground beef was turning out okay. I just threw the raw meat and the pasta sauce into a large soup pot and let it heat up. I lifted the lid and stared at it. The meat must just cook in the sauce. I cranked the heat up to high and took a long swig from my wine glass. It turned out that drinking had taken away most of my cooking-related anxiety.

My phone began ringing and I saw that it was my grandmother. “Hey,Abuelita!”

“Hola, Mija. How are you?” Hearing her voice made me feel like crying. I wished that she lived closer to me so that I could have her come over and walk me through this whole thing.

I tried to sound upbeat. “I’m doing great. I’m cooking!”

She made a noise that sounded a lot like laughter. “Oh? And what are you making?”

I frowned at the bubbling water. It didn’t look like it was boiling enough. “Um, spaghetti with meat sauce. I made a salad too. That was easy.”

“Mija, did you use my trick and have the butcher grind up a roast for you? You get more meat for a much better price.”

Um…yeah, I had completely forgotten that she did that.

“Yes, such a smart tip. Thanks, Abuelita. Um, how do you know if the water is boiling enough to add the pasta?”

She replied patiently, “Lauren, if it’s bubbling a lot, it’s ready. Just dump your pasta in.”

I did as she said and then walked out onto the porch to sit on the swing. I hadn’t been back since I spent the night last week. The last time we’d been together was at my apartment and that hadn’t been great because we got interrupted by some drunk guy and then Mike’s job.

The rest of the week had been so crazy for me at work that I came home most evenings and fell into bed fully clothed. We were in the weird stages of getting to know someone. If we saw each other every day, it probably wouldn’t be an issue.

As it was, I felt like we took two steps forward and then three steps back. His texts had been short and to the point and our phone calls hadn’t lasted more than five minutes. I just told myself that his week had been as hectic as mine.

It was absolutely not because he’d changed his mind about me.That thought left me with a pit in my stomach and a weight in my chest.

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