Page 18 of Finding Basil
The thought of it should have sent him running. He’d never been one to dream of marrying anyone, but for some reason, he didn’t want to run. Herb thought of it as if he’d wanted it all along, a special guy in a home he’d made his own, and fields of herbs outside the window sending waves of scents into the house on summer breezes.
The road took them farther from Foggy Basin, and on the side were lines of Japanese elm, shading their way from the outside of barbed wire fences. They moved over a little bridge that crossed a running stream, and then Basil turned right, taking the road under a sign declaring,Casa Jimenez.
The road wound around the two fields that held the last vestiges of the cabbages they grew, and to the left of them, Herb saw the orchard, lines of trees tall and strong that gave the family most of their income.
“It’s so beautiful here, Basil.”
“We like it. The house isn’t big like yours. My folks added a couple of rooms in the back, and the yard, well, that is where we usually gather when all the family comes each Sunday.”
“Even in winter?”
“We have a fireplace outside and heaters. We rarely stay inside. There’s just too many of us.”
That made him nervous as hell. “Too many? Like…how many?”
With a sly smile, Basil glanced over and said, “You’ll see.”
Chapter Five
Thehousewasaone-story yellow ranch house, and the immediate yard was fenced in split-rail wood. On the side was a pergola that was covered in wisteria and honeysuckle vines, and the pergola itself was as big as the house, or so it looked from where Basil parked alongside the other ten or so vehicles.
They’d heard the music halfway down the road as they passed the fields, an upbeat tune from the eighties. What was louder, however, were the voices. There was laughter and conversation that floated just above the music; the timbre and harmony of the laughter made it feel almost as if it were part of the music.
When they pulled in, Herb saw why. There were about thirty people all crowded under the pergola, and the smell of food hit him, making his stomach growl from the sudden pangs of hunger.
“That’s my family,” Basil said, waving to those who were waving at him.
A group of them, all men, came to the truck and slapped their hands on it as one goaded Basil, “get out here and show off your new fella!”
Basil was blushing wildly. “Diego, shut up! He’s not…he’s my friend.”
Herb laughed and said, “For now.”
Basil’s head swiveled fast, and his eyes were huge, then he laughed and agreed. “Yeah. For now.”
Never had it been just so…easy. Basil was easy to like, easy to be around, and Herb didn’t feel like he had to climb mountains and buy expensive things just to impress him. They had yet to so much as kiss, and yet he knew that their sex would be as easy. Hot and intense, but not contrived or a show.
All the men in Basil’s family were handsome, and the women were movie-star gorgeous. Basil led him around to introduce him to each and every one of them, and he remembered the names, but didn’t think he’d ever place them with the right faces.
Maria, Connie, Mel, Cruz, Chuey, Leona, Pilar, Jose, Mark, Marko, Deana, Lila…it went on and on…
But they were welcoming and warm people who handed him a beer with a wedge of lime in it before he’d so much as said hello. They were settled on one of the many picnic tables, and the smoke from the grill, that was made of an old metal barrel, choked him as the wind changed.
“Carne asada. The chilis cooking chokes you,” Basil told him in his ear. “Sorry!”
“No! It smells delicious, really!”
“You eat chili?” One of Basil’s cousins…Jose? Well, whichever one it was, asked.
“I do, actually. Some of my favorite takeout meals back in the city were hot Thai food.”
“Thai,” another one of the men scoffed. “Latino food is hotter and better.”
One woman came and sat across from them and told Herb, “It’s nice to finally meet you. My brother has told me all about you, and you are as handsome as he said.”
“Sabrina! I’m going to kill you,” Basil grumbled, blushing more.
“You can’t. It’s the hormones; my mouth just…can’t lie,” she said and winked at Herb.
