Home Tears

“Thank you.”

“Yeah.” Jonah nodded and moved to her side. “Do you want to spice those up? I’ll go and light the grill.”

He was out the door as her hand came up to take the steaks from him. He’d already placed them on the counter, and she could hear him removing the cover from the grill outside.

Her mother once told her that spices attracted the best magic. They each had their own purpose. Garlic protected the soul against invading temptations. Oregano protected against cynicism. Parsley protected against old age. Her mother would go down the list, and Dani would sit there, mesmerized by everything her mother told her. She remembered lying in bed that night, and as she would look up at the ceiling, all the spices danced above her. They each twinkled, protecting her against the world.

Dani believed that for the longest time.

As she took the steaks out of the wrappings and placed them on a plate, Dani perused Aunt Mae’s old spice rack. Her eyes fell on the ginger, and for a moment, her fingers lingered. She knew the truth by now.

There was no magic.

There was no protection.

“Those steaks ready?” Jonah called from outside.

Dani went outside. “I don’t like my meat spiced.”

“Okay.” Jonah cast her an easy grin and flipped open the grill top. As he put the steaks inside, he asked, “You got anything else in there that you want grilled? I know some folks like a roasted corncob every now and then.”

A moment later, with slabs of butter placed inside the corn’s husk, Dani sat on the porch’s step as she watched Jonah flip the meat and everything else on the grill. She grabbed a few more vegetables and put them in tinfoil for the grill.

“You know,” Jonah began, his back turned to her. “The steaks look like my best work, if I have to say so myself.” He glanced at her and flashed a grin as he began to fill the plate with their food. Placing it on the porch’s table, he asked, “Got anything around here to drink? Maybe even some utensils?”

She’d forgotten to prepare the table.

She’d forgotten about a lot.

“I’m sorry. I was just…” Dani trailed off and saw that he wasn’t even waiting for a reply. Jonah had already ducked inside and emerged with most everything they needed. Plates. Forks. Knives. Butter. Salt. Two glasses and a pitcher of water.

She took the plates from his hand, and they arranged the table with the food in the middle. When she sat down, Jonah still stood. She cast a questionable grin his way, and Jonah chuckled, pulling out a bottle of beer from his back pocket.

“We can share, if you tell me one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Why you love that car so much.”

She’d been to hell and back, and that car was the only thing that still stood intact. “I bought that car with money I earned and because my sisters hated it.”

“I bet their boyfriends loved it.”

“That made them hate it even more.” Dani grinned. It was true. Julia had thrown more than her share of fits. She threatened, she pleaded, she cried, and every time—Aunt Kathryn and Erica would get pulled into it. Aunt Kathryn hated that car almost as much as Julia and Erica.

“I know I did.”

Dani looked up. Erica…

He pulled back the parted husks. “I’d never been to your home except one time. I saw your car, and I asked Erica about it, if it was hers, who owned it. Questions like those. Your sister blew up, literally just—she went off like a firecracker.”

“Bet that made her hotter.”

“No.” Jonah laughed. “I guess I was always grateful in some way.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know.” He shifted and leaned his elbows on the table, holding the corn just before his mouth. “I think—when I asked those questions about your car, your sister’s lid flew off, and I always thought that I got a window to the future. I saw a little into your sister. Scared the shit out of me. I tucked tail and ran.”

“She was so mad, too,” Dani noted, grinning. She still hadn’t moved to place any food on her plate. Her hands hadn’t left her lap. “You never dated Julia.”

“Ah nah. She was always kinda quiet around my crew, but some of the guys were into her. I wasn’t. Nah—I wanted to know who the owner of the Mustang was.”

“How come you never said anything?”

“We were at the Rush one day, and I saw you pull up to pick up Erica. I was going to come over then, but when you got out of the car…” Jonah shrugged. “I just…you had this look about you that…”

“What?”

“When I saw you, I recognized you from around town. I never really took notice of you, but that day at Tenderfoot—it looked like you wanted to be anywhere but around there. And then Erica snapped at you, and she made you wait for her.”

Erica wanted to finish hearing about Kelley Lynn’s date with Ted Foster. Dani knew from previous experience that Erica would make her wait for hours. Dani hadn’t wanted to wait. So when Erica turned her back on her, after chewing her head off, Dani turned right around and got inside the Mustang.

She laughed now at the memory. “I left her. She screamed my head off that night. I got the silent treatment for two weeks.” Those two weeks had been a vacation.

“Yeah.” Jonah grinned over his corncob at her. “Your sister was pissed.”