Page 70 of Culinary Chaos
“Really?”
“Really what?” Angelica slowed down and frowned.
“You really want to know?” Hope couldn’t understand this woman. One minute she was talking business, the next she wanted to know what six-year-olds were interested in reading.
Angelica shrugged slightly, but she didn’t say anything else. She started to walk again, stepping under the first string of lights. The golden color washed in her hair and against her skin,making Hope’s stomach tighten in response. She jogged a little to catch up before slowing again.
“We’re readingThe Snow Queenby Hans Christian Andersen. I wasn’t joking when I said fairytales. She’s obsessed with them.” Hope flexed her fingers down by her sides. She wanted to reach out and touch Angelica’s hand again, but she didn’t feel as though the time was right.
“I don’t supposeFrozenhas anything to do with that.”
“No, not at all. Why would you think that?” Hope laughed through her sarcasm.
“My niece is eight.” Angelica sighed heavily. “No, she’s nine now. It’s been too long since I’ve seen her.”
“How many nieces and nephews do you have?” Hope had no idea why she wanted to know, but she did. She was more intrigued by Angelica by the day, despite her pulling back and pushing Hope away, and the whiplash of emotions that she gave her.
“One of each.” Angelica turned a corner, going down a less busy street. “My brother is quite a bit younger than me, and his wife is younger than him. And they started late.”
“Rex is four years older than me, so when we had Eva, he wasn’t sure he wanted another one.”
“Did you?” Angelica asked.
“No. One was good.” Hope curled her fingers. Normally when she was asked that question it came with judgment, or perhaps it was guilt that would hit her because she thought there was some sort of expectation that she should have more than one kid. But that didn’t show up this time, and it felt nice.
“What’s that?” Angelica stopped, listening intently.
Hope caught the sound as soon as she started to focus. “A band. Tatum said something about Friday nights on the Plaza. They have a small local band come in and play.”
“And it’s free?”
“Yeah. Wanna check them out?” Hope’s lips were already curling upward. It seemed she was always smiling when she was around Angelica. And she didn’t exactly want to stop doing that either. Without waiting, she started to walk in the direction of the music. Angelica followed diligently, and it didn’t take them long to find the throng of people.
It wasn’t a concert at the Staples Center, but it was well attended from what Hope could tell, and the local band had enough energy to keep everyone engaged. She started to move along to the music, closing her eyes and feeling the beat as it filled her soul.
“Dance with me,” Hope said.
“What?” Angelica’s eyes widened. “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“It’s not a run, but it’s a close second, isn’t it?”
“I’m not eighteen anymore, Hope.” Angelica’s lips pulled tightly, like she was trying to keep herself from smiling.
“Come on, it’ll be fun.” Hope lit up, letting the music take over her soul. She started to move, slowly at first, pushing past the embarrassment and the self-consciousness and moving into the joy that she wanted to feel and experience.
Her hips slid back and forth as she raised her hands above her head. The beat moved with her heart, sliding through her. She opened her eyes, laughing and grinning at Angelica as she stood in complete awe, watching Hope’s every move. Putting her hands out toward her, Hope waited a few seconds.
Without a second excuse, Angelica reached forward and took Hope’s hands, joining her in the dance. They moved together, their tennis shoes scraping on the sidewalk as they spun and rocked and moved and slid to the beat of the music. Other people around them danced in their own right, but Hope only had eyes for Angelica, for the way she moved, for the lightness in her step that Hope had never seen.
This was a side of Angelica that Hope didn’t know existed. Well, maybe she did if she thought about it. That first encounter they had with Wade, with the camera shuttering in their faces as it captured the light teasing and flirting. Wade had even said he never got pictures with Angelica smiling in them.
Hope pulled Angelica closer and then spun her around fully before swaying her hips back and forth again. Angelica laughed, the sound bubbling up and filling Hope’s soul even more than the silence she had craved before.
The song slowed down as it ended, and Hope slowed right along with it. Angelica’s hands were in hers still, their fingers intertwined with a halo of lights surrounding them and the stars in the sky above them. Her heart thundered, but not from the dance, not from moving so quickly or from being in the tops of the high mountains.
It was from that kiss.
She bit her lip, dropping her gaze down to Angelica’s mouth, to the slight part in her lips as she breathed heavily, the gentle bowed curve as she smiled, still lost in the joy they’d created. What would it be like this time?
