Page 21 of Season of Mercy
The waitress hurried away.
He leaned to her. “Do you know what menudo is made from?”
“Yep. Not only I know what it’s made from, I can cook it, too. I love Tex-Mex food, especially chicken mole and menudo.” Mercy’s lips widened in a smile. She had slightly plump lips, with a touch of pink lipstick tonight. Very kissable lips...
Ethan made a mental headshake. He needed to snap out of it.
Mamá Rosa snapped her fingers. “Yes! Ethan told me you make better chicken mole than his mom.Por supuesto, we’re not going to tell that to my sister-in-law. We’ll keep it a secret.”
“Por supuesto.” Ethan nodded. He felt it wise not to point out that due to his aunt’s loud voice, half of the restaurant now knew that secret.
“Holler if you need anything.Bienvenida a la familia.” Mamá Rosa grinned at Mercy and stomped away.
“She said, welcome to the family. Are you okay?” He pushed the plate with chips toward Mercy.
“Yes. Your aunt is...” Mercy seemed to try to find an appropriate word and gave up. “Wow.”
“Yep. Wait till you meetallmy cousins.”
Mercy’s eyes became round. “Seven of them.”
“Well, not exactly. Eat.” He moved a bowl of salsa in her direction.
Mercy bowed her head and said grace.
He admired how she’d kept her faith despite all that had happened to her. His faith, on the other hand, had weakened during his adult years.
She munched on chips, the crunching sound filling the air. “I never asked how many cousins you had. So it’s more than seven?”
“Twenty-five. I have two more aunts who had nine children each.” Mamá Rosa wasn’t kidding when she’d said she had a small family.
Mercy coughed a little and hurried to drink her iced tea. “Are all of your aunts as impressive as Mamá Rosa?”
“If by impressive you mean loud, no.” He chuckled as he took a chip and scooped up salsa with it. “One of my aunts islouder. Several of my cousins are married by now and have children. It gets pretty crowded during holidays. It’s a good thing my father has a spacious yard.”
She glanced up at him. “I’m rather shy around people I don’t know.”
He glimpsed a flash of worry in her eyes. “I’ll be there. And you know my parents, who adore you. And now Mamá Rosa, too. Everybody will love you.”
Her lips tugged up a little. “You think so?”
“I know so.”
A mouthwatering scent announced the arrival of their food before the footsteps of the waitress did.
Mercy seemed to relax and chatted about Stevie over the spoonfuls ofmenudoand bites oftaquitos con bistec. Ethan’s heart swelled as she told him about the drawing Stevie had made. It meant a lot to him that the boy included Ethan in the drawing.
True to his aunt’s word, the food was delicious.
Ethan leaned against the back of his chair after finishing his dinner. He’d never thought much about having children, to his parents’ chagrin. So how did it happen that he felt this overwhelming, caring love for Mercy’s son? No, Stevie wasn’t only Mercy’s son.
Ethan leaned forward. “I want to adopt Stevie. Would you be okay with that?”
Mercy’s mouth formed a perfecto. “Are you sure?”
“I already think of him like my own son. Adopting him would just make it official.”
She took a sip of iced tea. “Stevie thinks of you as his daddy. But... at his young age, he already has a fear of abandonment. His biological father walked out on him too many times.”
