Roxane sighed. It was obvious she was the last one to know about Ciran being back and his ridiculous plan to own a taco truck. There were tacos everywhere. What made him think his would be special? “All right, Grandma. Thanks for letting me know!”
“Will you be here for the Fourth of July?” Grandma asked, as she always did.
All of the Quinns in town got together every holiday on the ranch that her grandparents ran. Well, they ran it with the help of her uncle Harvey. Okay, maybe Uncle Harvey really ran it and his parents just still lived there. It was something like that. “Of course, I’ll be there, Grandma! The only thing that would keep me away is if there was an event at the hotel, and with only a few weeks before the Fourth, I have a feeling there will be no event.”
“Good. You should be here for holidays. I don’t know how many I have left, you know.”
“I know, Grandma.” Roxane was well aware that her grandmother had been talking about how few holidays she had left for a good twenty years. She was in excellent health, and Roxane’s mother kept her tuned up like a brand new engine. “I’ll be there.”
“Bring a date, dear!” Her grandmother hung up right after saying that.
Roxie stood for a moment staring at her phone. “Bring a date? Since when has she asked me to bring a date?” Roxie shook her head and headed into the bathroom in her tiny little house. She loved her place. There were two bedrooms and one bathroom. It was as small as a human could possibly live in comfortably, and she was sure it would be too small for two humans, but for just her it was great.
She ran a tub of water and added a few essential oils that her mother told her were good for calming. She wasn’t sure she believed all of the natural healing mumbo jumbo that her family kept trying to force on her, but she was willing to try. Besides, it smelled good.
She sank into the tub and inhaled the fresh smells. Reaching out for the romance novel she was in the middle of, she found her spot and kept reading. Jolene Gold had been her favorite writer for years, and this book was pure gold. Pardon the pun!
She giggled a little to herself as she read. A night alone was exactly what she needed. Who wanted people around when they could have books?
*****
Roxie watched from her window at work the following day, in between scheduling appointments with clients, for the taco truck to make its appearance. As soon as she saw it, she changed into the flats she’d brought for hiking across the parking lot and went to see what was so special about his tacos that he thought they needed to have them.
When she reached the truck, she worried that the blowing wind had messed up her hair, and she didn’t want that at all. Not when she was seeing Ciran for the first time since high school. There had been rumors that he’d visited again, but he’d never sought her out. They’d said their goodbyes before graduation, and since they’d been determined to follow different paths, they didn’t write. Or email. Or ever talk.
She stood in line behind the construction workers, and when it was her turn, Ciran looked her up and down. “Well, if it isn’t Roxane Quinn all grown up and more beautiful than ever.”
“Hey, Ciran. I hear you’re going to turn the world on its ear with your taco truck. What happened to being a lawyer?”
He shrugged. “It wasn’t what I wanted to do or the place I wanted to be. I needed to come home and live the life I was meant to live.”
“You were meant to sell tacos from a truck?”
“How about you let me choose your tacos for you? I know your tastes as well as you do.”
Roxie nodded, waiting as he fixed the tacos for her. She wondered if he really did remember all of her tastes like he said he did. She’d been allergic to lettuce and tomatoes since she was a little girl, and even her mother hadn’t been able to get rid of the allergy. So she waited to see if he remembered.
“Here you go. One chicken soft taco, no lettuce or tomato, with extra guacamole. And one steak taco, no lettuce or tomato, extra cheese.”
She took the tacos from him, reaching into her purse for cash. “How much?”
“It’s on the house. Or on the truck, I guess I should say.” He gave her the grin that had stolen her heart ten years before.
“Thanks.” She started to walk away, but he called her name. “Yeah?”
“What about your Lime Rickey?”
She turned. He remembered that, too? “You made me one?”
“Of course I did. I remember all your favorites.”
Roxane walked back to him and put her hand on the cup her was offering. “Thank you, Ciran.”
“Go out with me. Let’s see if the old magic is still there.” He knew it was for him. He’d seen her at the back of his line, and he had immediately wanted to reach out and touch her. He wanted to spend every waking moment with her. It was like traveling back in time to when she was the single most important thing in his life. He just wished he’d been the most important thing in hers.
“I . . . I don’t know . . .” If he was parking his truck next to their hotel, with its four restaurants, did that mean they were competitors? They were certainly going after different clientele, but . . .
“Please. We’ll go hiking in the mountains. Do you remember when we used to do that?”
“You don’t need to have your taco truck open all the time?”
“My pavilion isn’t even built yet. I’m just testing out different tacos on people. Please, Roxie. I’ve missed you.”
Their eyes met, and she stared at him for just a little too long. “Yes, I’ll go with you.” It was probably a mistake, but she’d missed him, too. Not a day had gone by when she hadn’t wondered what he was doing and how he was enjoying his life as a lawyer.
“What’s your number?” He picked up his cell phone to program it in as she gave it to him. “I’ll call you tonight.”
She nodded and held up her drink and foil-wrapped tacos in thanks, heading back into the hotel to her office. What was she thinking? A date with Ciran could never be a good idea. Never.
*****
Her phone rang just as Roxane was walking back into the house that evening. “Hello?”
“Hey, Roxie. What’s going on with Ciran? I heard he’s back in town!” Her cousin Jessica had always been one of her closest friends. “Grandma said he was back when I checked on her today.”
“Why did you check on her? Is she okay?”
“Fit as a fiddle and finer than a frog’s hair. I know because she told me. What’s going on with Ciran? Are you two going to go out again? Has he contacted you?”
Roxane sighed as she sank onto the couch. “I made the mistake of going to his taco truck today. He parks it at the back of the hotel parking lot and feeds the construction workers that are building a pavilion and parking spot for him.”
“And?” Jessica sounded excited. “Are you going out with him?”
“I think I am.” Roxie scrubbed her hand over her face and ran her fingers through her hair. “Have I lost my mind?”
Jessica laughed softly. “I always thought you were crazy not to follow him to college in the first place. Why did he go to school in Texas anyway? What’s wrong with our Idaho colleges?”
“He needed a change of pace. He wanted to live in a city and leave this hick town in his rearview mirror.”
“Oh, that’s right. And you felt like he was insulting you, because the town is named after our family, and then he left, and you guys never wrote. . . . You’ve been mooning over him since the day he left, Rox. It’s time for you to give it another chance. Hopefully you’ll find out that those feelings died years ago and it’s time for you to find someone else.”
“And if I discover that he’s the only man in the world for me?” Not that she had a question about it. How would it be a discovery? She’d known it since she was sixteen years old and he’d kissed her under the bleachers during lunch at school one day. That first kiss . . . it had been like magic to her. Of course, so had every other kiss since.
“Then y
ou’ll know that you did the right thing refusing to go out with any other man for the past eight years.” Jessica sounded exasperated, but Roxie knew that was just because she cared.
“I think that’s what I’m going to find out.”
“I hope your brain follows when your heart starts leading you astray . . .”
Roxie laughed. “I hope so, too.”
“I want all the deets as soon as you’re home from this date. When are you going anyway?”
“No idea. He’s supposed to call me tonight.”
“Call you? Not text? Tell him to get with the twenty-first century! Love you!”
“Love you back!” Roxie set her phone down and wandered into the kitchen to find something to eat. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the tacos Ciran had made her since lunch.
She dug through the refrigerator and found a frozen pizza to pop into the oven. It wouldn’t beat his tacos, of course, but it would at least fill her belly. Maybe she’d fill the tub and eat the pizza while she read in there.
After a moment, she grinned. It was the perfect plan. A night home alone in the bathtub with a pizza at her side. The only way it could be better was if the pizza were exchanged for tacos. Taco truck tacos . . .
She arranged her pizza on the lid of the commode and got into the tub, her phone on the back of the potty. She hoped that he’d call soon, because she needed to talk to him, but she wasn’t even sure what she would say when he did call. Back in high school, he’d been one of those people that she could never stop talking to. It was hard to hang up at night, and they would talk for hours. She’d turned in a few assignments late before realizing she needed to do her homework before she answered his calls.
She had just settled against the back of the tub with her book when her phone rang again.
“Hello?”
“Hey, you. How’d you like the tacos?”
She grinned. “They were fabulous. I haven’t been able to think about anything else all day. I need more. Will you be there at the same time tomorrow?”
He laughed. “I sure will. Tex-Mex tacos are to die for, aren’t they?”
“Definitely. You’re going to have to feed me regularly now. My frozen pizzas will never taste the same . . .”
“Gladly. I can run some by right now, if you want.”
Roxie looked down at the rapidly dissolving bubbles covering her. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’ll get some tomorrow.”
“Okay. I guess I was just hoping you’d want to see me again tonight.”
“I do. It’s just not a good night for company.”
“Where are you right now?” he asked softly.
“I’m taking a bath. There. Are you happy now that you’ve embarrassed me?”
“I don’t know why you’re embarrassed about bathing. You should be embarrassed if you stopped bathing.”
She laughed. “Well, that might embarrass me a little.”
“I can see why! Do you want to catch a movie tomorrow night? The theater in town is going to have the new superhero movie. I know you always enjoyed going to those with me.”
“I knew they were your favorites, so of course I went.” She wrinkled her nose. “Sure, I’ll go. What time is the movie?”
“Seven fifteen. I can pick you up around five thirty, and we can get some food first? Or I can pick you up at seven and bring tacos.”
“How about you pick me up at five thirty and you bring tacos. We can go to the lake and feed the ducks.” It had been a favorite pastime of hers for years. She’d take an old loaf of bread to feed the ducks and watch their silly antics as they fought over small chunks of bread.
“That sounds great. I’ll see you then. What’s your address now?”
Rather than give him her address, she explained where she lived. “I’m in the old Blanton house.” She knew there would be no question in his mind where she was.
“I’ll be there then. Will I see you for lunch again?”
“Probably every day for the rest of my life,” she said softly, hoping he’d understand that she meant his tacos, though she knew her meaning could be taken two ways.
“I’d like that a lot. Dream of me.” The phone went dead. She set it down and grabbed a piece of her now-cold pizza.
“I should have let him bring me tacos,” she said to her cat, who was looking at her like he wanted her pizza. Of course, he always wanted her food, so what did that matter?
As she sank back into the tub and started reading, she saw no words. Instead, she kept thinking about Ciran. She hoped she wasn’t being led down a long, dark road again, but she was relatively certain if that was his intention, she was too late.
*****
When Roxane got to the taco truck the next day, she found that Ciran already had three tacos, wrapped in foil, made up for her. He made her drink and passed them all out the window. “Enjoy.”
“Same as yesterday?” she asked, wondering what the treat would be that day.
“Yeah, plus one more. Don’t worry, I remembered about the lettuce and tomatoes.”
“What’s a sopapilla?” she asked, reading the sign. She knew she should get back to work, but she couldn’t leave him so quickly.
“You’ve never had a sopapilla? I guess I should have realized that.” He shook his head. “You are not going to believe this thing. Can you wait five minutes?”
She looked at her tacos and shrugged. She could stand there and eat one as well as she could eat one in her office. “Sure.” Roxie understood then the need for a pavilion with picnic tables. She had somewhere to go and wanted to eat at a table. None of the tourists in town would have a place to go quickly and easily. Of course a pavilion was a good idea.
She leaned against the truck and ate the first taco, her eyes closing in pleasure. The man could cook. She’d give him that.
All three tacos were gone when he called her name. “This is a dessert. Put the honey on there. It’s super sweet but so so good!”
She nodded, reaching for her purse. “How much?”
“Your money will never be good as long as I’m the one who drives this taco truck.” He couldn’t believe how much pleasure he got from talking about his taco truck. Ten years before he would have wrinkled his nose at the very idea of owning something like this and now . . . now it was all he wanted. A simple life filled with tacos that were mobile. And Roxane. Always Roxane.
As she walked back toward the building, she carefully unwrapped the sopapillas to see exactly what they were. They looked like some sort of deep fried bread with a hollow middle. Odd, but she’d sure try it. Happily!
When she got to her desk, she poured the honey on one of the delicacies and took a small bite, moaning aloud with pleasure. There was a laugh, and she looked up to see her mother leaning against the doorjamb. “What exactly are you eating that is making you have that look on your face?”
“It’s called a sopapilla. Ciran made them for me. Here, try one.” As little as Roxane wanted to give up one of her small food treasures, she wanted to share the experience with her mother.
Taking one, April Lynn took a small bite. “Oh, you’re right. These things are heaven! Heaven in a little bite of pastry!”
“Ciran is selling them in the parking lot.”
“Well, I’ll just take another one of yours,” her mother replied. “How are you doing? Liking the new job?”
“You know I love it, Mom! It’s absolutely incredible. I’ve booked six parties already. I can’t believe that there weren’t any parties scheduled for the rest of the year. The weekends are filling up fast!”
“Good girl. I’m glad you’re getting the hang of things around here.” Her mom hugged her. “Come see me later. I think you might need a tune-up.”
Roxane laughed. “Sorry, Mom. I have a date tonight. Some other time.”
Her mother frowned. “Soon.”
“I promise.”
Chapter Three
As soon as Roxie got home from work that evening, s
he changed into a pair of jeans and a comfortable, but dressy, t-shirt. She put on a pair of sandals and went into the bathroom to brush out her hair.
She wasn’t sure if she wanted to leave her hair long or put it into a braid for the movies, but she finally decided to braid it. There was no way she wanted her hair to be blowing in every direction while they ate their tacos in the park.
She thought about the appointment her mother wanted her to make, and though she loved her mother dearly, she preferred to go to her cousin, who was a real doctor. Or was she a medicine woman? With a name like Dr. Quinn, it was hard to tell!
Roxie had just finished touching up her lipstick when she heard the doorbell. Her cat, Calico, rushed to the back of the house as soon as the bell sounded, as was his habit. She’d found him as a kitten in the snow in front of her house, and he’d been with her ever since.
She hurried to the door and opened it, feeling the butterflies in her belly when she saw Ciran standing there, his grin so similar to the one she’d fallen for so long ago. “Hey, you. Just let me grab a sweater. It’ll probably be forty-five degrees by the time we’re out of the movie.”
“That’s the danger of living in Idaho. In Texas on a June night, we were happy if it was under a hundred.” He waved his hand beside his face as if fanning himself. “Have I mentioned that I’m glad to be home?”
“I think all of Quinn Valley is going to be thrilled to have you once they’ve tasted those tacos of yours.” She walked to her coat closet and pulled out the sweater she’d take. “There, I’m ready.”
“Aren’t you going to show me around?” he asked curiously, looking around the little bit of the house he could see.
“You’ve seen ninety percent of the place already. It’s not exactly big.” She put her hand on his chest and pushed him out the door. “I’ll show you around after if we’re both still awake enough. It’s not exactly in my nature to go out on work nights.”
“I remember you always had to do your homework before you could talk to me in the evenings.”
“Neither of us could ever get off the phone. I had to do it or give up my grade point average as unimportant.” She stopped when she saw his car. It was a sleek blue Jaguar. “Wow. How long have you been driving that?”
Taco-Truck Tryst (Quinn Valley Ranch Book 1) Page 2
