Read Online Wicked Flower by Carlene Love Flores - Free Book Online Page A

back to the here and now.
    Will was right; something did
smell good. But the flavors were all wrong. Mom had never been real big on
Indian food. The spices had always wrinkled her nose whenever they’d gone into
town and passed by the Tandoor Tavern. Dad had liked that place. Stefan
regretted the even smaller amounts of time he’d spent with his dad. But with
the new family, it was just easier to stay away. He had heard they lived in
Idaho now. Stefan had never been.
    “Why are you frowning? I bet you
a hundred bucks there’s some bad-ass Chicken Curry awaiting us,” Will said as
they approached the kitchen. “You love Indian.”
    “Yeah, but from
what I remember, Mom doesn’t.”
    Will gave him a look. “This Daniela must be a really good cook then, if she’s eating it.”
    He raised his eyebrows. “Must be.”
    Was this woman the right person
for Mom? Was she even listening to Mom? He could be pissed all he wanted at
those thoughts but when it came down to it, if he’d moved Mom closer years ago,
it wouldn’t be an issue. He shook his head and led his friend to the kitchen
and the rich fragrant smells of curry, ginger and onions. The garlic made his
mouth water as surely as it probably churned Mom’s stomach. He felt Will’s hand
on his shoulder.
    “It’ll be alright, Stef,” said
Will.
    Yeah, well where the hell was
this nurse? They needed to talk. Because the way he saw it right now, his idea
of packing Mom up and moving her to Nashville with him was looking better by
the second. He’d have to find a new caretaker, of course.
    He saw his mom had served them
plates and stood by the sink. She washed her hands then crossed herself, just
like she always did before sitting down to eat. She turned to him while she
patted her hands dry. “Ready to eat?” she asked the two of them.
    Stefan didn’t miss the grimace
turning her mouth down. Yeah, she loved Indian food now his ass. “Let’s eat,”
he said and leaned down to kiss her forehead. She didn’t pull back. He was as
grateful as he was surprised. “But tomorrow, I’m making breakfast. What would
you like?” he asked as they followed Mom to the dining room table. Will stayed
close behind.
    “Oh, I don’t know. Surprise me,”
she said, surprising him indeed with her spontaneity. If he hiked his eyebrows
anymore tonight at the changes, he’d have a raging headache to go along with
the raging hard-on once he was left alone and thinking about her . Not a good combination.
    “What are we making?” Will asked with a smile. His head bopped to invisible drums. Man,
some woman would find Will irresistible someday if he let her. Even Stefan
could see that. It had to be the glasses.
    Stefan thought about it for a second.
“Pan-fucking-cakes,” he said quietly over his shoulder so only Will would hear.
    “Okay then. You sexy Latino men
don’t mess around when it comes to food, do you? Pancakes? I thought maybe we’d
be having Huevos Rancheros or something.” Will
teased.
    “No, we fucking don’t mess around,”
he whispered, hoping his mom hadn’t caught his cursing. It was like he was
sixteen again and not nearing forty. “Mom can’t stand all that spicy stuff.”
Both the Indian and Mexican food would just remind her of his dad. It was bad
enough that Stefan’s mere presence probably did it in spades. Mom was
tolerating him well so far.
    Will nodded. “Pancakes it is then.”
    They sat down and his mom stabbed
at a bite of food. Stefan came this close to snatching her plate up and
throwing it in the trash and cooking something fresh. Any other time, maybe he
wouldn’t have cared so much. But she was seventy fucking years old, deserved
respect from all of them, nurse included, and this was unacceptable to him. If
she wanted to eat fruit loops sprinkled over donuts, hadn’t she earned that
right? That was probably pushing it, but he was so damn angry with himself. When Daniela got back, he would clear this
up. He took a bite. The damn food