Rick wondered only briefly whether he should accede to her wishes. Perhaps if she remained very angry with him, if she thoroughly despised him, she would stay away from Yo, Amigo, after all. He knew better, though. She wouldn’t allow anything—not even her dislike of him—to get in her way. She might avoid him, but she would be back.
He met her gaze squarely. “Suit yourself, but my appetite is just fine, and I’m not about to let Tico’s food go to waste.”
Their meal arrived as if on cue, plates loaded down with fragrant, spicy concoctions that blended meat and cheese and chili peppers in ways that fast-food chains had never imagined. As furious as Dana was with him, she eyed the plates avidly. He wondered if she would be stubborn enough to leave the food untouched to spite him.
For a moment or two, she did exactly that, hands folded primly in her lap, her chin tilted defiantly, her gaze fixed on some distant point beyond him.
But as he continued to eat, slowly and deliberately savoring each mouthful, he could see her wavering. Finally, with a soft sigh of resignation, she picked up her fork.
She took one tiny, tentative bite at first, still resisting the idea of enjoying her meal. That bite was quickly followed by another, larger one, and then another.
“Oh, my,” she whispered, more to herself than to him. “This is heavenly.”
Rick grinned. “See, not even I can ruin the taste of Tico’s enchiladas.”
She ignored the comment. “Do you think he would give me the recipe? What’s in this mole sauce? How many chilis?”
“I have no idea, and I doubt if he’d tell you. I think he would rather you came here often,” Rick said, and immediately regretted his own foolhardiness. He was practically begging to make things more personal, more intimate between them. How many meals could they share without the undeniable sparks between them leading to something neither of them wanted? Her violent response to his taunting comment just moments earlier proved that she was not half as immune to him as she wanted to be. No doubt she believed that such a significant spark of attraction made a mockery of her mourning, whereas he believed it was simply a life force exerting its pull.
“For more of this,” she said, holding up a forkful of savory meat, “I would spend time with the devil himself.”
For one brief second, Dana Miller was just an attractive, intelligent woman, a woman whom his body responded to, even when his head told him nothing could ever come of it. There were depths to her that it would be fascinating to explore, depths he would never know. That being the case, it was better to remind them both of why they were together at all.
“Ken always loved it here, too,” he said.
Rather than pain at the mention of her husband’s name, though, something soft and wondering lit her eyes. “He came here?”
It was as if he’d offered her an unexpected connection to the man she had lost. “Often,” Rick said. “He loved the food and the people. Tico was one of our first success stories when we began four years ago.”
Astonishment spread across her face. “Tico was in a gang?”
“He led one of the gangs,” Rick corrected, then added somberly, “until one of the members of his own gang killed his little brother, claiming he was a snitch.”
She gasped at that. “How horrible!”
“But out of that tragedy came some good. Tico was ready to listen to what Yo, Amigo had to say, to what Ken had to say. His mother was an excellent cook. Tico took her recipes and began to experiment with them. He fixed several suppers for everyone at Yo, Amigo. Everyone was wildly enthusiastic. Ken found a few people in the restaurant business, invited them over one night and, after tasting some of Tico’s wizardry with Mexican food, they came up with the money to back this place.”
“It was a wise investment, wasn’t it?” Dana asked.
Rick nodded. “He repaid all of the loans in the first year and he’s been in the black ever since. Four of his younger brothers and sisters work here now. His mother comes in to act as hostess in the evening. It’s truly a family enterprise.”
“You must be very proud,” she said with obvious sincerity.
“Not me. Ken had the foresight to see what Tico could be. I was worried only about getting him off the streets. It takes more than that. I can rescue kids every day. I can talk until I’m blue in the face about opportunity and dreams and success. It takes people like Ken to make them a reality, to keep these kids from drifting back to their old ways. Your husband offered more than a moral compass. He offered hope.”
He met her gaze evenly. “Can you see now that even though my loss is very different from yours, it runs just as deep?”
He could see the struggle in her eyes, the unwillingness to acknowledge that he might be suffering because of Ken’s death, just as she was. Eventually, though, she was too honest to lie, even to herself.
“I think I’m beginning to see that,” she conceded, albeit grudgingly. “But don’t you see that it was because of that very need you had for him that he’s dead?”
Ah, Rick thought, there was the rub. He fought that acknowledgment, denied it. When he did allow it, he could see his responsibility so clearly it kept him awake nights.
“I’m sorry,” he told her once more. “But even if I’d known what the outcome was going to be, I wouldn’t have stopped him from coming. Yo, Amigo, the kids there, kids like Tico, needed him.”
“So did I,” she said fervently, visibly choking back a sob.
Rick reached across the table and took her hand in his. It was cold as ice, but she didn’t pull away.
“I know, Dana,” he told her quietly. “I know.”
She wasn’t through with him yet, though. “Because of you, my kids will grow up without a father.”
He could have told her there were plenty of kids here in the barrio who would grow up without a father, as well, but it would have brought her no comfort. He thought of her going home to that empty, silent house in the suburbs and, for once, he didn’t envy the life she and so many others had.
Once, not so very long ago, he would have dismissed her as an uncaring, pampered housewife. He had kept that opinion to himself, even when Ken had sung her praises and ignored her shortcomings. Now he was glad that he had. She had loved her husband and her kids. With her misguided notion that she could insulate them from the world, she had wanted nothing more than to protect them. How could he fault her for that? It was exactly what he wanted for so many others.
“I’ll take you home now,” he said at last.
From the despondent look in her eyes, he suddenly realized that it was a trip neither of them was looking forward to.
With every mile that brought them closer to home, Dana felt the tension inside her mount. It was worse in many ways than what she’d felt only hours earlier, when she had made the reverse trip into Chicago. She had gone to Yo, Amigo filled with rage and, perhaps, if she were totally honest, just a modicum of fear of the uncertainties ahead.
Coming home, where she knew exactly what to expect, she felt only this vague tightness in her chest, the far more devastating threat of more emptiness. Even though the winter sky was darkening, it was barely four in the afternoon. A long, lonely evening stretched out ahead of her.
When they pulled into the driveway, Rick glanced at her knowingly. “Are you going to be okay here by yourself?”
“Of course,” she said, denying the truth. “I’ve lived in this house for nine years. It’s home.” For how much longer? she wondered. She couldn’t drag out the move forever. Sooner or later, the board’s patience would wear thin.
“I’ll