Just a Taste

Chapter 1-2

After two days of making phone calls, Carmen’s throat was scratchy and her voice almost nonexistent. Making all of the other arrangements for her father had been simple enough. But the phone calls nearly did her in. She’d found herself praying for answering machines and voice mails so she could leave the practiced message instead of having a real conversation.

Everyone had loved Gus. He’d had friends everywhere. Her family arrived on her doorstep and tried to take over for her. Her aunts and uncles meant well. She knew that, but taking care of her father was her job and she couldn’t let anyone else do it. Her whole house was crammed with people, just like it had been when her mother had died.

Gus had felt like they’d needed that support and it was simply the way of her family, but she wanted peace. She needed to be alone and she couldn’t find space anywhere. It was part of the reason she made the wake only a few short hours on Sunday. People would attend the wake and come back to the house to share a meal. The faster they got her dad to his final resting place, the faster they would all move on.

So she could move on.

She didn’t know what that even meant. The idea made her feel light-headed. She’d been taking care of her parents for so long, she hadn’t been able to think about herself. For now, she pushed the heavy thought away. She had details to attend to, people to speak with, arrangements to make.

Her cousin Rosa popped into the kitchen. “Hey, girl, how are you doing?”

“I’m okay. I think all the calls are done.”

Rosa crossed the room and wrapped her arms around Carmen. “Let’s get out of here. Go have a drink, do some dancing.”

Carmen pulled away from Rosa. “What are you thinking? I can’t go dancing. What would people think? My dad just died and I’m going out to party?”

Rosa rolled her eyes. “What do you care what people—forget that. It shouldn’t matter what people think. Everyone needs a break. Especially you.”

“I can’t. I still have things to do to get ready for the wake.”

“Well, I’m going out. You have my number.” Rosa swished out of the room in her super-skinny jeans and kitten heels.

As much as Carmen loved her cousin, they had never had much in common. No matter how different they were, though, Rosa was the closest thing Carmen had to a best friend. She was an excellent confidant, but Carmen could never keep up with Rosa’s social life. Heck, Carmen didn’t even have a social life. She was the only twenty-seven-year-old spinster she knew.

Pouring herself another cup of coffee, she reclaimed a seat at the kitchen table. Her uncle and cousins were still sitting in her living room, watching something on TV. They had all pitched in doing various things, but she craved space and peace. She was used to being alone most days. Her dad went out on the truck and she handled the house and the office end of the business. The extra people were suffocating.

With the sounds of the TV from the other room, she focused on making a list of things she still needed to do. She had to update the web site and let customers know that the truck would be out of commission for a while. Maybe forever? She hadn’t thought about what to do with Dad’s business. He’d loved the food truck, but Carmen couldn’t imagine running it.

Maybe Pete would want to take it over. Her younger cousin often went out with her dad to work. He knew most of the operation. Pete, however, was immature and she didn’t know if she could trust him to work consistently. Her uncles had already mentioned selling the truck and the house and having her move in with one of them.

As if she wasn’t a grown woman capable of taking care of herself.

She forced her head back to the task at hand. No decisions had to be made right now. She added Update Web Site to her list, followed by Clean Out Dad’s Bedroom. That would be a huge task. When her mother had died, Gus would only let Carmen get rid of a few things. He’d clung to every item of Inez’s that he could. He hadn’t been ready to let her go. Over the months, Carmen snuck and removed things her dad might not notice, but overall, she knew she would now have to clear out the belongings of both of her parents.

Those two items alone weighed her down. She knew there would be more. Her father had a will, so she would have to talk to his lawyer about that. Then the outstanding bills for both the house and the business. At least her dad had been smart enough to add her name to everything after Inez’s death.

She blinked back the tears and focused on the details. She’d be able to hold her s**t together as long as she had a job to do.