Jessica's Fate

Chapter 52

It was after 1 pm before I was finally done with everything. All my layer cakes were cooled and wrapped and stuck in the walk in freezer for use later in the week. Pork empanadas were made, I was quite happy with how they looked. Luke, Sang and I taste tested them and Luke had me write the ingredients down so that we could get them on the diner menu as a special at some point in the following weeks. We'd also indulged in my version of tres leches cake, in cupcake form of course.

Oh man, they were so good.

I sincerely hope that Tony likes them.

I'd also managed a homemade version of potato chips, there was a snack from Venezuela that was like potato chips so I thought these would be fun.

It was all packed up in a picnic basket with ice packs for the lemonade I'd made and I mumbled a swear word or two under my breath as I hurried out the back door of the diner and headed home. I barely had enough time to put myself together before 2:30. I left the basket in the garage and ran inside and upstairs. It was maybe the quickest shower I could ever remember taking. I braided my hair while it was wet and toweled off hurriedly before dressing in a halter topped blue floral sundress that came to just above my knees. I slid my feet into sandals and did the barest amount of makeup I could over a layer of sunscreen.

"Jess... Tony's here." Mom called up to me. I glanced at the clock and blinked. Yeah, it was totally 2:30 pm.

"Coming!" I called down and grabbed my purse after swiping on a bit of lipstick. I blew my reflection a kiss and rushed down the stairs. "Hi." I beamed at him.

"Hi yourself." He chuckled.

I moved closer to him, greeting him with a hug and leaning up to brush my lips against his cheek.

He turned his head and captured my lips with his, kissing me with a quick hello. I smiled against his lips as I kissed him back. I only stopped because mom cleared her throat and I stepped back from him.

"Sorry." I glanced at Mom, my ears turning pink.

She laughed at us and waved a hand. "Oh, go on you two. You're cute together." She said, stepping forward and giving me a quick hug. "Same rules as last night, I think."

I blinked at her. "Seriously?"

She smiled. "Yes, precious girl. You're an adult now, I trust you." She waggled a finger at Tony and he smiled sheepishly at her. "Which means I'm trusting you too, mister. You have to help her be responsible with this if you're with her. I just need a call if she's going to be later than midnight. That's all I ask."

"Sure." He nodded. "I can help her do that." He said, giving me a look.

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks. Both of you. I'll make sure we set synchronized alarms on our phones that we can activate on date night." I said.

"Oh, even better." Mom smiled. "Look at you, taking after all those other cubs of mine and getting all techy." She teased before kissing my cheek. "You look lovely. Have a good time."

"Thanks mom." I said, slinging my bag over my shoulder and settling my sunglasses on top of my head. "We just have to grab the picnic basket out of the garage." I said to Tony.

"Sounds good." He said, flashing me a smile before looking at mom. "It was nice to see you again." He said to her.

"Nice to see you too, Tony. And you'd probably better just go ahead and call me Erica." She said.

"Okay. See you later then, Erica." He said, shoving his hands in the pockets of his cargo shorts and jangled his keys in his pocket.

We headed out the front door, stopping for me to open the garage door with the code. He wouldn't let me grab the basket, insisting on picking it up for me. "Hmm...' I smiled, settling my sunglasses on my nose and peering over the top of them at him. "Nice muscles." I said, arching an eyebrow at him.