Winter Solstice in St. Nacho's (St. Nacho's #5) - Z.A. Maxfield Page 0,34
is plain. That imitation-vanilla-flavoring junk. Real vanilla comes from the orchid family, and it’s like coffee or wine. It has terroir, meaning everything in the environment where it grows alters its flavor. Plus it’s labor intensive. The flowers have to be hand pollinated. The seed pods are left on the vine for months after maturation. Each one has to go through an arduous curing process. If you knew how vanilla was made, you’d be more respectful.”
“I guess so.” He bit into his cookie, but I could tell he wasn’t on board. “They’re kinda good.”
“You’ve had my mom’s Christmas cookies, haven’t you?”
“Oh yeah.” His eyes lit with what I hoped was a happy memory. “I like the sprinkle ones. Her cookies are the best.”
“That’s a shortbread cookie.”
He frowned. “How come these don’t taste like hers?”
“These have more salt, for one thing. They probably use a different kind of butter. Each ingredient matters because there are only a very few. If you get shortbread cookies right, they’re heaven. I promise.”
“I believe you. I just never gave that much thought to a cookie before.”
“Then it’s past time.”
He glanced away. “Thanks again for the present.”
“You’re welcome.”
“About the phone card,” he said. “You think I could call you sometime?”
“Do you have my number?”
He nodded. “At the library.”
I took out a pen and used it to write on his arm. “This is my cell number.”
“Okay.” He stared at the digits. “Does this mean you don’t hate me anymore?”
“Tug, it hurt that you tricked me, but I never hated you.”
“Then you might come to see me some other time?”
“Maybe.” I didn’t want to promise. “Where will you be going from here?”
His gaze stayed on his hands. “Dr. Franklin gave me the option of staying another couple of months, and I accepted. I don’t think I’m ready to go back out there yet.”
“Oh, I see.”
“When I do, I’ll have to find a job and a sober living situation. That’s going to be all I can handle for a while.”
“I think that’s wise. Are you planning to look around here?”
His lips twisted. “Actually, I need to go to a place on the coast called Santo Ignacio. I left there under a big ugly cloud, and I should fix what I did if I can.”
“What kind of cloud?”
“This is pretty embarrassing.” He rolled his eyes and recited the story as if he’d memorized the words. “I was in Santo Ignacio with this friend, and I stole his stuff because I was jealous. So I guess I need to go and pay back what I owe him, but it’s a lot, so it’s going to take a while.”
“Were you in a romantic relationship?” There were a lot of ways that could go badly.
“Nah. We never hooked up, but we relied on each other on the road for a while. I betrayed his trust, like… big time.”
“How come?”
He looked somewhere past me and blew out a thin blue stream of smoke. “I thought he was moving on. I took his stuff to make him sorry.”
“Must be tough, contemplating how to make that right.”
“Yeah. Well…” He took another deep drag. “I could apologize to everyone who ever met me, and it wouldn’t make a dent.”
I didn’t have the right words, so I let that lay there between us like a dead fish.
“Are we okay?” he asked. “I’m a mess, but I hope you know I meant what I said. I wish I hadn’t done what I did. And I owe you ten bucks.”
“I like sober Tug, even if he’s a little sad right now. You seem more like the kid I knew back in the day.”
His brows came together. “I am so not that kid anymore.”
“Yeah, you are. You just have new layers. Like an onion. Or an ogre.”
“I’m not a kid,” he argued. “Jesus. The shit I’ve done.”
I took hold of his sleeve and shook it a little. “This Tug feels more authentic than the one pouring Pixie Stix into his mouth at Denny’s. That’s all I mean.”
“Oh, Pixie Stix.” He sighed happily. “I love those.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
He met my gaze as he stubbed out his cigarette. “Do I have to answer?”
“You can choose to answer or not. Pixie Stix made me think of the dentist. Are they catching you up on things you’ve missed? Have you had a physical and a teeth cleaning and—”
“Yeah, yeah. They took us into Sacramento for dental work. And I had a checkup. Physically, I’m in pretty good shape in spite of everything