Kendall looked at the couple who had all smiles when they got the presents during dinner. They just finished the main course, which was grilled skewered beef meat and spices.

“But Jack loved these dried mangoes, too!” Angela suddenly went forlorn. Her eyes were downcast.

Kendall’s heart dropped. How could she be so insensitive? Of course Jack did like them. He even hoarded some when they last visited the only Catholic country in Asia.

“Aunt Angela, I think he’d be happy if you ate it for him,” Blayze said in a quiet voice. He somehow made the negative atmosphere positive.

“Right! You’re right, Blayze!” Angela nodded enthusiastically. She opened the plastic and ate a few pieces. So did David. The couple smiled at each other. It was like they were both reminiscing on the times they had with Jack, happily eating the sweet dried mangoes.

She watched Blayze choose between Sally’s caramel and her tamarind candies. He decided to open the pack of tamarind candies, evading her eyes. His face contorted after he put one in his mouth, and she almost laughed. She bet he got the sweet and sour one. Not everything was sweet.

Well, that was her love for him. Sweet and sour. She mocked herself. She had sweet and loving moments with him. But when he left, her life went sour. The worst thing that happened though, sour turned bitter. Right, she was now bitter toward him.

“How about carrot cake?” Angela inquired her.

“Oh, I’d love that. But stay put. I’ll go get it myself,” Kendall said as she stood up.

Angela nodded and gestured the location of the refrigerator where she put the dessert.

The kitchen was big and was next to the sizeable dining room. A divider was placed in the middle, which had decorative shelves and porcelain figurines of birds, horses, and other decorations that occupied them. The meter-wide black granite island table was in the middle of the kitchen. The sink was on the left, with cabinets below it and overhead cupboards that were painted in beige color. The white refrigerator and a huge freezer were not far away from the sink.

She opened the fridge and found a lot of food there. She glanced back at Angela, still eating more dried mangoes. Kendall thought the older woman must have tried to take her mind off the tragedy and cooked a lot of food instead. She couldn’t blame her. At least she had something to do than to mope and mourn and be depressed. It would be a waste if all of the food would go bad, though.

‘Okay, no problem. I can just… eat them all! Oh, right… I’ll have my ex-boyfriend eat it, too! He’s going to stay here temporarily too, right?’ she thought as she glanced at Blayze’s sour face, still eating the tamarind candies. She recalled how he liked the tamarind candies though. And yet, she hadn’t thought of him when she bought packs of it. But memories seemed to easily emerge now, when he was around her again.

Their dinner went on. David talked about the gathering of the cattle before he and Angela would go to a cruise. It was his idea to go so that Angela could take her time off the ranch and her mind off Jack. He secretly told Kendall that his wife was distressed whenever she’d go to Jack’s room and clean it up like their son was coming back. It was a very sad scene to watch everytime, if she were in David’s shoes.

The cruise to the Caribbean and Bahamas was going to be a week long but the couple will stay in the Bahamas for about a month. That was the plan. So, she thought it would be great for the mourning couple to heal. Not that healing was a fast process but they all thought it would really do the old couple good.

She went back to the table with the carrot cake and placed it on the table, at the center. She went back to the kitchen to get the saucers and teaspoons, when Blayze came up behind her to help her reach the saucers on the upper shelf of the cupboard. She went rigid, feeling his warm body merely inches away from hers. His scent wrapped around her like a blanket and she felt suffocated. Why? Because he was so close but she couldn’t touch him. She had to restrain herself.

She gulped down a mouthful of saliva, trying to wet her suddenly dry throat. She wanted to push him away to end this sweet torture. However, he seemed to notice her discomfort. He moved away with the saucers in hand. He went to bring the saucers at the table without words, and she was grateful for that. Somehow. But deep inside, she was sorry he had to go away. Now that was a conflicting emotion.

She decided to take the teaspoons and knife instead and went back to the table, avoiding his piercing blue eyes.

“Thank you, Kenny sweetheart,” David said, as she passed onto him the saucer with cake and teaspoon.

She smiled and put a slice of cake on another saucer for Angela.

♥ ♥

“You can stay more in the Bahamas if you have to, David. I can take care of the ranch. Besides, you have more hands to help me out here, so you needn’t worry a thing,” Kendall told David when Angela retired to the couple’s room.

She and David were on the balcony, watching the stars as they slowly drank their can of beer. The air was fresh and cool, it was welcoming. It played her hair, as she leaned on the safety rail made of wood and glass. The evening cow moos in the distance could be heard. Meanwhile, her ex-boyfriend was in the living room, watching American football. The volume was low to not disturb Angela’s rest.

“I’ll take you on that, if and when necessary,” David said to her with a gentle smile on his lips.

She nodded.

“I was going to tell you that the private investigator called me up yesterday. He is still tracking him down,” David told her conversationally.

Her throat suddenly went tight, so she took a mouthful of beer and swallowed it. “I really thank you for doing this for me, David. You’ve really done a lot of things for me. I owe you a lot!”

She felt his hand on her shoulder and patted it. “It’s okay, Kenny sweetheart. We’re in this together. We’re family after all.”

She smiled and sighed. “What will I say to him? What will I do when we found him, when I faced him?”

“You’ll know what to say or do when you’ve faced him. But you’re not going to be violent, are you?” he jokingly said and chuckled.

She laughed a little. Then she turned serious. “I’ll visit Jack tomorrow, if you don’t mind.”

“I’m happy you will. He will be, too. I’m sure of that. He missed you, you know?”

She gave him a sad smile and a faraway look, as she shifted her gaze.

“Go with Blayze. You’re going to the same place tomorrow anyway.”

Before she could say anything, David already turned to leave her and went downstairs. She just sighed and murmured in the air.

“But I’m supposed to avoid him.” But of course, she was thinking of an impossible thing to happen when she and her ex-boyfriend were living under the same roof and ranch sitting together.