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Their farewell dinner was a poignant affair for Matt. Darcy didn't want to be seen in a public eatery, so Matt frantically straightened up his little house and cooked the best dinner he could. He charcoaled a couple steaks on the back porch, boiled up two ears of imported corn on the cob, and sautéed some asparagus spears in garlic and olive oil.
It was all new to Darcy. He had to demonstrate how to hold corn on the cob and nibble off two or three rows of kernels at a time, moving from one end to the other. When he licked the butter off his finger that he had wiped off Darcy's hand, he felt his ears heat up, but she didn’t notice. She was laughing at the novelty of the experience, getting more proficient with each row, nipping off the kernels faster and faster with her front teeth.
Matt kicked himself, now wishing he’d provided her two ears of corn. It was such a hoot to watch her eat.
He was proudest of the way the asparagus turned out, tender but still crisp.
“It actually tastes green!” she marveled, adopting his practice of picking each spear up with her fingers and biting it down to the end.
Once again, she ate like a trouper. Where does she put it? he wondered, as he watched her slender fingers mop steak juice from her plate with a piece of tortilla.
She had a thing for desserts.
"You've never had chocolate ice cream?"
"Never. Not only do we not have desserts, we don’t have chocolate. I read that it came from the Aztecs, didn’t it? I think they called it ‘chocolatl.’ Well, we didn't have any Aztecs. It's a shame—we didn't have tortillas, either. You're fortunate, Matt."
Not so fortunate, he thought. You’re leaving and I’ll never see you again. I’m pretty damn unfortunate, not that you care much about that.
“This was wonderful, Matt. Thank you. Did it cost a lot of money?”
“Huh? Oh. You’re welcome. No, not much. About twelve dollars. Why do you ask?”
“I don’t know anything about your money. I’ve never had any. I’ve never bought anything! I just know it’s important. I wondered, that’s all.”
“Aww...”
Of course, she had no money. That had never occurred to him. How long could he have existed, flat broke? Not long, for sure. He didn’t have much money, heaven knew, but next to someone who had none he was practically rich. That was terrible. He started to feel badly for her. She must have sensed his discomfort,
“But never mind,” she added. “Maybe we ought to make a few arrangements for tomorrow, do you think?"
Darcy wanted to thank Luisa's parents for their kindness to her before she left. Luisa was going to take her along when she drove home to Fort Davis in the late afternoon after school let out. But Luisa wanted to remain over the weekend, so Darcy needed a ride to the ranch where she would meet the plane.
"I know it's a lot of trouble for you, Matt, but would you possibly be able to bring this backpack and pick me up at the Delbosque’s house about 6 and then drop me off at the Bar-S ranch?"
Matt felt his heart turn inside out.
"Trouble? No trouble at all, absolutely none. I'd be happy to take you to the plane."
