Why hadn’t she ever thought of that? She’d just done as expected, and with Kevin too. She’d let everyone else have a say in her life except for herself. At least she’d been bold enough to stop here in Antler Creek. That was a tremendous first step, and she was making new friends too. Yes, things were definitely beginning to look up.
The kitchen timer buzzed. “Our pie should be ready to eat now,” he said. “Are you hungry?”
“I’ve been trying to make it to the buzzer.” She knew it was a lame attempt at a rodeo joke. “I’ve been salivating since it was baking.”
He took a pie server from the top drawer and sliced the pie, then scooped out the piece onto a small dessert plate that had western cattle brands on it. He handed it to her, then served a piece to himself.
She stood there holding the plate, almost afraid to taste it. “It looks perfect. I hate to ruin the illusion if it’s not good.”
“I’ll try it first.” He stuck a big forkful into his mouth and immediately started nodding. “Perfect. Go for it.”
She raised her fork and took a bite, savoring that first taste. “Wow.” Her mouth still full, she gave him a thumbs-up.
“You did good,” he said.
“A-mazing! You’re an excellent teacher.” She took a second, larger bite. “I’m so ready to make this again, with you just there as encouragement. Please let me know when you have time to do it again. Oh gosh, I can’t believe I made this!”
“Believe it.”
“This is the best birthday treat I’ve ever had.”
“It’s your birthday?”
“Technically not until tomorrow, but still. This is so good. I’m glad I let you talk me into this.”
“You’re welcome.” He put a piece of foil over the pie pan.
“This pie looks perfect,” Adam said. “I think it’s cool enough now to carry. I’ll help you take them home.”
He set the pies on a cookie sheet, with enough foil over the top that they weren’t about to wiggle. He heaved it up on his shoulder like a sack of feed, and they walked back over to the bunkhouse.
“Thanks for spending the morning with me,” he said. “I enjoyed it.”
“I did too. It’s not what I expected at all.” That didn’t come out exactly as she’d meant it.
“Is that good?”
“Yes. I enjoyed it very much. I just didn’t know what to expect, and I never thought I’d not only bake a good pie but also enjoy it.” She got ready to walk up the porch steps, when she stopped and turned. “Were those rodeo tags on the wall and the chaps all yours?”
“Yeah, I doubt Krissy had time to clean out anything before you happened along.”
“Why wouldn’t you save all of it?”
“I’ve got so much of that stuff now. You can’t save it all. Most of that is from my high school days. Some of the chaps belonged to some friends. They’re broken or got left behind. We used to crash in that place all the time.”
“I bet that was rowdy. It was quite a ruckus down there the other night when all those pickup trucks came rolling in so late.”
“Sorry about that. Doesn’t happen as often as it used to, but every once in a while you have to blow off some steam. I’m sorry we kept you up.”
“Now that I’ve gotten to know you, I respect that decor more. There’s a lot of sweat and passion behind all those paper numbers stapled to the walls.”
“You got that right.” He handed the tray of pies over to her, and she walked up to the front door.
“Thanks again. I really did enjoy getting to know you.” She balanced the tray in her hands. “Have a good rest of the day.”
“We’ll do it again. Soon.”
I hope so.
