“I’m starved. Are you?” she asked.
“My breakfast burned off hours ago. I brought some snacks.” He’d been thinking about them for the last hour, but hadn’t wanted to distract her.
“Quit holding out on me then. Bring on the snacks!” She looked around at all the gear he had spread out around them.
He reached over and pulled a paper sack out of his duffel bag. “How do you feel about peanut butter and jelly on the softest white bread I could buy?”
“Like you’re my hero!”
He tossed his head back, laughing, and flung a sandwich through the air in her direction.
She snagged it in midair. “Oh yeah!”
“Nice catch. And you said you weren’t athletic. I believe someone is sandbagging me.”
“Believe me. It was luck.”
They sat in the grass and munched on their sandwiches without another word. She was so easy to be around. Her enthusiasm left him feeling like he couldn’t wait to breathe the same air she did.I could fall in love with this girl. Maybe I already have.
He watched her finish off the PBJ like it was the best thing she’d ever eaten, then slap her hands against her pants. “I’m ready for another lesson. How about you?”
“How about we get to fishing?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” she said.
You are the woman I’ve always dreamed of. I wouldn’t mind getting lost in a sunflower maze with you.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“THAT WASthe best PBJ I’ve ever eaten.” Natalie tucked the napkins into the top of the bag so they wouldn’t blow away. “Thank you for bringing those. Can’t say the last time I’ve had one, and the strawberry jelly was an unexpected treat.”
“Don’t give away my recipe. It’s a family secret.”
She liked his sense of humor. He was confident but not cocky, and that was nice. “What happens if I tell a family secret?”
“You have to become one of us.” He gave her a wink, and she couldn’t help but giggle.
“Do you cook anything else?”
“Oh yeah. Sure. I burn a mean hot dog and have mastered the medium-rare hamburger on my gas grill.”
“You’re speaking my language. I love burnt hot dogs. How did you knowmysecret?” She pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms around them and rocking back.
“I have a feeling we have more than that in common.”
“I don’t grill,” she said. “I’m afraid of fire, and I swear no matter how much I spend on a grill, the igniter breaks in a month. I absolutely refuse to turn on the gas and flick the lighter between the grates.”
“Those igniters are junk. I’m pretty comfortable with my barbecuing skills and a lighter.”
“Careful now, else I might make you prove it.”
His smile was easy. He plucked a piece of grass. “We could cook over a real fire. There’s plenty of wood around here.”
“Don’t you come from the city and start chopping down my trees.”
“I could prove my grilling skills to you at my house. You still know the way back to Richmond, don’t you?”
“I do.”
