Page 27
“I know compared to Evangeline’s place it’s not much,” Ana said. “But it’s homey, and obviously convenient to work.”
“Actually, I grew up in a place that reminds me a bit of this,” Rory told her. “I like having everyone close.”
Ana nodded, a tiny smile teasing at her lips.
She likes me too, at least a little…
He’d decided after yesterday that he wasn’t going out with Maggie Sullivan or anyone else. He and Ana had really bared their souls at the coffee shop and then they’d had so much fun grocery shopping afterward. It felt like home being with her, something he had never expected to find in this sweet little town, where he often felt so out of place.
He was pretty sure he was doing a bad enough job of hiding his feelings that Ana knew what he really wanted.
Maybe his plan had been a little sneaky. But getting her to tell him what her idea of romance and a good relationship looked like, even under false pretenses, seemed like a good thing. It meant he could more easily give her everything she was dreaming of. At least, he hoped she would see it that way.
For now, he tried to focus on learning how to make her favorite soup.
“How was your day?” he asked her as she grabbed a sharp knife and a wooden cutting board. “What’s new?”
“Oh goodness,” she said, shaking her head. “The shop had a good day, and the customers kept us on our toes. How about you?”
He meant to answer casually, but found himself telling her all about Rick Leonard, and his beloved bus instead.
“He drives that thing in the Fourth of July parade every year,” Ana said fondly.
“It’ll rust out eventually,” Rory confided sadly. “With the winters we get around here, it’s a miracle that it hasn’t already. But I think we’ve got it good to go for a while more.”
“That’s good to hear,” Ana said. “He and his wife, Maureen, are good people. Their kids don’t live close by, so I’m sure the memories are priceless.”
Rory nodded, thinking about selling the little house in the city last year. He’d known they needed to do it in order to have a fresh start, but it was hard thinking that he would never return to the one place he’d always felt like himself.
“Now, we want to start by dicing onions,” Ana said, her voice warm and calm, bringing him back to the present. “Do you know how?”
“I think so,” he said. “I’ve chopped a lot of onions for cookouts. Do I do it the same way as I would for burgers and dogs?”
“Exactly,” Ana said, handing him the knife. “I’ll just grab some spices.”
As soon as his hands were busy peeling and dicing onions, Rory felt better.
Ana started a pot with olive oil and what she called “aromatics” and the whole apartment began to fill with the fragrance of onions, garlic, fresh oregano, and other savory spices.
“Soup is like anything else,” she explained. “If you start with a good base, the rest will come together with a little patience.”
If she only knew how much of his patience it took not to confess his feelings every time he saw her…
Ana talked to him as she threw more things into the pot, making sure he knew how much she was using and why.
Amazingly, even though he was mesmerized by her soft voice, he thought he might actually remember everything she was telling him.
“You’re a good teacher, Ana,” he told her.
She smiled and moved across the kitchen to grab something, but not before he caught her blushing a little.
“There’s good stock in the freezer,” Mari called to them at one point.
“Oh, that’ll be much better than bouillon,” Ana said happily.
Theo crowed with joy out in the living room and Rory took a moment to come over and admire the city of blocks he was building with his grandmother.
“You’re a good builder,” he told Theo. “That’s a nice town you made.”
