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“Gotcha.”
“Goddess! Oh. My. Goddess. These are good,” Roark moaned, ignoring the conversation in favor of food.
“Let me get one of those before you scarf them all up,” Rusty said, snagging one and biting into the thick puff.
Roark took another bite, chunks of sweet, tender crab and lobster surrounded by creamy, melty deliciousness coated his tongue, the crust light and flaky. “So good.”
“Have you two heard about his plan for the Blood Moon Festival?” Logan asked as they finally decided to behave like civilized wolves and sit in the soft, overstuffed easy chairs.
Roark reclined his, three puffs in one hand as he settled back in his chair. Fishing from these was going to be like sitting on a cloud.
“No, I’ve been too busy at the garage to drop in as much as I used to,” Rusty admitted. “With Roark sending me off with food each morning, I can work through lunch and get out of there sooner.”
“He’s filling his booth with puffs at the festival. A brand-new line featuring six different flavor combinations. They’re going on the menu the morning after the event,” Logan explained. “The fridge is crammed full of the samples he sent me home with me.”
“All six?” Rusty asked, eyes darting between the carton on the table and the fridge.
“Eight, actually,” Logan replied. “Two aren’t to his complete satisfaction yet, so he’s going to wait until he can figure out what they need before he adds them.”
“Nothing, I bet, but that wolf is a perfectionist. He’ll probably add a dash of something and a pinch of something else, and voila, another delectable edition to an already stacked menu,” Rusty replied. “Logan, you should have seen him on the road. He’d try something for the first time and the next thing you know, he’s gathering ingredients and setting up a table at the next campsite to see if he could make it for us with our limited supplies. Kept us well fed, even in the leanest of times.”
“What that wolf can do with a tin of SPAM is mind-blowing,” Rusty declared as he leaned in to grab another puff. “Noodle dishes, potato dishes and casseroles, if he could make it in a cast iron skillet, it would turn out pure gold. This one night he even managed macaroni and cheese with SPAM chunks right over an open flame. No burnt bits or anything.”
“Sounds like the kind of wolf you want to be stuck in the wilderness with,” Logan declared.
“He is,” Roark said as he rapidly reduced the number of puffs left in his hand.
“I ran into Gina when I was picking up the puffs,” Logan said.
“Did she have more aqua outfits set aside for Wren?” Roark asked.
“Not this time,” Logan explained. “She was letting me know where they would be sitting at the festival. A bunch of Wren’s classmates’ families will be in the same area so the pups can enjoy the festival together.”
“Makes it easier to keep an eye on them,” Roark said. “Smart.”
“I told her we’d join them, unless you guys had other plans on where to sit,” Logan said.
“Nope, it’s perfect,” Rusty replied. “Anyone looking for us can come find us there. Wren should have every opportunity to spend time with their friends outside of school. I’ll be glad when things finally warm up again, though to hear the elders tell it, spring is still weeks away.”
“Haven’t they been saying that for weeks, too?” Roark grumbled.
“Yeah, so I guess we’ll have to wait it out,” Rusty replied, chuckling.
“With a place like this to retreat to, that shouldn’t be too much of a challenge,” Roark admitted. “The new chairs are so soft I’m probably going to fall asleep in one of them.”
“No probably to it,” Rusty said. “I know you will and so will I.”
“Ditto,” Logan said, reaching for a puff only to realize there were no more on the table.
“Maybe I’d better bring the rest over so I don’t have to get up again,” Logan remarked as he stood.
“Good plan,” Roark replied. “I’m more than ready to see what else he’s been cooking up in that kitchen of his.”
“Well, let’s see, this one is duck, spinach, and goat cheese,” Logan declared as he set another carton on the table. “This one is cheesy mushroom, mutton, and gorgonzola, and this one is shrimp pesto.”
“Holy crap, what do they do over there?” Rusty squeaked. “Lay in bed at night and talk about food?”
“Dude, there is a bacon and caramelized onion one in there too,” Logan explained. “He even stuffed one with a roasted garlic, spinach, and crab artichoke dip. I absolutely had to try that one before I left the shop and holy crap, I got two containers.”
