AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She went back to the dining-room area, where a large sliding patio door opened to the deck. “How’s it going?”
“Grill is almost ready. How are the potatoes doing?”
“Ten more minutes.” She leaned on the railing. “This is really lovely.”
“Thanks. I built the deck in the spring. I wanted to have some outdoor living space. I never understood why the previous owners hadn’t done it. It’s a great yard, with a lot of shade trees.”
“Do you garden?” Luna queried.
“If you mean do I grow tomatoes? Yes. But that’s it. Don’t have much of a green thumb.”
“Then who takes care of the bushes and perennials?”
“Believe it or not, Carter does. Last summer, it was a project for the Scouts.” Gaines laughed. “Keeps me from getting down in the weeds.”
“He sounds like a well-rounded kid.”
“I like to think so.” Gaines opened the grill, salted the steaks, and popped them on the grate.
“I’ll go make a salad and set the table,” Luna offered.
“I didn’t plan on making dinner and putting you to work.” Gaines gave her one of his “be still my heart” smiles.
Luna could swear he had a twinkle in his eye. “It’s not work. I love to cook, but I don’t do it enough.”
“Tell you what. Before you dive into the greens, bring out the bottle of wine that’s sitting on the counter. I’ll uncork it and put in the carafe. It’s a really nice cab. Needs a few minutes to open.”
“I can do that.” Then she thought twice.Men like to do that sort of thing. Don’t be so . . . Luna-ish trying to orchestrate everything.“On second thought, I’ll let you do it. I would probably break the cork.” She went back inside and returned with the bottle and corkscrew. Gaines skillfully uncorked the bottle and handed it back to her. “The carafe should be on the counter where the wine was.”
“Capisce!” Luna snickered and went back inside. She poured the wine and put the carafe on the table. She was about to look for the plates and glasses.
It was as if Gaines was reading her mind because he called out, “Cabinet left of the sink.”
She stopped suddenly.How did he know what I was going to ask?“Hey. How did you know I was just about to ask you?”
“Deductive reasoning. The salad fixings are obviously in the refrigerator.”
“But what if I was about to ask where the salad bowl is?”
“Yeah. But you didn’t.” He chuckled. Two could play the woo-woo game.
“Huh.” Luna shook her head. Yep. There was definitely athinggoing on with them.
* * *
Before they sat down for dinner, Gaines lit a fire and placed the first album on his turntable. As he was dropping the needle on to the vinyl record, he smirked. “And they mocked me when I refused to let go of my record collection. Now it’s one of the hottest medias for music. You just can’t get the same sound when it’s mixed for streaming.”
Luna had to agree. And she liked his taste in his collection.
The steaks were grilled to perfection, the potato skins were crisp, the salad a medley of lettuces, and the luscious wine was a perfect pairing. Their conversation flowed easily. Gaines talked a lot about his son, Luna about her dog. They continued to gab as they cleaned up the plates. Gaines grabbed the carafe and their two wineglasses and brought them over to the makeshift cocktail table. It was two wooden crates with a piece of shelving on top. “I see another project for Cullen.” Luna eyed the configuration.
Gaines poured a little more into her glass and sat next to her on the couch, their arms nestled next to each other. Chris put down his glass and took Luna’s from her and placed it next to his on the table. He turned and leaned in to kiss her when her phone rudely rang. She huffed and glanced over. When she saw that it was Cullen, she panicked. She knew he wouldn’t call unless it was an emergency. “I have to take this.” She grabbed the phone and barked. “You’d better be dying.”
Cullen’s voice was gasping. “It’s Chi-Chi!”
“Chi-Chi? What happened is she all right?”
“Yes. Listen.” Cullen stopped talking.
