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Stella opened the box and inhaled a deep breath. "Yum! Pinto beans and cornbread!"
Everly opened her own box. "Thanks for dinner."
Jess sat in the comfortable chair in the small corner of the office. "No problem. It was getting a little loud in the dining hall."
Stella held up her plastic fork. "I saw that group of young girls that checked in earlier. I bet they're falling all over themselves to get to the cowboys."
Jess rolled her eyes and slumped lower in the seat. "They can have them."
"I don't blame them," Stella said as she dug into the mound of mashed potatoes on her plate.
"It's really stupid. They start twirling their hair and flapping their eyelids." Jess made a show of mocking the young girls. "Ridiculous."
Everly kept quiet as she ate. It had never bothered her before that the cowboys sometimes had admirers, but now she couldn't help but wonder if Blake had someone hanging on him the way Jess described.
Everly remembered the note Blake had left in her laptop this afternoon. She'd stepped out for lunch and missed him when he came by to see her. Later, she'd found the note.
Thanks for talking to Vera. I got an extra cookie today. Saving it for you.
Blake
The thoughtfulness had her throat constricting. She often skipped dessert because it was too cumbersome to carry back to the office with her plate of food and drink, but she loved the sweet treats. She'd baked cookies and brownies since moving in with Ridge and Blake, and neither batch had lasted long with the two men in the house.
"What about you, Ev?" Stella asked.
Everly looked from Stella to Jess. What were they talking about?
"You coming to the quilting circle this week?" Stella said, clearly catching that Everly hadn't been listening.
"Sure. I'll be there."
Remi burst into the room and quickly found her target. She pointed at Everly. "You. Blake needs you."
The rush of Remi's words had Everly jumping to her feet. "What happened?"
Remi waved her hands. "Nothing happened. We just need another player for the couple's game."
Everly stopped. "Blake and I aren't a couple."
"No, but we had an odd number of couples who wanted to play, and you and Blake know each other better than most real couples." Remi waved her hands. "Come on! They're waiting on us."
Everly looked at Stella, who was already shooing her out the door. "Go on. We don't have any more check-ins tonight."
Jess raised a finger. "I'll take your plate back to the kitchen."
"Thanks, guys."
"Before I'm ninety, sweet cheeks," Remi joked.
Everly chuckled and followed Remi out. "Okay. I'm coming."
They walked at a brisk pace along the porch connecting the check-in office to the large dining hall. "We're set up in here so everyone can still dance in the dance hall," Remi said as they reached the door.
Inside, the tables and chairs had been moved to the left side of the room while the area right in front of the serving bar was open. A young couple sat beside each other on the right side, and Blake sat on the left side with an empty chair beside him. He was on his feet the moment he spotted Everly.
"Blake can get you set up right quick. You two are up first," Remi whispered.
Blake put an arm around Everly's shoulder as soon as he reached her. Leading her to the side, he handed her a black marker and some white boards. "Sorry to spring this on you. Thanks for coming."
