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As embarrassing as it was, Vivian vowed to herself that she’d keep trying until she got it right. Gretta made it look so easy. Surely, there was a trick to it, a secret that she could bestow that would catch Vivian up and make her a star in the kitchen.
Chewing her food slowly, Vivian looked down the long table and caught Nash’s blue-blue eyes. He was holding a piece of blackened bacon level with his mouth, and holding her gaze, he smirked before biting into it.
He was teasing her, she realized, as he crinkled his nose and took a big drink of orange juice and swished it around. Having found that the juice was at least okay, he tilted his head and, with raised brows, gave her a nod of approval.
Smiling to herself, Vivian looked away and continued eating her meal in silence. Their earlier discussion had been on her mind since she left Nash outside with his hay, and she hated to admit that part of her desire to learn the art of cooking was inspired by that tiny smirk and nod just now. She wanted his approval. She wanted to earn more of those smiles. As fleeting as it was, she found herself wanting more of his attention.
“Well, I’m stuffed,” Dave, a slim but tall man who always wore a set of denim overalls with no shirt underneath announced and patted his flat stomach. “Couldn’t eat another bite.”
“I second that,” Kenny said and wiped his patchy red beard on a napkin before standing from the table.
One by one, each of the men rose and thanked Gretta for the food, each complimenting her on a particular item they enjoyed most. It was no surprise that they favored the pancakes, just as it wasn’t a surprise that no one mentioned the bacon.
“Great job on the hash browns again, Ms. Gretta,” Nash said as he approached her from behind and dropped a kiss on the top of her gray head. “And um, the orange juice was good, too,” he told Vivian with laughter in his eyes.
She grinned back. “Thank you, Nash. I’m glad you liked it.”
“And the bacon was only half bad,” Gretta chimed in, making them all laugh.
“Hey, you said it,” Nash guffawed. “Maybe youshouldgive us a hand in the field,” he told Vivian.
“No, our Vivian here is going to be right here with me every morning until she gets her cooking legs beneath her. Isn’t that right?”
“Um…yes?” Suddenly, Vivian felt shy, unsure of herself.
Nash openly balked at the idea. “You mean to say we’re going to have to choke down more extra-extra-extra crispy bacon?”
“And pancakes and eggs and hash browns, too.” Gretta nodded sagely.
Backing toward the doorway and shaking his head, Nash made the sign of the cross over his chest. “Lord help us all.”
A dishrag promptly hit him in the face, courtesy of Gretta’s surprisingly accurate throwing arm. “You get on out of here, you troublemaker!” she said, laughing. “Before you make my girl here start thinkin’ better of it. I could use the help in here, with all you big mouths.”
Nash was already gone, her words hitting empty air as he ran for the exit. Still chuckling, Gretta turned to Vivian, her eyes bright. “He’s in a mood today. I swear, those boys didn’t get enough paddlins when they were growing up.”
“I think I could agree with you there.”
“Yeah, well, for all their faults, ya gotta love ‘em.” Picking up a clean dishcloth, Gretta ran it under the faucet and handed it to Vivian. “How about I clear the dishes, and you wipe the mess?”
“Sounds good to me.”
While they set to work putting the kitchen back in order, Vivian and Gretta chatted about everything from the mundane to the exciting, and Vivian learned fast that Gretta was a bit of a gossip, dishing about all the women in town—some she’d already met, and others she still hadn’t had the pleasure. It was interesting, knowing that so-and-so ran a not-so-secret sex toy business online, while another lady thought her penchant for dressing up in Victorian gowns every Sunday evening and listening to music on an old Victrola had gone unnoticed. It seemed everyone knew everyone’s business, yet they only spoke about it in hushed tones.
It was nice to know they weren’t a bunch of bullies, yet at the same time, Vivian thought she’d do well to keep her business as close to the vest as possible unless she wanted everyone else to know about it.
Eventually, that gossip turned back around to her.
“I noticed that you and Nash seemed to be getting closer.”
Vivian paused what she was doing and looked up at Gretta. “I wouldn’t say that exactly.” They hadn’t spent any real time together, aside from running into town the other day, at Gretta’s behest. And she’d only spoken to him briefly a couple of times since.
“I would. Don’t think I didn’t notice the way you two kept looking at each other over breakfast today.”
“Oh that?” Vivian scoffed and resumed wiping the crumbs off the table and onto the floor so they could be swept up. “That was nothing. We just happened to catch each other’s eye.”
“Mm-hmm,” Gretta hummed, sounding skeptical. “It looked like a lot more than that to me. Nash was watching you just the same as you were watching him when neither of you thought the other one was looking.”
Vivian met her eyes, unsure of what to say. Shehadbeen more than a little aware of Nash today. She just hadn’t thought she’d been so obvious. Of course, if someone was actively looking for signs, they were sure to find any that existed. “Maybe you’re just a little too nosey for your own good,” she suggested, winking playfully at her host.
