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“Yeah, I noticed your shirt at The Barn the other night and thought you might like this hat.”
We just stared at each other for a few seconds before Avon cleared her throat.
“Hi Holt,” she said.
He turned to her, seemingly just realizing there were two other people in the room with us.
“Oh, hey Avon. How are you?”
“I’m good. I was just leaving, actually. Shea was letting me taste some of her delicious options for the wedding reception dinner.”
“Sounds like fun. I’m stoked about being included as a groomsman, by the way.”
“Grady and I are so glad you said yes.”
“Absolutely.”
I glanced at my future sister-in-law, who had conveniently failed to mention Holt would be a groomsman in the wedding. We’d have to discuss that later.
“Holt, this is Priscilla,” I said, gesturing to the other side of the island. “Priscilla, this is Holt Sellers, one of our guests.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said.
“You too.”
He gave me a sheepish look. “I’m a little early. I can come back.”
“No!” Avon answered before I could. “We were just leaving, weren’t we, Priscilla?”
The next hour was the quiet period between finishing lunch cleanup and starting dinner prep, but Priscilla was still supposed to be polishing water spots off the cutlery. She took Avon’s cue, though, grabbing a big bowl to put the cutlery in so she could polish it elsewhere.
“Bye, guys!” Avon said, swiping the cannoli on her way out.
My cheeks were warm from her complete lack of subtlety. Holt and I had planned to meet up this afternoon so I could show him a few cooking basics, but I was pretty sure we both felt like we’d been set up on a blind date after Avon’s theatrics.
“So, how are the kids?” I asked as an icebreaker.
“They’re great. My parents took them out to my uncle’s farm for the day. They’ll be milking cows and fishing in the lake.”
“That sounds like a perfect summer day to me.”
He set a glass jar on the island. “Thought you might like some of my mom’s berry jam.”
“Thank you. I’m sure I’ll love it.”
He gave me a tentative look. “Are you sure you have time for this? Because I can come back another time.”
“This is a great time.” I looked down at my apron to make sure there was no food on it. “Is there anything you want to start with? Do you know how to make scrambled eggs?”
“Yeah, but they always stick to the pan.”
I smiled and headed for the walk-in cooler. “The answer is butter!” I cupped a hand around my mouth like I was telling him a secret. “In cooking, the answer is often butter.”
He washed his hands and I gave him two eggs to crack into a stainless bowl. He swore several times and had to pick little eggshell bits out of the bowl, but he got the job done.
“What’s the secret to not getting shells in there?” he asked.
“Practice.”
