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We all burst into laughter because if there was one thing Lucy was, it was energetic.
“What’s so funny?” a voice asked from the kitchen doorway.
“Lance!” Ivy said, jumping up to hug him. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
He patted her back and winked at me over her shoulder. “I just got here. I decided to come in a little early so I could make breakfast for the meeting of the minds. You know what they say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
Becca raised her hand and waved it around in the air with much enthusiasm. “I’m starving!” she exclaimed, making us all laugh. Becca was always starving yet she remained the size of a rabbit and never gained a pound. “What are you making?”
“It’s a surprise,” he said, wagging his eyebrows. “Sit down and start your meeting. I’ll bring it out when it’s ready. It won’t take long.”
Becca and Ivy sat again but I held up my finger. “I have to grab something from the cooler. Hang on.”
I followed Lance into the kitchen and patted his shoulder as he slung his apron over his head and tied it. “Thanks for this,” I whispered. “Ivy had a hard night.”
“That’s the word on the street.”
“The word on the street?”
He nodded while he checked the window to see if Ivy was watching us. “Shep called me. He knew I was working today and asked me to come in and make Ivy breakfast since she was up all night with him. She has Lucy today but didn’t get any sleep.”
“I’m going to take Lucy for her. Shep doesn’t know that yet, but she needs some sleep. Lucy can spend the day with me, and I’ll drop her off at four. Then we can go to Saginaw.”
“That’s sweet of you. Little Lucy will love spending the day with her Auntie Gumdrop.”
“And her Auntie Becca. We’re going out to the tree farm after lunch for a wagon ride.”
He laughed and his eyes lit with happiness. “She’ll be in heaven.”
“Okay, wish me luck with the gumdrop cake. I really want to go to Saginaw with you tonight.”
I headed for the cooler, but he grabbed my arm on the way by. “I was just kidding about that, Gumdrop. We’re going, whether she likes the cake or not, but she will.”
I smiled shyly when he dropped my arm and I nodded once. “Good, it’s a date.”
I dodged into the cooler and grabbed the cake off the shelf where I’d put it yesterday but when I walked back out, Lance was in the same place, just staring at the cooler door.
“Can we make it a date?” he asked, his head tipped to the side.
I ran what I said back through my head and bit back the grimace. Not because I didn’t want it to be a date, but I was embarrassed I’d use that phrasing. “I mean, if you want to,” I answered vaguely.
“Do you want to?”
“Hey, are you coming back out, Indigo?” Becca called but I never broke eye contact with Lance.
“Depends on if you’re asking me out,” I said coyly.
He paused and then let a smile tip his lips up. “Would you like to go on a date with me tonight, Indigo Dickson? I was thinking we could go to this little candy store and buy all of their gumdrops.”
“Oh, now you’re speaking my language,” I whispered, dropping him a wink. “I’ll pick you up at four.”
“Don’t be late.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I said as I walked out of the kitchen with a grin on my face.
My friends were staring at me expectantly and I held up the cake, ready to put on a show to hide what just happened in the kitchen.
"What was going on back there?" Ivy asked as she scooted into the booth so I could sit.
