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“Yeah,” she said dryly, tugging a rose into a different position. “The generation older than us loves black licorice. They must’ve spoon-fed it to them in their baby cereal.” She stepped back and admired the flowers. “These are so lovely.”
Will wanted to say she was the lovely one in the room, but he couldn’t. So he tucked his hands into his pockets and smiled at her as she came around the island and to his side. “Are you ready for this?” she asked.
“I’ve been waiting over a week for it,” he said. “So I guess I better be, right?”
She grinned up at him, and Will had a vision of leaning down and kissing her right there, right now. His brain froze, and Gretchen’s smile slipped. His eyes still worked, and he blinked.
“What other kinds of caramels did you make today?” He could smell the sugar on her, and that only drove his desire for her higher.
“Sea salt,” she said. “That’s my favorite.”
“Mine too,” he murmured, going with her as she moved toward the front door. “Do you need to put Elvis away?” He paused and looked at the tabby, who gazed right back at him as if he could see inside Will’s head and knew he didn’t want to be interrupted by the neighbor when he dropped Gretchen off later tonight.
“Oh, right,” Gretchen said. “Come on, Mister.” She unlooped her arm from Will’s and scooped Elvis into her arms with a yeowl from the feline. She bustled down the hall and a door closed a couple of seconds later. “There. Now he won’t be over bothering the Woodworths.”
“Good news,” Will said. They reached the door, and he opened it. She stepped past him, and Will honestly felt like the luckiest man in the world to be going out with her again. “How’s your daddy?”
He saw her shoulders rise and fall, and he caught her hand in his as he stepped to her side at the top of the steps. “You don’t have to say,” he said as gently as he could. “I just noticed you didn’t say anything about him in your texts over the past few days.”
“He’s…okay,” Gretchen said. “I think he’s getting more and more stubborn with every day.” She gave him a brave smile. “What about your mama? Sunday was a bad day?”
Will’s soul turned dark for a moment. He couldn’t imagine a day on the Earth without Mama in it, but he knew he’d have to endure such a thing, probably sooner rather than later. “She’s okay,” he said. “She had a real bad night on Saturday, and Daddy was up with her a lot. They were both really tired, and even Travis couldn’t get her out of bed.”
He opened the door for Gretchen, but she didn’t climb into the truck right away. “He’s been goin’ out with Shay a lot, and he was tired himself. So I went to help, and once we got Mama on the couch and Daddy frying eggs and potatoes, we went and got the chores done.”
“There’s some work that never ends, isn’t there?” She looked at him with kindness shining in her eyes, and Will really needed someone to be kind to him right now.
“Yeah,” he said. “I’m sorry about Sunday. I know I said I was going to try to take breaks and whatnot. Farm life is just so…unpredictable.”
“So are sick parents,” Gretchen said. “I understand, Will. Don’t worry about it.” She got in the truck then, and Will went to get behind the wheel. She directed him to the farm where they’d be having dinner, and Will knew the moment he turned down the dirt road that he’d feel right at home.
“This is incredible,” he said, gazing at the dormant fields that had obviously been taken care of. “She’s got stuff in some of these.”
“She has a greenhouse,” Gretchen said, a hint of pride in her tone. “She starts a ton of stuff inside in the winter and moves it into the fields later. Sometimes she harvests right from the greenhouse.”
“Fascinating,” he said. There was no fancy sign directing people where to turn or where to park. They weren’t the first people to arrive, so it was pretty dang easy to turn into the next parking spot in the dirt field with a pink house in the background. It had a purple door and a lot of white trim around the windows and roof. It felt like the kind of house or cabin that Will would like to spend time in, and he grinned through the windshield at it.
“I told you you’d like this place,” Gretchen said, and he switched his gaze to her.
“You sound so sure of yourself,” he said. “I don’t like frou-frou food.”
“You and the rest of the cowboys in Texas,” Gretchen said, rolling her eyes. “And yet, this place is booked out weeks in advance, and look, there’s a cowboy going in right now.” She unbuckled and added, “Come on, Will. We really don’t want to be late. Ingrid serves appetizers, and I’ve never had one I didn’t want to eat an entire tray of.”
Will chuckled as he got out of the truck, and his smile remained in place as they followed the other couple toward The Culinary Cabin. A wrought-iron patio set sat out front, but they obviously wouldn’t be eating there.
Gretchen led him up the steps to the porch, and Will’s chest felt like someone had suddenly thumped on it with their fist. He couldn’t quite catch his breath, because he wasn’t quite sure what he’d find behind that door.
But he couldn’t wait to find out, and he stepped with Gretchen, his hand in hers as tight as it had ever been.
