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“No,” Lee called after him. “I was afraid Ford was going to burn down the whole farm while we baked thesefifteen billion cookies.”
“I’m not gonna eat your cookies anyway,” Will yelled back. “Shoulda gone to the store like everyone else.”
Mack grinned at Lee. “I’ll have some cookies, Boss.”
Lee wasn’t sure if he should scowl or smile, and he landed somewhere in the middle. “What’s with Will?”
“I guess someone forgot to turn off the sprinklers, and the spot he’d staked out for the fireworks is now soaking wet.” Mack shrugged one shoulder and turned to go help load things too. “Why he needed a spot for a family fireworks show, I don’t know.”
Lee knew, but he kept his mouth shut. Mack left the cabin, and Rose came to his side. Lee looked at her while she watched the exit. “Why did Will want a separate spot?” she finally asked, turning her attention to Lee.
“He’s engaged,” Lee said simply. “My guess is as good as yours.”
Rose linked her arm through his, a smile blooming on her face. “So you’re saying he wanted to sneak away with Gretchen.”
“I’m not saying anything,” Lee said, chuckling. “Certainly not that I’ve stowed some of these cookies somewhere only I know, away from everyone else.” He leaned toward her, glad when she reacted physically to him too. “Because I’m surely going to kiss you good-night later.”
“You think so?” Rose asked.
“Mm.”
“Dad,” Ford said. “Should I get my hat?”
Lee turned away from Rose and focused on his son as he and Autumn entered the kitchen. “Absolutely,” he said. “And then Uncle Will and Mack need help loading up the chairs and blankets and cookies.”
“All righty,” Ford said, dashing past Lee and Rose on his way down the hall to his bedroom. He came back in a gallop, his child-sized cowboy hat on his head. “Ready.”
“Get some cookies then,” Lee said, reaching to hand his son one of the containers. He collected most of them, and Rose picked up the rest.
They went outside to find the truck loaded and Will getting into the farm truck he and Mack had driven over. “See you there,” Lee called, and Will just waved, no smile in sight.
Lee had a very distinct feeling that if a man as crotchety as Will could get a woman to fall in love with him, he should be able to as well. A flush worked its way up his throat and into his face, but he kept silent as he went down the steps and sidewalk to his truck.
The four of them loaded into it, with Rose bending to swing Autumn up onto her hip and then into the back seat. “Slide over by Ford,” she said before climbing into the front.
Lee drove them all over to the white farmhouse where he’d grown up, the number of trucks parked out front making his heart leap into the back of his throat. He nearly choked but managed to turn it into a cough instead. As he came to a stop, he said, “Here we are.” He decided to lead by example, and he got out of the truck without hesitation.
Rose followed with Autumn, and Ford could get out by himself. “I’ll take the cookies inside,” Rose said.
“Ford and I will get the blankets and chairs set up,” Lee said, already dreading the afternoon in the heat. He swapped out his glasses for his prescription pair of sunglasses and got to work doing just that.
Several more people had gathered out in the back yard behind the farmhouse, each of them claiming a patch of grass for their blankets and chairs. They’d eat on the back deck and in the farmhouse, and then the fireworks would happen over the corn fields directly behind the house. The lawn sloped downward slightly, so setting up at the top of the rise was the best seat in the house.
“Just right there, bud,” he told Ford, because he didn’t want to be right in the middle of the crowd. He didn’t need Will counting how many hamburgers he ate tonight, nor did he want to admit he hadn’t eaten much today in anticipation of Daddy’s famous Fourth of July bean dip.
He and Ford set up the chairs, and Will spread his blanket beside him, wordless. Lee wanted to say something, but he didn’t know what. He didn’t want to tease Will for wanting to have a romantic evening with his fiancé under all of the sparking and festive lights. Heck, Lee wanted that for himself too.
“Cherry’s here,” Will said without looking up, and Lee glanced over to the east side of the house where everyone had been walking.
Sure enough, Cherry came around the corner, and she wasn’t alone. It took Lee a moment to recognize who she was with, and his heart played yo-yo in his chest. His only thought was,At least it’s not Charlie.
The man she walked with was Jed Forrester, the second son who lived and worked on the farm next-door to the Coopers. Jed had clearly just said something that Cherry didn’t find amusing, but which he did. He laughed with his head tipped back, and Cherry rolled her eyes.
Lee pretended to continue to set up his chairs while he watched Cherry put her chair along the back of the hill too, out of the way on the other side of the deck. She’d positioned herself for a quick getaway should she need it, and Lee recognized her strategy.
She must’ve felt him staring, because she looked straight at him. He lifted his hand in a wave, and Cherry smiled. She said something to Jed, who was setting up his chair beside hers, and came Lee’s way.
“You made it,” he said, taking his older sister into a hug. “How was the drive?”
