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10
Harrison felt like he needed twenty minutes to prep to have Cass enter his house.A few minutes to shower, then a few more to rush around the house and pick up anything he’d left lying out he didn’t want her to see.Then he’d make the hamburgers and prep the toppings, and she’d show up in her wide-leg white beachcomber pants, and the navy-and-white striped tank top.She’d comment on the crisp white lines and how citrusy the air smelled.
As it was, he carried her into his house as it had been that morning when he’d gone to work.He had changed his clothes when he’d run home to get the first aid kit, but he’d had to.He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and he’d noticed Cass gaping at him.
He couldn’t believe he’d told her he wanted this to be a date.He couldn’t believe she’d asked.
He’d texted her a few times in the past week, and they’d conversed a little.Nothing of consequence.Nothing he’d worry Grant or Bea couldn’t see.If they did, they’d think he was just asking about her travel plans, the size of her plastic bins, and if she needed him to take care of any plants while she waited to get in her house.
“Here you go,” he said, placing her on his leather couch.He put a pillow behind her back and she leaned into it.
“Thanks.”
“I’m gonna fire up the grill and start working on the corn.”
“Bring me the corn,” she said.“I once won a shucking competition with my brother and sister.”Her dark eyes held a light Harrison hadn’t seen yet, and he paused.
“Really?”
“My momma used to make us help in the garden.Shelovesgardening, and we didn’t have much money.So we had to shell the peas forhours, and I swear, you have no idea how long it takes to fill a bucket with tiny little peas.”
Harrison could listen to this woman talk for hours, and he settled on the armrest opposite her.“I bet.”
“Corn’s the same way,” she said.“You shuck it forever, and there was always too much silk for my momma.”She laughed, and Harrison grinned at her.
“All right,” he said.“I’ll bring you the corn.”
“She’d do timed contests for us, just to make it fun.I won all the time.”She lifted her hands and waggled her fingers—well, the ones on her right hand.“I have deft hands.”
He nodded to the splint.“Even with that?”
“I can hold it tight with this hand,” she said.“Rip with the other.”
“Okay,” he said dubiously.“I don’t want you overexerting yourself.”He pushed himself to his feet and went into the kitchen.As he collected the half-dozen ears of corn from the refrigerator, he told himself he had to talk.He was on adate, and he couldn’t just go into his chef zone and get dinner on the table as quickly as possible.
He dropped the corn into a big bowl and took it toward her.“How did your other kids react to you selling the house?”
Cass’s expression fell slightly.“Fine,” she said.“Jane’s in her own world, so I didn’t get much support from her.Sariah’s in Taiwan, and she said it’s my house, and I can do what I want with it.”
“That you can,” Harrison said.He went back into the kitchen and started putting the ground meat together.He seasoned it with salt and pepper and a packet of onion soup mix, then dove in with one hand and mixed it all up.
As he started to shape patties, he asked, “Is Conrad going to stay here with you for long?”
“Just a couple of weeks,” she said.“He wanted to make sure I get settled.That I don’t need his help moving anything big and don’t have it.”
“So he’s supportive,” Harrison said.
“I guess.”
He looked up as he patted the meat.“Cass, he is.That’s how men show their support.We do things.”
She looked over to him, her eyes wide.
“I mean, notallmen, obviously,” he said, his face suddenly growing hot.He dropped his gaze back to his task and put the ready patty down.He picked up another fistful of ground beef.“A lot of men I know, myself included.If you need help, I’m there.You want me to talk about my feelings?”He gave a short laugh.“That’s a little harder.”
“Conrad was pretty mad when I told him I was going to sell the house in Texas.”She spoke quietly, but she wasn’t passive.“He wanted me to try living here for the summer first.I decided I could do that if it made him feel better.”
“Honey,” Harrison said, laying on the Southern drawl as thick as he could.“It’s summer here year-round.”He laughed, and Cass joined in.He’d not had a woman in this house yet, and it sure did feel good.Like he didn’t have to continually come home alone after a tiring day of work.
