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Porter released her hand to get to the Dutch oven. He found an abandoned baseball mitt to hook around the handle so that he could lift the food away from the fire. The scent was even sweeter than before. Cadence was surprised that no bears had come looking, but then again, maybe they knew what Funches did to strange critters.
The firepit’s embers cast an orange glow over Porter’s face as he stared down at the golden cobbler. “I think we need to test this and make sure that it’s edible.”
She could get behind that. Breaking into a smile, Cadence headed inside for bowls. They were easy to find in Funches’s cupboard, though they were a little bit dusty. She ran them under the faucet for good measure, along with the utensils. She had seen Mutt licking off Funches’s spoon earlier, and she wasn’t taking any chances.
Bringing her bounty into the dusky outdoors, she noticed that the sun had dipped even further in the horizon. The trees and mountains were transforming into silhouettes. Porter had built up the fire while she’d gone inside. It made a cozy blaze through the night.
“Thanks!” Porter took the bowls she handed to him and started dishing up the cobbler. He handed one back. The heat of Funches’s cooking warmed her fingers. Her mouth watered. The Fresca and chips were enough to tide her over, but this felt closer to a real meal.
Watching the tall grass swing silently through the darkening meadow, she thought of Lily’s garden while Porter piled the cobbler high into his bowl. How could Cadence make it even more special for Lily? “What’s your mother’s favorite flower?” she asked Porter.
“Hmm, depends on the day,” he said. “She likes orchids, sunflowers, tiger lilies, gardenias, snapdragons, lilacs… lilies.”
Of course.
“But her favorite?” He took a deep breath. “The Beloved.” Thatdidsound special. “It’s a deep red rose,” he said, “red like blood.”
Cadence settled onto the picnic table near the roaring fire. The bench creaked beneath her as she blew at the bowl of steaming peaches. “She wants something in her garden that won’t die. Your momma told me that she’s seen… too much of that lately.”
He made himself comfortable beside her. “Yeah, I get that, but I don’t know what that would be.” He stared out into the shadows of branches above them. “A pine tree?”
A giggle caught in her throat. It should be a flower, but either it never died or whatever Cadence decided on planting needed to already be in full bloom. An urgency to act now was taking her over. She was almost afraid that if Lily didn’t get her dream garden quickly, that she might not ever see it with her earthly eyes. “I want it to mean something to her, something that she adores.”
He cracked a smile. “Besides her boys?”
“Oh, sheabsolutelyloves her boys. You should’ve heard her.” She chuckled, wondering what it would be like to have such a mother. “I’m not sure you deserve it.”
“We definitely don’t,” he agreed. He took a bite out of his steaming bowl and leaned back in pleasure. “Oh, you have to try this. Funches cooks a mean cobbler.”
She didn’t doubt it, if the tantalizing smell was anything to go by. Cadence dipped her spoon into the spongy outer layer, happy to see the gooey peach erupt into the center. She brought the warm cake to her lips, savoring the sweet taste. “I think we need Funches’s recipe.”
Porter’s leg ran against her knee before he gave away the secret ingredients. “Dirt,” he said. “Growls, lots of cussing, and if you don’t do that, none of it will come out right.”
She almost choked on her next bite. “How did you ever hit it off with Funches? It doesn’t seem like he lets a lot of people in.”
“Grey dropped Sky off here with a helicopter he stole from Senator Boone’s son, and I was stuck here after the cops came to take him away.”
She stared at him. Sometimes she wondered what was a truth and a lie with this guy.
“But… well,” Porter said, “Funches is a softy under that crusty crab exterior. Don’t let him know that I ever said that, or you’d break his heart.”
“He won’t hear it from me,” she promised. “And he owns all this land?”
“Yeah, though he’s selling some of it off. The waterfalls where we washed off all that paint used to belong to him. He’s trying to get me to buy my favorite climbing spot. I’m thinking about it more seriously now, but to be honest… well, it’s way more than I can afford.”
He should do it! “This is good land,” she said. If anything, it was a good investment. Cadence knew a little bit about land acquisition from working with Lacy. “You sure you can’t take out a loan? It could pay for itself.”
“If I did, I’d build a Swiss Family Robinson treehouse in my favorite monster oaks.”
She almost snorted out a laugh. “You are nothing like I imagined.”
“Really?” His voice sobered, and she remembered that he’d planned on talking to her about that. If he was so nervous to bring it up, she’d rather he just drop it. Clearly she was wrong about him, end of story.
She changed the subject. “I think you should consider it. You belong in a place like this.”
He blinked, his long lashes pressing against his cheeks before his eyes rose to meet hers through the hazy smoke of the campfire. “I think you do, too.”
Her heart lifted. Was that true? More than anything she wanted to belong to this land. It called to her. “The small town life is growing on me. I like the people here. They’re so friendly.”
