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I smiled and opened the front door wider. “You’re welcome to come in while I pack up a container for you to take home.”
He stepped inside.
“If you’ll follow me,” I said over my shoulder, catching him looking around as we walked through the living room. His eyes went wide when we entered the kitchen. At least it wasn’t a mess anymore. “Yeah. One of my many faults is I sometimes get lost in what I’m doing. I’ve been known to go above and beyond. Especially if I’m having a bad day,” I explained as I pulled out a bin filled to the brim with new Tupperware I’d bought the other day.
“You had a bad day?”
I looked away from him. “Yes and no.” I didn’t elaborate and he thankfully didn’t push. “Are you or your brothers allergic to anything? I don’t want someone going into anaphylactic shock because I put peanuts in some of the brownies.”
He shook his head. “No known food allergies. Can I try one of these?” he asked, pointing to one of the peanut butter cookies.
“Help yourself.” I smiled and began filling a plastic container with an assortment of goodies.
Colt took a bite of the cookie and groaned. “Wow, these are good.”
I chuckled. “You sound surprised.”
With his cheeks puffed out around the cookie, he shook his head. “There you go again. You’re kind of a ball buster, you know that?”
I’d been called worse. Stuck up, snob, whore. Not that what he’d said was an insult. In fact, it sounded like he enjoyed that I gave him a hard time.
“I’m glad you like the cookie, but wait until you try the key lime bars. They’re my mom’s recipe.” The moment the words left my mouth I regretted them. I turned away to hide the pain I was undoubtedly showing and busied myself with packing up two-thirds of everything I’d made. Once I had my face schooled and my emotions at bay, I turned back around and stacked two large plastic containers in front of him. “Okay, here you go.”
“Are you trying to make me fat?” he teased, taking the containers from me.
“Aren’t guys supposed to be bottomless pits? Besides, there’s what, three of you—?”
“Four,” he corrected.
“There are four of you and only one of me. I still won’t be able to finish what I have left but it’s nice to know most of everything I made won’t go to waste. You taking all this off my hands is doing me a favor, really.”
He tilted his head slightly, seeming confused. “What about your uncle?”
Oops.
“He left today,” I replied honestly and tucked some of my lilac hair behind my ear. “He was only here to help me get situated.”
Colt went quiet as he stared at me. I felt the urge to squirm or palm-smack my face, so I busied myself with packing up the rest of the baked goodies in my own container.
“Don’t take this question the wrong way, but do you live here alone?” he asked.
I tensed up. It wasn’t wise to advertise that you lived alone to a stranger. Logan would kick my butt if he knew. I forced myself to relax. I’d seen what a monster’s eyes looked like. Colt’s eyes didn’t have a speck of evil in them and my gut told me he was a nice guy.
“Yes.” I could tell he had more questions. They were dancing behind his aquamarine eyes.
“I should get back,” he said, scooping up the containers off the counter. “Thank you for these.”
Relief washed over me, and I followed him back to the front door. When he stepped out onto my porch, he turned back to look at me. “If you ever need anything you can come next door and get me.”
I smiled at the kind offer. “Thank you, Colt. That’s very sweet of you.”
He nodded and took a step back. “I’ll see you around.”
I gave him a little wave and went to shut the door.
“Wait!” he said, and I paused. He balanced the containers in one hand and reached into his back pocket. “We should exchange numbers,” he said as he pulled out his cell phone.
I hesitated.
“You know…for Monday,” he quickly added.
“Okay,” I said and gave him my number.
After Colt left, Monday didn’t seem so nerve wracking.
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