“Perfect,” Hunter said. “Thanks, bro.”
Xander nodded back.
Lily sent him an awkward smile. Why was everything like that between them? Awkward and hesitant? Something was up. But what?
“Lily, I don’t know where you learned to cook like this,” Max said, “but thank God you did. Amazing.”
There were murmurs of agreement and the conversation turned to favorite meals, then Lily brought out dessert, which were mini chocolate tarts, and suddenly dinner was over, and Lily was in the kitchen again.
Xander grabbed a few empty platters and took them into the kitchen, hoping no one would do the same. Lily stood at the sink, scraping pans.
“We’ll clean up, Lily,” he said. “Don’t even worry about all this.”
She whirled around with a grin. “Really? First the cook gets invited to dinner and now I don’t have to wash pots and load the dishwasher? I’m not usually this lucky.”
“Trust me, you especially deserve not to clean up with my dad getting all personal like that. Sorry.”
“No worries. I’m well used to dads and brothers ribbing on me.” She put the pans in soapy water to soak. “So...sorry the dating isn’t working out. Though I guess that’s good for my brother. I think Andrew is totally in love.”
“Glad to hear it.” He wanted to tell her he wasn’t dating to find a serious girlfriend, let alone a wife. But was he supposed to blurt out the truth: that he was speed dating to remind him what he was and wasn’t looking for?
Not looking for: Real. Serious. Even close to forever.
Looking for: A hot kiss or two. More if the woman was looking for the same and nothing else.
The reality was that Lily Hunt in her T-shirt and ponytail and blue sneakers, with sauce stains on her shoulder, was keeping him up at night by just being herself.
Lord. Was he falling for Lily? That was impossible, right? She was seven years his junior and looked like any number of his buddies’ kid sisters in her hoodies and jeans.
He wasn’t falling for her. He just liked her. That was all. When was the last time he’d met someone and developed a real bond, a real friendship? A long time ago. He just forgot what it felt like, and it was confusing because it had happened with a woman.
Hadn’t he said women and men could be friends? Yes, they could.
Case in point: him and Lily.
“Well, we’ll see how the dating goes this week,” he said. “Viv has three more set up for me and that’s just the first half of the week.”
Her face fell. Just for a second. But he caught it. She had feelings for him—he knew that. And it was better not to play with her. He was telling the truth about the dates, and she should know so that she wouldn’t hang any hopes on him.
If he hurt her, disappointed her, made her think something more could go on when it couldn’t...he’d never forgive himself.
She was so young. She had her entire life ahead of her. Practically all her twenties. And big dreams to fuel her. She didn’t need some cynical guy already in the next decade of life.
She gave him a tight smile. “Good luck, then.” She darted past him into the living room with him trailing her, said good-night and thank you to everyone, and then beelined for the door. Xander almost wished car trouble on her so he could drive her home, but her little silver car started right up.
Leaving him staring out at the red taillights disappearing down the drive.
“Jeez, just admit you’ve got a thing for her,” Logan whispered as he came up behind him.
“What?” he said. “Of course I don’t. She’s twenty-three, for God’s sake. I’m thirty.” And he was done with caring about a woman, with thinking about the future beyond a couple days. He saw where that had gotten him.
“Whatever you say, bro,” Logan said with a smile and a head shake. “In due time. In due time.”
“Meaning?”
Logan laughed and looked over toward the living room, where his wife sat on the sofa, lifting their baby up and down and kissing her on the cheek.
“Now you have me married with a baby?” He huffed away to get a beer, Logan’s laughter trailing him.
* * *
By the time Lily pulled into her driveway, she’d burst into tears three times and had five text messages waiting for her from Sarah.
Told you he has feelings for you! her friend wrote. Taking over for Hunter at the kiddie cooking class? She added a few heart emojis and a chef hat emoji and Lily burst into tears again.
I’ll believe it if he ever kisses me, she typed back. Until then, I’m operating under the assumption that he likes me as a friend.
Three dates set up this week. All before Wednesday!
She headed inside the house to find her dad home alone, Dobby and Harry beside him on the couch, a bowl of popcorn on the other side of him. He was watching a Law & Order marathon on cable. He took one look at her expression and put the popcorn on the coffee table and patted the space where it had been.
“Come watch, Lil. Did you know identical twins have the same DNA and one could be convicted for the crime his twin actually committed?”
“I don’t think I ever thought about it before, Dad,” she said, plopping beside him. Dobby came over and settled in her lap, and she stroked his soft ears.
“Everything go okay at the Crawfords’?” he asked.
The food: yes. The company: yes. Her heart: no. “Yeah,” she said, unable to disguise the weariness in her tone.
“You like that tall one with the brown hair, don’t you?” her father said.
She stared at her Dad. “They’re all tall with brown hair. But how’d you know?”
He pointed the remote at the TV and shut it off, then turned to her. “Because you’re my baby girl. And trust me, I never forget that. You might think I treat you like one of your brothers, but that’s because I’ve always tried to treat you all the same. But you’re the only female in the house, Lil, and you might think you hide your emotions like we try to, but you’re bad at it.”
Lily laughed, but tears stung her eyes. “I’m falling in love with someone who thinks of me as a friend.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure,” her dad said. “Sometimes it just takes a while for us lugheads to know our own minds. Did I ever tell you how I thought of your mom as just a friend when we first met?”
“What? No way. You always said it was love at first sight.”
“More like love at third sight,” he said with a smile. “Your mom was so pretty and sparkling I didn’t think I had a chance. So I didn’t even give her a romantic thought in my mind. But then I got to know her and fell in love whether I liked it or not.”
Lily laughed again. “You fell in love against your will?”
“Sort of. I didn’t think she’d ever return my feelings. But she did.”
Lily always loved hearing about when her mom and dad met. “Well, I don’t think that’s going to happen here. I look like a boy with long hair.”
“Xander may see much more than that,” her father said. “As I always say—don’t rule anything out till you know for absolute sure you should.”
Dobby licked her hand, which still had the faintest residue of filet mignon no matter how much she’d scrubbed.
“Thanks, Dad,” she said, leaning her head on his shoulder.
He gave her shoulder a pat and then put Law & Order back on, the identical twin—who hadn’t even known he had an identical twin—insisting he was innocent.
She wasn’t in the mood for TV right now but she needed something to take her mind off Xander Crawford and her lack of a love life. Plus, it was nice to spend time with her dad. Real time. She’d opened up tonight and she hadn’t done that in a long time. Sometimes Lily felt like she was changing every few seconds, new experiences hitting her left and right.
Dobby licked her hand a
gain, and she hugged him to her, the warm little dog like a soothing balm.
After the show, Lily hugged her dad, too, and thanked him for listening—and for the good advice—then headed upstairs. She took a long, hot shower, changed into her comfiest pj’s, and then got into bed, tossing and turning for what felt like hours, but when morning came, she felt well rested. Talking to her dad had definitely helped.
Don’t rule anything out till you know for absolute sure you should.
Xander had pretty much confirmed she should rule him out when he mentioned his dating schedule. Right?
But he’d also made a point of seeing her later today by taking his niece to her cooking class. Duh, because you’re friends.
She would never get to the bottom of this at this point.
She stood in front of her bureau, staring at herself in the mirror. On the dresser was a photograph of her mother—beautiful, sophisticated Naomi Hunt. She wore a sleeveless dress, dangling earrings, her hair wavy and loose around her shoulders. She’d lost her mom when she was eight, and her dad and brothers had raised her. She’d wanted to be just like Andrew, Ryan and Bobby, and so she’d never worn dresses or pink or played with dolls. And it had probably been a little easier on her dad not to have to learn to braid her hair or take her clothes shopping or paint her toenails, so he’d let her be.
And now this was what she looked like: one of her brothers. Except even her brothers had more style than she did.
Maybe it was time to change her look—just a little. Wear something besides T-shirts and jeans all the time. Learn to put on mascara without looking like a raccoon. She didn’t even own perfume.
She wondered if Xander would be attracted to her if she was a little more girlie. But the problem with that was then it would bother her that artifice had gotten his attention instead of the real her.
She flopped herself down on her bed. How she wished her mama was here to talk with about this stuff.
Not that her father hadn’t done a great job last night, she thought with a smile.
She heard one of the dogs scratching at the door and she opened it, and Dobby and Harry jumped on the end of her bed and curled up with their satisfied little sighs.
“We’ll see,” she told them. “Lots to think about. Maybe I’ll even talk it over with you two.”
Dobby eyed her, but Harry was already snoring.
Chapter Six
Most Sunday afternoons, Lily taught a cooking class for kids. For the summer, she also offered two workshops for older kids, which met for an hour every week on her three days off. Today was a one-day seminar for five-to eight-year-olds, which a parent or caregiver needed to attend, as well. She adored working with the young cooks.
She scanned the registration list. She had six students—her maximum so that she’d be able to give them all attention—including Wren Crawford. As the kids and their adults arrived in the rec center kitchen, Lily forced herself to stop thinking about Xander and to focus on the class. So far, everyone was here except for the Crawford duo. There were two dads, one with a daughter, one with a son. And three moms, two with daughters and one with a son. Lily checked them all off on her list, kneeling down to say hi to each of her students and handing them their special orange apron that they would take home at the end of class and could decorate with fabric markers.
She couldn’t help but notice how nicely dressed two of the three women were. Granted, one was in a T-shirt and jeans like Lily, but the other two looked so polished, one in a flippy cotton skirt and ruffly tank, the other in a blue sundress.
Lily glanced at her jeans and blah sneakers. Granted, she was about to get salsa all over herself, but wasn’t that what an apron was for? Ina Garten and Nigella Lawson didn’t wear T-shirts to cook in. Why should Lily?
You’re not one of the Hunt boys, she told herself. You’re you. Lily. And you’ve never really figured out what expressing that means—aside from cooking.
She sure liked Layla Carew’s pale blue cotton sundress with the embroidered hem. The woman looked pretty and comfortable and summery. Who said Lily couldn’t wear something like that?
No one.
“Is this it?” Layla asked suddenly, looking around. “I thought Hunter Crawford signed up for this class.”
“I thought so, too,” Monica Natowky added. Monica—wearing the flippy skirt and lots of bangles on her bare, toned arms.
Lily sighed inwardly, her gaze going to their ring fingers. Empty!
Were they here for the kids’ class? Or to land a Crawford?
She glanced at the third woman’s finger: gold band. And what had Darby Feena come to the kids’ cooking class wearing? A T-shirt and jeans. Normal, appropriate wear for the activity!
Still, it would be nice to not always be mistaken for a nanny or a student herself. When Layla had first arrived, she’d gone up to Monica to introduce herself, thinking Monica was the teacher.
Ugh. Lily had no time to be thinking about her wardrobe issues. She had a class to get started.
Right then, Xander came in, holding Wren’s hand, and Lily wanted to tell him to drop off Wren and leave. Who did he and his brothers think they were? Their single status and gorgeousness were causing a scene all over town, making women act like idiots. Including her. Please!
And boy, did he live up to every bit of that gorgeousness. He wore dark jeans and a green henley shirt, his shoulders so broad and his hips so slim. Lordy, Lily could look at him all day.
“Hi, Hunter,” Layla trilled with a toss of her blond curls behind her shoulders. “I’m Layla and this little nugget is Mia.”
Lily was about to introduce Xander and Wren to the group when Monica practically knocked her out of the way to rush over to shake his hand.
“Hunter, it’s so nice to meet you. I’m Monica, and this is my darling nephew, Jasper. Jasper wants to be a rancher someday, too. Don’t you, Jasper?”
“Yup,” the cute little boy in the Western shirt and cowboy hat said.
Xander looked at both of them as if they were from Mars. “I’m not Hunter. Sorry.”
Their gazes went right to his ring finger.
“Oh, no apologies necessary!” Monica said. “You must be one of this li’l angel’s uncles, then.”
Oh, brother. Had these two women really found out that Hunter Crawford had registered for the course with his daughter and signed up for that reason? Xander gave her a sheepish kind of smile as if he was so innocent. Humph!
Lily broke up this display of ick by announcing it was time to get class started. Monica frowned and darted back to her space. Each student and adult shared one table where Lily had set up bowls of precut veggies. In the first row there was an empty table next to one of the dads; Xander chose that spot instead of the free table beside Monica and in front of Layla. She could practically hear them sigh with disappointment.
“Welcome!” she said in her loud, kid-friendly voice. She stood behind a table full of bowls and her electric hot plates. “I’m Lily Hunt, your cooking teacher for today. Guess what we’re making?”
“Tacos!” lots of happy voices shouted.
“That’s right. We’re making vegetarian tacos. Who knows what vegetarian means?”
A little boy raised his hand, and Lily called on him.
“It means a food that isn’t meat!” the boy said.
“Right!” Lily said. “Now, I love beef tacos. And chicken tacos. And salmon tacos. But today we’ll make vegetarian tacos with delicious black beans, cheese, salsa, lettuce and tomatoes!”
“Yay!” a few of the more exuberant kids shouted.
“Okay, kids!” Lily began. “I’ve already cut up the tomatoes because using knives can be really dangerous and only adults should use sharp knives. But I want each of you to come up to my table and point out a tomato from my bowl of whole vegetables. I’ll give you a hint what a tomato lo
oks like. It’s red. And round.”
“I see it!” a girl shouted.
Six pairs of little legs went running over to Lily’s table, each pointing at a plump tomato in Lily’s big bowl and then taking a small bowl of cut tomatoes.
“Okay, now you can go back to your seats,” Lily said. She explained where tomatoes came from, and that they were actually considered a fruit and a vegetable. There were lots of animated questions about vines and seeds, and then Lily asked each student to take their big measuring cup and scoop out a half cup of the cut-up tomatoes. Lily demonstrated where to find the markers on the cups, then instructed the adults to show them closer up.
“I love tomatoes!” Wren said, jumping up and down, her blond pigtails flying. “I know how much a half cup is. My daddy lets me help cook!”
“That’s awesome, Wren!” Lily said.
Xander shot her a smile, and Lily’s knees gave a slight shake.
She headed over to the tables to high-five kids as they measured out the tomatoes, trying not to look at Xander. She kept her attention on the class, sending each student back to her teacher’s table to choose a head of lettuce, and after a mini lesson on lettuce, the kids got to shred theirs by hand (after washing up!) and add their half cup of lettuce to their bowls. Lily gave a little talk on cheese next, having the kids taste three different kinds and learning why some cheeses complemented certain foods. Finally it was time to heat the beans, and Lily told them all about where beans came from. For ease of the class, she’d opened up several cans of Goya black beans and the kids gathered around the low table where she had a hot plate, having each kid add a pinch of the various spices. Then the students added diced tomatoes and spices to a bowl for the salsa, some of which ended up on their aprons and in their hair. Finally, it was time to learn about taco shells, and after those were heated up, everyone was excited to build their tacos with their bowl of ingredients.
“Wow,” Xander said from the first row. “I had no idea tacos were so educational. I really learned quite a bit.”
“Me, too,” Monica trilled. “I make the best tacos, don’t I, Jasper? We should invite Xander and Wren over to have them this week.”
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