by Deb Kastner
Ruby chuckled. “Now, why am I not surprised?” Aaron was a large man with a similarly big appetite. “Midday snack?”
Jake burst out a laugh. “Something like that.”
Weird.
Then again, in Ruby’s opinion, Jake had always had an expansive personality. But as long as he was good to Avery, Ruby was happy.
Jake didn’t have to point her way to the kitchen. She’d helped her sister remodel the place when she first bought it, and she knew where everything was located. This wasn’t just any old bed-and-breakfast. It was Jake and Avery’s heartfelt contribution to A New Leash on Love. This was where potential clients came to stay while they trained with their new service dogs. It offered them escape from having to worry about finding housing or most of their meals. Breakfast and lunch were provided, and there were plenty of delicious fixin’s for easy dinners stocked in the refrigerator and pantry—not to mention some wonderful restaurants to visit in Whispering Pines.
Avery was the business side of the Winslows’ companies and took care of the paperwork and accounting. Jake had found his place in the Winslows’ ministry, cooking for his guests at the B and B, and then Jake and Avery shared the cleaning duties and childcare between them. In addition to baby Felix, Jake had a five-year-old daughter named Lottie, whom Avery had adopted as her own soon after their marriage.
Waving a thank-you to Jake, Ruby turned the corner into the kitchen, expecting to see Aaron at the kitchen table nomming on a snack.
She couldn’t have been more wrong.
Aaron stood at the counter, his back to her, humming under his breath. It wasn’t a song she recognized. Maybe it wasn’t even a song at all, as it didn’t follow any kind of pattern Ruby could discern. Though she couldn’t see it past his broad shoulders, she heard the buzz of an electric mixer in the background. Various baking items—bins of flour and sugar, sticks of butter and a gallon of milk—were spread out on the counter next to him.
Was he baking?
It wasn’t that she held any old-fashioned notions that men never baked. Jake did all the cooking here at the bed-and-breakfast, and he was a guy. It was specifically Aaron who’d surprised her. His obvious familiarity in the kitchen was just so not the rough-and-ready marine with whom Ruby was familiar that she almost didn’t believe her eyes. She nearly pinched herself just to make sure she hadn’t dreamed all this up.
At least Aaron had Oscar with him. The black poodle was sheltered under the breakfast nook, napping with his chin on his paws, looking entirely content just hanging out with his person.
“Aaron?” she asked tentatively as she entered the room.
He swung around so fast that the mint-green frosting on the spatula he was holding—now rather like a weapon—went flinging across the room, a couple of large chunks of the soft, fluffy cream landing in Ruby’s hair.
His expression immediately went from one of utter shock and surprise to—what?
Embarrassment?
Chagrin?
“Ruby! What are you...?”
“Is this how you spend your Saturday afternoons?” she asked, picking at the frosting in her hair and feeling at least as stunned as he must be. “I never would have guessed in a million years that you were a closet chef. Whatcha baking?”
“I—er—” he stammered. Without answering, he whipped the dish towel from off his shoulder and fruitlessly dabbed at her hair, his face turning bright red under a couple of days’ scruff.
And speaking of red...
“I must look like a Christmas tree right now, between my red hair and the green frosting. All I need is a string of lights and I’ll be good to go.”
“I am so sorry.” He continued to apologize profusely as he scrubbed and dabbed at her hair with his towel—rather ineffectively, were she to guess. She could feel the frosting spreading across her scalp and could only begin to picture what a sight she must look like right now.
Laughing, she grabbed his wrists and twisted away from him to stop him from continuing the pointless behavior. “Aaron, please. You’re only making it worse!”
He immediately dropped his hands, and his face became even more flushed, if that were possible. “You’re right. I’m just mashing it in. I’m sorry. I’m afraid you’re going to need a shower after this. My bad.”
He looked so mortified that she couldn’t help but laugh. “No worries. It’s nothing a little shampoo won’t fix. Now tell me about—” she gestured, first toward him and then toward the mixer “—this.”
With a reluctant groan, he turned his attention back to the counter and set the spatula back in the mixing bowl.
“Cupcakes,” he said, his low, raspy baritone voice indicating such an admission was beneath him.
“Really?” She wondered if she sounded as stunned as she was feeling right now. Her eyes must be huge. Everything she’d seen since she’d entered the bed-and-breakfast today was a contradiction in terms.
“Avery and Jake have new guests coming in this week, and I thought I would bake up some cupcakes for them to enjoy. It seems like the least I can do after all they’ve done for me. They’ve been fantastic, and I—er—baking is one of my few hobbies.”
Ruby slid onto a stool next to the island counter and propped her chin on her palms. “Please...don’t let me stop you. I love cupcakes. What flavor are you making?”
He turned and leaned his hip against the counter, crossing his arms and tilting his head as he narrowed his gaze on her. “Yellow cake with cream cheese frosting. Why? What is your favorite?”
She grinned at him. “Yellow cake with cream cheese frosting.” She gave him a casual shrug. “If they’re any good.”
“Hmmph. Be prepared to be amazed.”
He turned back to the counter and flipped on the mixer, humming off-key, as he’d been doing when she’d first walked in.
She watched him in silence, enjoying the rare sight of a true man’s man who knew his way around the kitchen. There was something just so incredibly attractive about the dish towel slung over his broad shoulder, his deep, tuneless humming and the way his biceps tightened under the sleeves of his black T-shirt as he measured and poured.
The butterflies suddenly loosed in her stomach put her on edge.
What was she thinking?
Or maybe that was the problem.
She wasn’t thinking.
She was feeling. Leaning in with her heart and not her head. And she needed to stamp out that little spark before it flamed into a fire, because she suddenly realized it could potentially happen despite her father and her past relationship with Daniel.
Aaron held the key to opening up a whole new world for her and the family’s service-dog business. She didn’t dare mess it up by becoming personally involved with him in any way. No. She reminded herself that she would never become involved with a military man—not after living through what war had done to Daniel and her own father.
Still—objectively speaking, Aaron was a good-looking man. As long as she kept her heart locked up and her eyeballs in her head, she should be good to go.
Aaron poured the cupcake batter into a couple of muffin pans and slid them into the oven. His work for the moment finished, he then pulled up a stool next to her and half perched on it, leaning on his elbow as he captured Ruby’s gaze.
“So, tell me—if you didn’t come by this afternoon to sample my culinary wares, why are you here?”
* * *
Aaron was curious to find out the answer to his question, but it was more to change her focus than anything.
Talk about humiliating.
There was no reason whatsoever for him to feel ashamed. She probably would have found out about it via Jake and Avery if she hadn’t walked in on him herself. Half of the reason he was baking today was that Ruby’s brother-in-law Jake had talked him into it. They’d become good friends since Aaron had moved
into the B and B. Aaron could relate to Jake, and they’d spent many evenings together shooting the breeze. Jake wasn’t a wimp by any means. He was large and extroverted, with a strong handshake and a huge grin. When he’d married Ruby’s sister Avery, he’d embraced a life of service, taking care of the bed-and-breakfast—including doing all the cooking.
It didn’t seem to bother him—or his masculinity—one bit.
So, Aaron didn’t know why his ego felt stung that Ruby had walked in on him. Maybe it was because he was baking cupcakes he was planning on frosting mint green.
Whatever it was, he was struggling with his emotions.
And then he was hoping Ruby didn’t notice he was struggling.
“Did you need me for something?” he asked and then realized his question sounded a little self-centered. “Oh. Of course, you’re not here for me. You’re probably here to visit your sister and niece and nephew, right?”
She raised her eyebrows. “No,” she said softly, drawing out the word. “I’m here to see you.”
His heart jumped into his throat and started hammering mercilessly. He felt almost as if he were back in high school, and the girl on whom he’d had a crush had just looked his direction.
“Okay. What do you need me to do?” Presumably, it had something to do with his service-dog training. Or maybe she needed a favor. A leaky faucet or something, although she had two brothers on the farm, not to mention a gaggle of sisters, who could do that sort of thing—or Ruby could do it herself. She was quite self-sufficient.
“Nothing,” she finally answered.
Now it was his turn to raise a brow.
“That’s pretty cryptic,” he pointed out.
“Right. No. I don’t need anything from you. I just stopped by to see how you were getting along. I thought maybe you’d be bored or something since you don’t have to train today. I guess I shouldn’t have worried on that score, huh?”
She’d been worried about him?
He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had cared enough to check up on him, even if it was only to make sure he wasn’t bored out of his mind.
“I’ll leave you to your baking. I can see I’m in your way,” she continued, standing as if to leave.
“No, not at all,” he answered so fast his brain had to catch up to his mouth. He reached out and gently grabbed her hand to keep her from walking away. “You’re here. Why don’t you stay and have a cupcake?”
She shrugged nonchalantly and sat back down on the stool, but the sparkle in her light blue eyes matched her smile. “Well, if you insist. I was always the taste tester for my mom when I was a kid. You know—the one who hung around the kitchen just to be able to lick the spatula?”
He glanced at the counter where he’d placed the smaller mixing bowl filled with frosting and the accompanying spatula. Everything else he’d used so far was in the sink, soaking in hot, soapy water.
“I didn’t even think to offer it to you.”
She chuckled. “It isn’t as if I would have taken it even if you had.”
“Why not? After I finish frosting the cupcakes, the spatula is yours,” he assured her.
“Hey, now. I have dignity, even if most of the time you can’t tell. I’m trying to present myself as a grown woman here—although I’ll admit it may be difficult to do so with mint-green frosting in my hair.” She tilted her chin and huffed dramatically.
She had no idea what he really thought of her. There was no question in Aaron’s mind that Ruby was 100 percent an attractive woman. That was half his problem—the other half being the ridiculous dog she’d paired him with.
The oven timer went off, and Aaron was grateful for a moment to catch his breath. He opened the oven and set the cupcakes on a cooling rack.
“I’ve got half an hour to kill before I can frost them. Do you want to get a breath of fresh air?”
She hopped off the stool, and Tugger immediately moved to her heel. “I thought you’d never ask. As wonderful as those cupcakes smell, it’s too nice of a day to spend the whole day in the kitchen. I was on cleaning duty this morning at the house and didn’t even get out to play with the dogs.”
He liked that she was an outdoorsy type like he was. More often than not, when he arrived at A New Leash on Love in the mornings, Ruby would already be outside, running dogs through the agility course or cheerfully cleaning the dog pen.
“Oscar, heel,” he commanded the poodle—his poodle, he reminded himself when Oscar immediately obeyed him, and he slipped him a treat. He didn’t know if the poodle’s companionship would ever feel natural to him, although he was becoming more used to the dog as the days went by.
“We have to let the cupcakes cool down a bit before Aaron can frost them,” Ruby told Jake as they passed through the living room.
Jake was slowly rocking back and forth in a chair with a now-sleeping Felix curled on his shoulder.
“Don’t freak out if you happen to see the mess in the kitchen,” Aaron whispered so the baby wouldn’t wake up. “I’ll clean it up when I come back in.”
“No worries. Have fun, kids,” Jake said with a low snicker.
When they were outside, Ruby turned to Aaron and rolled her eyes. “Honestly, I don’t know how Avery puts up with Jake sometimes. She’s so serious-minded and he’s loud and gregarious. It would drive me crazy. But as long as he makes her happy, I suppose that’s all that matters.”
“To each his own,” Aaron quipped lightly, but his gut flipped when his gaze met and locked with Ruby’s and realized Ruby had heard and interpreted it in a totally different way than what he’d meant.
“I believe that—that God has a special someone meant just for me. Don’t you?” Her voice was soft, and she suddenly sounded shy.
He supposed he believed God made one woman for one man. He’d heard people talk about finding their person. But because of his choice in career, he hadn’t ever really given it much thought. He knew how difficult military spouses had it and would never wish that on his worst enemy, much less someone he loved, so it had simply never been an issue. While he’d dated now and again when he wasn’t on one of his tours, he’d never even looked for a serious relationship.
“I didn’t mean—” he started.
“No. I know.” She cut him off and changed the subject. “So, where do you want to go? There are a couple of easy hiking paths with trailheads that start right around the back of the cabin or else I can borrow Avery’s truck to drive us to town or something if you just want to walk around and browse the shops.”
Neither one of those options really appealed to Aaron right now. He would never admit how hard he had to struggle just to take a simple hike, and quite honestly, he appreciated having the weekend off to recuperate. And he definitely didn’t care for the idea of strolling around town window-shopping.
He was a guy. He hated shopping—or browsing, as she’d called it.
“I’d just as soon stick around here, if that’s okay with you. I know I already told Jake I’d take care of the mess in the kitchen, but I don’t know what he’ll think if I take off, especially if we borrow their truck.”
“At least it’s a truck—something appropriate to drive on mountain roads. Believe it or not, Jake rented a bright red Mustang when he first came to town.” Ruby gestured toward the porch swing.
He held his breath as he sat down, feeling suddenly unstable on his legs. He wasn’t sure whether that had more to do with his injury or that he was here with Ruby. She had the strangest effect on him.
“Now, why doesn’t that surprise me?” Aaron chuckled as he pictured Jake tooling around in the most inappropriate car for the area he could possibly imagine, what with all the hairpin curves and dirt roads. What would be the point of driving a sports car around here?
“And you’ve gotten to know what a crazy personality Jake has since you’ve been here. He drov
e it like a maniac, of course.”
“Of course. Is there any other way to drive a sports car?”
“Not with Jake, apparently. But I don’t really want to talk about Jake and Avery.” She settled back onto the porch swing and pulled in one of her legs, wrapping her arms around her knee so she could turn toward him.
“Okay.” He leaned forward and stared at the floor, bracing his forearms on his legs and locking his fingers together.
He expected her to jump in with whatever was on her mind, as she usually did, but she didn’t say a word, and the uncomfortable silence between them lingered. Or at least, the silence was uncomfortable for him. Though he wasn’t looking at her, he felt as if she was staring at him, and it made him twitchy.
He scoured his mind for something to say, but he came up with a big blank.
Talking was hard.
Especially with Ruby. He felt the need to impress her and instead wasn’t even able to come up with two words to put together. He wished she would speak first.
“Tell me more about yourself,” she said at last, her curiosity obvious.
He bolted upward, his spine stiffening. This was way worse than the silence. He hated talking about himself.
“Like what?” he asked apprehensively. He really wasn’t into sharing.
“Well, let’s see. I know you were a sergeant in the marines and served several tours in Afghanistan. Thank you for your service, by the way. Major respect.”
He jerked a quick nod, always uncomfortable when people acknowledged the work he’d done in the military, though he supposed he appreciated that people cared that someone was out there serving the country and keeping them safe.
“After watching you with Oscar—well, I can picture you commanding your troops. It’s no wonder you rose to the rank of sergeant. You seem to me to be a natural leader.”
He had been—once. He wasn’t anything now. It was a struggle just to get up in the morning, and it was all he could do not to cringe when he thought about how much his life had changed.
“Was it hard—leading men into battle?” she tentatively asked, her voice smooth and gentle. She paused and shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to. It was wrong of me to ask.”
