by L. P. Dover
“Why did you become August Cahill in the first place? You were never really into the whole food stuff until you met me.”
“I did it because of you.”
My heart skips a beat. “What do you mean?”
He reaches down for my hands and keeps his eyes on our intertwined fingers. “Just like I said, I did it because of you. You were what inspired me.” His eyes lift to mine and he sighs. “It was the only way I could feel close to you. As much as I thought I’d get over you after I left, I never did. That’s why I turned to food. You taught me so much about the mechanics of it all. It fascinated me. That’s why I decided to start a food blog. Then, one thing led to another and my reviews went viral.”
“Are you still going to do it?” I ask.
It’s obvious he can see the uncertainty on my face. “You don’t want me to, do you?”
I shrug. “It’s not that, Adam. I just know how terrified a lot of people are of you. You saw it yourself with me. I was sick with worry that you would give my restaurant a bad rating and it’d shut me down.”
He looks away, his expression pained. “That’s what kills me. I never wanted anyone to go out of business. It’s weighed heavily on my soul since you told me. All I did was give my opinion.”
I squeeze his hands. “And it’s obvious thousands and thousands of people value your opinion. It just breaks my heart because I know restaurants can have good and bad days, depending on what’s going on. I know I’m not perfect.”
A small smile spreads across his face when he looks at me. “Actually, you are.” He takes a deep breath and kisses my hand. “If I could go back and change things, I still don’t know if it would’ve been smart to tell you the truth. At least, not before you fell in love with me again.”
“Why?”
He shrugs. “Because I could hear the disdain in your voice when you told me about those other restaurants closing down because of my reviews. If you knew that August was me, I feel like you wouldn’t have given me a second chance. The more time I spent with you, the more I wanted to be just me.”
Sliding my hands away from his, I cup his cheeks. “I love you, Adam. And just so you know, I trust you. The review can stay. I might as well use you for something.” I wink and it feels good to see him smile.
“I think it’s time August Cahill retires. He’s caused way more harm than good. Besides, I don’t need him anymore.”
Hopping out of the chair, I wrap my arms around his neck. “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”
He holds me around the waist. “Because all that I need is standing right here in front of me.”
“You sure?” I ask, grinning mischievously.
His lips close down on mine. “Positive. Now all we need to do is discuss our future. I moved back to Chicago to be with you. We can take things as slow or as fast as you want. I’m ready to be with you no matter what. But what I want to know is if you can see me in your future?”
Looking into his bright blue eyes, I smile. “You are my future, Adam. Of that, I’m certain.”
He rests his forehead to mine. “I love you so much. One day, if you’ll have me, I’d love to make you my wife.”
I close my eyes. “And one day, when you ask, I might just say yes.”
THE END!
Balsamic Glazed Pork Chops
By L.P. Dover
Hey everybody, L.P. Dover here! I’m a HUGE foodie and I LOVE to cook. The pork chops I make are absolute heaven. They’re a favorite amongst my family. You’re going to see something called a sous vide in my recipe, but it’s perfectly fine if you don’t have one. If you don’t, I highly recommend you get one, especially if you like tender meat.
Sous Vide - a method of cooking food, especially meat or fish, by vacuum-sealing and immersing in warm water.
You will also need a vacuum sealer to seal up your meats. All you do is vacuum seal the meat you want to cook, hook the sous vide up to a large pot
Again, this method is not needed to cook some amazing pork chops, but it does help tremendously. It keeps the pork chops MOIST and JUICY. - Yes, I used those words … lol.
Okay, let’s move on to the recipe!
First, you’re going to want some THICK cut pork chops. I’m talking one inch or bigger. The thicker, the better. If you are able to vacuum seal them, put one Tablespoon of minced garlic inside the bag before you seal them. Once they’re vacuum sealed, place them in the pot with the sous vide at 140 degrees for 2 to 4 hours. Personally, I keep them in the sous vide all day until I’m ready to cook them. So basically, they are in the water bath for 6 to 8 hours.
Once the pork chops are done in the sous vide, open up the sealed bags and pat each pork chop dry with paper towels. Since they’ve been cooking at 140 degrees for hours, they are pretty much done. All that’s left is to pan sear them in a cast iron skillet in butter. YUM!
Heat up 4 Tablespoons of butter in a skillet/frying pan on the stove. (Medium – High Heat)
Once the butter has turned brown around the edges of the pan it’s time to get cooking! Sear the pork chops for three minutes on each side. When that’s been done on both sides, add half of the glaze mixture over top of the pork chops. The glaze will start to thicken. When it does, flip the pork chops over and add the rest of the glaze mixture. Allow it to thicken and form a nice coating on the pork chops. After that, they are ready to serve!
THINGS YOU WILL NEED:
4 TBSP Butter – for pan searing (Or more, depending on how many pork chops are being cooked. I’m usually cooking 4 pork chops.)
GLAZE:
4 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar
4 TBSP Brown Sugar
2 TBSP Course Ground Dijon Mustard
Orange Dreamsicle Floatini
You will need:
•vanilla ice cream
•Cake Vodka
•orange soda
Instructions:
•Mix about a can of orange soda with about an ounce of Cake Vodka (or more if you like a stronger drink).
Then top it with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream.
Enjoy!
Pulled Pork Recipe
By Shawna Janes
1 2lb pork shoulder or pork butt
1 tbsp coarse sea salt
1 tbsp coarse pepper
1 tbsp garlic
Mix dry ingredients and rub all over pork roast, place roast in a roasting pan, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 24-72 hours
COOKING:
Put crock pot on low setting, heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large frying pan, once heated place roast in pan and brown all sides. Add the below ingredients to the crock pot, mix well and then transfer roast (fat side up) to crock pot and cover 6-8 hours or until meat is tender enough to shred.
2 garlic cloves minced
½ cup of light brown sugar packed
1 tsp of cumin
1 tsp of onion powder
1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp of yellow mustard
1 tsp of smoked paprika
¼ cup of apple cider vinegar
½ cup of ketchup
When roast is ready to shred, remove roast to a large bowl, use a hand mixer to shred roast, spoon in the remaining liquid from crock pot until meat is coated and moist (typically 2-3 cups of remaining liquid) then add in your favorite BBQ sauce to taste. Serve on potato buns or sliders with pineapple coleslaw (recipe to follow) on top.
Pineapple coleslaw (prep 2-8 hours ahead)
1-prepared coleslaw package or 4 cups of shredded cabbage with ½ cup of shredded carrots
¾ cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1-2 tbsp of reserved pineapple juice
¾ cups of pineapple tidbits
Place the prepared coleslaw or shredded cabbage and carrots into a large mixing bowl, add pineapple tidbits. In a small bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Add dressing to large bowl, and toss well. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
&n
bsp; Praise for A Date for the Fair
I was pulled right into this story. The story has laughs, secrets, second chances, and heartbreak.
—Renee Entress
A heart felt novella you will want to read over and over.
—Krista Ricchi
I love a good reunited story.
—Tina
I've been hooked on The Dating Series from the jump, and while I LOVE everyone of them to date, I always crave more the moment I finish each of these novellas.
—Jennifer Pierson
Can I get a funnel cake please? Lol I love how you get swept up in these stories.
—Jennifer Millaway
I am becoming addicted to these quick fun romances that the authors are releasing.
—Trudy Dowling
One
Laura
As I look around my old college campus with my backpack on my back, I can’t help but think… I can’t believe I’m doing this again. I’m thirty-two years old, going back to college. Then again, it feels right. Breathing in the Boone mountain air is exactly what I needed. Anything is better than the stuffiness of Charlotte, North Carolina. Plus, I’m a couple of hours away from my ex-husband, which is great in itself.
It’s the first day of school and I feel so out of place. Everyone around me is younger, mostly kids between eighteen and twenty-one. I feel like Melissa McCarthy in the movie Life of the Party where she plays a newly divorced mother going to the same college as her daughter. Granted, I’m not as old as her character and I don’t have any kids, but my younger sister is here. She’s twenty years old and a sophomore, and it turns out we’ll be graduating together in two years. Our parents both graduated from Appalachian State University and now it’s our turn.
I have an hour before my next class, so I take the time to walk around the entire campus. Not much has changed since I left twelve years ago. The weather is perfect for a hot, summer day in August. Soon, it’ll get colder and the snow will fall. That’s what I’ve missed about not living in Boone. Sure, we’d get a couple of inches in Charlotte every once in a while, but in the North Carolina mountains we were guaranteed a real snowfall.
I walk past Frank Hall which is where I had my dorm the first time I attended school here. My roommate’s name was Jennifer. She was one of my best friends in high school and we still keep in touch through social media. She’s happily married with four kids. Most of my old friends are according to Facebook. After my divorce, I had a couple of old boyfriends send me messages, but I’m not about to jump down that rabbit hole. Right now, I’m done with men. I’ve completely sworn them off. I need to concentrate on myself.
Once I’m done walking around Frank Hall, I head away from the dorms on up to the academic buildings. I take the underground pathway that runs underneath Rivers Street, so students don’t have to cross the road. It’s kind of creepy at night so I always made sure to avoid having to walk through the tunnel after dark. When I get to the other side, I walk up the hill and a memory flashes in my mind. I remember it snowing one morning and the sidewalk was icy. My feet ended up flying clear above my head and I broke my tailbone. The next day in class, I had a cushion the doctor gave me to sit on, but it wasn’t enough. I ended up sitting with my butt cocked up on one side, and all the guys kept asking if I was trying to pass gas. Fun times.
My next class is in Sanford Hall which feels like a mile away. I exercise occasionally and still get out and walk every now and again, but I’m not eighteen anymore. Hopefully, by the end of the semester I can tackle the hills without huffing and puffing.
I take a seat on one of the benches outside Sanford Hall to catch my breath. I’m really not looking forward to my next class. It’s Philosophy of Science which has nothing to do with my Interior Design degree. However, it is a humanities course, and I need one to graduate. It makes no sense to me why I have to waste my time on a class that doesn’t pertain to interior design.
“What’s up, biotch?”
A smile lights up my face. Even though my sister is twelve years younger than me, she’s my best friend. Once she got into high school and got out of her annoying phase, we started to get close. Now that she’s in college, we’re even closer. She lived with me for the past year while I was going through my divorce, but now she lives at her sorority house.
Glancing over my shoulder, I watch Anna as she hurries over, dressed in a pair of black gym shorts and a gray T-shirt with her sorority letters on it. “Hey!” I call out.
She flops down beside me and sets her bookbag on her lap. “How did your morning class go?”
I shrug. “Good. It was a little weird being in there with all youngsters, but no one looked at me strange.”
Her lips purse. “You’re not an old woman, Laura. You’re thirty-two years old with buns of steel, gorgeous chestnut colored hair, and bright green eyes I’d kill for. You’re hot.”
I bump her with my shoulder. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, sis.”
“You’re welcome,” she says, beaming. Most people don’t even know we’re sisters because we look so different. I got my hair color from our father and she got the blonde from our mother. But I got my green eyes from our mother and she got brown from our father. We’re a mish mash of them both.
One of her sorority sisters waves as she walks past and we both wave back. “Anything exciting going on at the sorority house tonight?”
Anna’s grin widens. “Just meeting some of the pledges. You should consider joining us. Rush isn’t that bad.”
I snort. “Please. I’m not cut out for that crap. Plus, I know you’re always surrounded by frat guys. I had my fill of that when I was with Shawn.” He was part of a fraternity when I attended UNC Charlotte with him. It was constant parties and girls everywhere. Don’t get me wrong, I had my fair share of fun, but it got old really quick. I thought Shawn would grow up after a while, but after being married to him for six years, nothing ever changed.
Anna snarls in disgust. “Shawn’s an egotistical douchecanoe. I’m so glad you finally had the sense to leave him.”
I nod. “Me too. I just hate I wasted so many years.”
“And now you’re here,” she says excitedly. “Just think of all the fun we’re going to have.”
“Oh yeah,” I laugh, “me with you and all your twenty-year-old friends. That won’t be awkward at all.”
“Hey, it’s better than nothing. Who knows? You might meet someone you like. You’re not the only student over thirty years old.” I look around at all the people talking and smiling with their friends, the group of guys passing a football on the quad, and the various study groups congregating on the grass. All of them are young. Anna follows my line of sight and then glances sheepishly back at me. “Okay, fine, you might be the only one, but so what? You got me. That’s all you need.”
I smile. “You’re damn right.”
She pats my leg. “But now, I have to go.” She hops up and flings her bookbag over her shoulder. “I have two more classes and then it’s off to home. If you change your mind about pledging, just show up at the sorority house around seven.”
I shake my head. “Not gonna happen. Sorry, sis.”
“Fine.” She holds up her hands and turns on her heel. “Talk to ya later!”
Glancing down at my phone, I have ten minutes left until class starts. Groaning, I pick up my bookbag and head inside the building. I’ve never dreaded a class as much as I dread this one. I mean, who takes Philosophy of Science? What do you even learn in it? Unfortunately, when it came time to register for classes, I was a little late which meant I didn’t have the best of choices.
When I walk into the class, I’m not shocked to see a variety of people. There are three people toward the back right of the room with multi-colored hair, a guy and a girl in the middle who look like they just came from Woodstock, four guys in the front who can’t stop talking about Minecraft, and then a group of people to the side who seem somewhat normal. Instead of sitting by myself, I join the
last group. There are three guys and two girls with one seat open beside one of the guys. In a way, it feels like I’m the new girl in school. In college, it’s not like that though. I made so many friends with people I never thought I’d have anything in common with. That was the fun part of the college experience. Now, I just feel like I’m out of the loop.
Setting my bookbag on the desk, I sit down beside the guy who looks to be around my sister’s age. He smiles and so do the other two guys and the two girls at my back. “I’m Laura,” I say to them.
Everyone introduces themselves but the girl behind me is the only one who holds out her hand. “I’m Summer. Nice to meet you.”
I shake her hand. “Likewise.”
She leans in close, lowering her voice. “Were you forced to take this class too?”
This makes me laugh. “Kind of,” I whisper back. “I needed a humanities course. This was all that was left.”
“Same. I heard it’s a lot of debate. Should be kind of easy though.”
I open my bookbag and pull out a pen and my notebook. There’s only one minute left on the clock. All I know is it’s going to be the longest hour and a half of my life. Summer taps me on the shoulder with her pen.
“Which dorm are you in?” she asks.
I turn around to stare at her. “Oh goodness, sweetheart, I’m not living in a dorm. I did that back when I was a freshman.”
“You make it sound like that was a long time ago.”
“It was,” I laugh. “Fourteen years ago to be exact.”
