“Okay, yes, we have them often. Let me call the stockman and have him bring the order to the front. Would you like me to check you out here?”
“Can you do both of us? We’re together.”
“Sure,” she said, but her expression showed disappointment. She quickly rung them out, and by the time their groceries were bagged, a young man appeared with a cart holding several boxes. Since Erin had already paid for the order over the phone, he just followed them out to Tony’s truck. They loaded everything, and were under way in twenty minutes from talking to the service desk cashier.
“Tell me again why we have so many apples and carrots?”
“Remember when you were at the barn and Ann handed you that small container of carrots to feed Champ?”
“Yes, what about it?”
“Where do you think they came from? Lois will be planting a garden in the spring, and she has a patch already set aside for carrots. With all the horses on all three ranches, it’s my understanding that what we picked up today is a monthly order. The last time I came to town was my first day here, that was four and a half weeks ago, I helped Lois purchase groceries for everyone. We picked up an order like this for the carrots and apples back then.”
“So, all those boxes are treats for the horses?”
“Yes, I’ll drop them off at the community pantry on the way to my house. If you can wait, we’ll drop them off, along with my stuff, then go over to your place.”
“I can wait.” They rode in silence to New Double and when they arrived at the building of the community pantry, Tony grinned and pointed.
“Looks like Erin put the word out we were coming.” He backed up and before he even hopped out of his truck, the tailgate was down, and an assembly line formed to bring the boxes of horse treats into the cooler.
Staci got out and inspected the buildings, and it was Cole that explained what it would be like once the jars and shelves were full.
Back in the truck, and on the way to Tony’s cabin, Staci only shook her head. They both carried in his groceries, put away the perishables and then went quickly over to Staci’s cabin at Broken Two. They both carried the bags in, and both put the food away. It was Tony that explained how to divide up the large packages of meat she had purchased into smaller, more manageable packages.
“I don’t know about you, but if you cooked this all at once, you would be eating chicken for two weeks straight.”
“As much as I like chicken, I don’t think I’d like that.”
“That’s why I’m dividing it for you. Same with thepork chops, and the other meat you purchased.” They worked together, but before placing the wrapped packages in the freezer, he looked at her with a raised brow. “Where are those recipes?”
She went to the other side of the kitchen and withdrew the pages. With them in her hand, she went back to him and they read them together. He kept two of the smaller packages of chicken out, and put the rest in the freezer, making sure they were properly and clearly labeled.
Over the next few hours, they laughed, joked, and cooked three different dishes. There was enough food to last Staci for three weeks, but she insisted for their supper, they take a helping of each dish, and when he went to leave for the night, she insisted in dividing it all us so he took half home with him.
“When we run out,” she said sheepishly. “We can do this again. I had fun, thank you.”
“So did I,” he said and because it felt right, he pulled her in for a hug, and ended up kissing her. It was a long kiss, and when they broke apart, it left them both breathless.
That weekend set the pattern of them calling each other every night, and they spent every Sunday at the other’s home cooking recipes that they found on the internet during the week. Lois still had to reach out to her, but Staci was okay with that. She liked and enjoyed her time with Tony.
On the Monday before Thanksgiving weekend,Staci sat at her desk in her office, and picked her up ringing cell phone. Thinking it was Tony, she didn’t bother looking at the caller ID.
“Hello,” she answered with a laugh.
“Staci? Staci Hardt?”
“Yes, who is this?” Staci’s demeanor quickly sobered when someone asked if it was her name.
“It’s Paula.”
“Oh, hey, how are you? I haven’t talked to you in a while. What’s up?”
“I’m going to cut right to the chase, Staci. This is serious.”
“Let me guess, the Professors from my former team want something from me.”
“Correct on the first try,” Paula said with a heavy sigh. “I don’t know where you moved to, and I don’t want to know, but they have gone to court to try and get an injunction for you to cease working on what your grant allows you to. They say they have new evidence that you are working with stolen property.”
