They found his mother in the kitchen, pulling a tray from the oven.
“TJ! I didn’t think you’d be back so soon.” Her eyes widened. “Oh, goodness gracious is that Lila Comfort?”
“It is, Mother.” He gestured toward Lila. “We’ve come to borrow that little freezer in the garage. You’re not using it anytime soon, are you? And we need the air popper too.”
“Why?” she asked, glancing between them. “What do you need them for?” She set a cookie sheet on a towel on the center island.
“It’s just temporary,” Lila said quickly. “For ice cream, and movie night.”
“Ice cream?” Mrs. Jones started transferring cookies to a cooling rack.
“Yes,” TJ said. “The temporary crew at Pleasant Beans is baking pies, delicious ones. The apple is especially good.”
“Well then, of course. You can’t have pie without ice cream.” She wiped her hands on her apron, went to the refrigerator, and pulled out a bottle of bright-pink liquid.
TJ blinked. “What is that?”
“Fruit-punch zero-calorie beverage. I’m sure you both want a drink before getting to work.” She poured two glasses and set them down before either could object.
“Mother,” TJ started, but she raised a hand.
“Be a better host,” she scolded lightly, then headed for the garage. When she returned, she was dusting her hands again. “The freezer’s behind some cardboard boxes. They’re easy enough to move, but you’re not putting that dusty old thing inmycar. You’ll have to clean it first.”
“I’m not taking your car,” TJ said. “I’ll borrow Ethan’s truck. We need to stop by Tilly and Jack’s and grab a few things from their garage.”
He turned to Lila. “Speaking of which, we’d better call her aunt and let her know we need to get into it.”
“Oh, sure, just a minute.” Lila took a sip of punch, pulled out her phone, and walked to the far side of the kitchen to make the call.
His mother sidled closer, lowering her voice. “My goodness, TJ, what a beauty she’s turned into.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah,” he said evenly.
“You should take her out while you’re here.”
“Mom, don’t.”
“Well, why not have a little fun while you’re in town?”
“I don’t need to date anyone to have fun.” He squeezed her shoulder gently. “I know you’d love to see me settle down, but I’m leaving. It makes no sense.”
“You should at least get to know the girl,” she persisted. “The Comforts are nice people. All of them, and you know it.”
“Yes, of course they are.”
Lila pocketed her phone. “All set. We need to meet her in an hour at Tilly and Jack’s.”
“Perfect.” TJ drained his glass and grinned. “Come on, let’s get that freezer cleaned up and loaded into Ethan’s truck. Where is Ethan?”
His mother started dropping spoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet. “Probably in the arena, raking the footing.”
“Okay, thanks. Come on, Lila.”
She followed him into the garage. Boxes were stacked high around the little freezer, dust dulling its once-white top. “Here, help me with these,” he said. “They’re not heavy. We’ll stack them over there.”
“Okay.” She lifted the first box and set it where he pointed. He followed with another until they had the freezer cleared.
Lila studied it and smiled. “Oh, that’ll work just fine.”
