Before she could respond, Dad jumped in, grinning. “Speaking of dates-gone-bad, I remember one time in high school I took this girl to the county fair and she—”
“Charlie,” Mom cut in quickly, “if this story ends with anyone throwing up or taking off their top, just stop right there.”
Charlie held up his hands. “I was just trying to help!”
“By traumatizing everyone before pie? No, thank you,” Mom said.
“I can’t believe there was a time Dad wasn’t with Mom,” Colt said.
“I’ll have you know, son, back in the day, I was quite the catch, if you know what I mean,” Dad said with a wink.
“Oh, they know what you mean,” Mom said, giving him a what-the-hell look. “And sadly, so do Molly, Ellie, and Cassie now. So please, Charlie, for everyone’s sake, quit talking.”
He pretended to zip his lips closed, throwing away the invisible key behind him dramatically.
“Can I be excused from the table?” June asked Ellie.
“Absolutely, you can,” she said, relieved that she wouldn’t hear any more of this disaster of a conversation that was playing out in front of us.
June Bug skipped away toward her room, completely oblivious to everything going on around her. Who needed Thanksgiving dinner when you had Barbie dolls that need tended to.
“Colt, go get the desserts for everyone. There’s pumpkin pie cooling in the oven, and we’ve got Cassie’s pumpkin roll too,” Mom said.
I stood so fast that my chair scraped the floor, everyone turning to look at me. “Touch that pumpkin roll, and you lose a finger,” I warned, half serious.
“Jace,” Cassie said, laughing as she tugged on my arm. “You can share the damn pumpkin roll. I’ll make you another one, I promise.”
“Tonight?”
“No,” she said, still laughing as she shook her head. “All my ingredients are back at the coffee shop. I can make you one tomorrow and bring it out to you. I pinky promise.”
She held her pinky out with a playful glint in her eyes.
I wrapped my pinky finger around hers, solidifying her promise to me.
“Deal,” I said, sitting back down.
“You’re being so dramatic over a pumpkin roll,” Cassie whispered, giggling at the ridiculousness of it all.
“You made it for me first, special,” I said, dropping my voice just a little. “I kind of want to keep it that way. Something made by the one and only Cassie Blake, for me and only me. And it’s delicious. I win all the way around.”
I leaned in, maybe a little closer than I should have, but I didn’t care. Cassie didn’t pull back, and that told me she was feeling it too, whateveritwas.
A buzz from Cassie’s phone, lighting up in her lap, pulled her from the moment. It wasn’t a text, but an email. I averted my eyes to give her some privacy. We were making good progress. I didn’t want to act like a jealous boyfriend, trying to look at her phone. I wasn’t that type of guy.
Whatever it said, she wasn’t happy about it. The smile she had on her face and the relaxed ease about her wavered. She picked up her empty plate and excused herself from the table, heading toward the kitchen.
I didn’t immediately follow her, thinking she would probably need her space. Besides, following her around like a lost puppy dog would raise eyebrows. Cassie and I weren’t a couple. Hell, we were barely even friends. Molly didn’t need anything else to hang over me concerning my dating life or lack thereof.
After dessert, Mom announced that Colt and I were on cleaning duty for the night.
“How did we end up with dish duty?” Colt asked, rinsing the plates I handed him after scrubbing.
“I overheard Mom say it’s because we didn’t cook a single thing. Just like when we were kids,” I said, laughing. “Dish duty ’til we die.”
“I saw Cassie go sit on the couch. You should sit next to her when we’re done here. You two look pretty smitten tonight—definitely different from the story you gave me about her hating your guts,” Colt said, elbowing me.
“We’ve barely started talking again,” I admitted. “I hardly know what to say around her, stumbling over my words, overthinking everything. Part of me hoped she wouldn’t come tonight, so I wouldn’t sit there looking like an idiot all night. And Molly’s conversation about my dating life? Exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to avoid with Cassie here. Then June ratted me out about literally everything, so I’m on a roll,” I said, shaking my head.
