That swiftly put to bed my plan to invite Jud to meet me at the cabin that night because we had an early morning the next day.
The only time I was able to spend with him was when, after collecting a bag of vegetables from my mom, he came with me to Montpelier, Colebury, and Tuxbury to deliver syrup to the shops that stock Maple Sky.
We still made the best of our time together and went for a walk after each delivery and just talked. And we made out…a lot. Who knew my truck would be such a perfect location to make out?
Since he's off work today, he invited me to come to his place so I can sample his food.
After a full day at the farm, which included chasing Florrie once again, being fed by Jud while wearing a blindfold is my idea of heaven. If only we were naked andnotin his mom's kitchen.
"Okay, I'm going to put some food in front of your nose. Smell it," he says.
I feel the warmth and steam from whatever he puts in front of my nose. It smells creamy and sweet at the same time.
"Now, open your mouth."
I do, and I immediately identify the asparagus and pasta in a creamy sauce.
"Why is it sweet? Did you put maple syrup in it?" I ask as all the flavors mix in my mouth. It's delicious.
"Yeah, a little bit. The nutmeg really brings out the flavors and gives it an extra layer, don't you think?"
I nod.
"Here's the next one," he says, and after smelling the delicious meat, I realize it's veal in a tomato sauce, which he follows with a maple-glazed roast potato.
"God, this is so good. Where do I sign up to have this for the rest of my life?"
"At the registry office, dear."
I cough when I hear Jud's mom's voice and then remove the blindfold.
It doesn't take long for my eyes to adjust to the brightness of the kitchen lights. Jud is hiding his face behind his hands while his mom stares at us with a smile.
When I say smile…I mean challenge.
"Do you want to try the food, Mom?" Jud asks.
One by one, all the members of the Hale family come into the kitchen and try Jud's food, which is a great success. Not that I had any doubts about Jud's talent in the kitchen. After all, he is his mother's son.
After the feast, they leave us to discuss the menu. We told both our families about the show as soon as we wrapped our minds around the fact that we would be on TV. After all, they will be included in thefly-on-the-wallpart of the filming.
We clean everything and then sit at the kitchen table.
"Your mom's vegetables are really good. We may still need to source some stuff, but I think we have a good selection already," he says.
I nod. He looks so happy and relaxed after the success of the taste test. I want to reach out and kiss him, but his family could walk back into the kitchen any moment.
The way he looks at me tells me he's thinking the same.
"Follow me," he says, standing up.
He peeks through to the den and looks satisfied with whatever he sees, then he nods for me to follow him outside.
As soon as I see where he's headed, I smile.
His house leads onto a field at the back. When we were kids, we carved out a path in the corner of the tall hedge surrounding the backyard so we could hang out of sight from his parents.
Not that we ever did anything that required any kind of secrecy. Mostly we just talked about our plans to travel the world together after we graduated.
