My mouth had gone completely dry and I had no idea how to respond. Part of me wanted to suggest we skip the trip to the rodeo location and go to the B&B where he’s staying but another truck rolled past, startling me out of my lust spiral. I cleared my throat and handed him his coffee. “Here.” That one word came out in a squeak and I coughed. It didn’t help that the image of me tied to his bed came to mind.
I watched him drink his coffee, the movement of his throat as he swallowed ridiculously arousing. I lifted the bag and shook the contents. “Here,” I squeaked out again. From the grin on his face, Cal knew he was the reason for my awkwardness.
Cal reached into the bag and pulled out one of the puff pastries and took a bite. Crumbs scattered on him like a dandelion blowing in thewind. He closed his eyes as he chewed and I held my breath. I didn’t know why his opinion on something I didn’t make mattered so much to me, but it suddenly did.
He took a second bite before he finished chewing the first one and washed them both down with coffee. “That’s good.” He used his elbow to push the bag back toward me. “You best hold onto that if you plan on eating any of it because I could down at least five of those all by myself.”
I set the bag on my lap and reached into it to pull out a puff pastry. I bit into it, careful to keep from scattering flaky crumbs on my black jeans. “Oh! Carly and Cassie have outdone themselves with this,” I said, quickly taking another bite. Eggs, cheese, chives, and tiny bits of breakfast sausage all wrapped up in the butteriest pastry I’d ever had.
As Cal drove us over to the high school, I shook the bag at him again. “Cassie gave us three. Want the last one?” He started to decline but the power of fresh-baked anything was too much to resist.
We ended up splitting it at his insistence, and by the time we reached the school grounds, we’d both finished our breakfast.
Poplar Springs High School was built between the two world wars. What had started off as a single building with limited classrooms had grown with time. Each new decade was represented in the differing styles from various expansions over the year. The most recent additions included the new practice field and a new barn for the agricultural students. We parked and went in search of Nick. He was the foreman out at the Flying Aces ranch and he’d volunteered to help with the set up even before his boss offered to pay him for his time. It was a win-win for him.
Nick was wearing an orange vest and was directing the unloading of the fence rails that would make up the ring. Volunteers were hard atwork getting the bleachers set up. It was already looking like a rodeo arena.
“Nick!” I raised my hand in greeting and he jogged toward us, meeting us halfway.
“Amy.” He stuck out his hand to shake before turning to Cal. “You’re Cal Pierce. I’m a huge fan. It’s good to meet you.” He pumped Cal’s hand.
“It’s good to meet you too. I can’t believe how much you’ve accomplished,” Cal said. Nick grinned.
“We might be a small town, but we know how to come together when it counts,” Nick said, and I nodded my agreement.
When Mrs. Halhoren’s husband fell off the roof while trying to repair it and hurt his back, members of the community rallied together to fix their roof along with other modifications to make their home more comfortable for them. When Rebecca Simpson’s house got flooded when the pipes burst in the middle of winter, her neighbors welcomed her entire family into their home and let them stay there while the pipes were fixed and the water damage cleared out. That was just the kind of community Poplar Springs was.
“Come on, I’ll show you both around,” Nick said. We followed him toward what was labeled a construction area and handed us each a hardhat. “Better safe than sorry, right?”
He then walked us around to show how everything was coming together, pointing out where the horses and livestock would be housed awaiting their specific events. “Say, Cal, I’d love to get your opinion on the overall flow of traffic through here. I based all this on the Western Stock Show at the Coliseum in Denver, but I’m sure you have insights into all sorts of things I haven’t considered.”
“I’ve participated in a lot of events there over the years. Happy to take a look and give you my two cents,” Cal said.
I was content to follow along behind them listening to their discussion. Cal gave Nick his full attention as they went over all the plans, all the way down to the placement of the rows of latrines that would be needed for the anticipated number of attendees. Cal didn’t push anything, he merely asked questions and talked about some issues he’d run into as a competitor at certain venues and steps that were taken at other places to keep everything running smoothly.
Luke hated not being the center of attention. I couldn’t help the questions and comparisons that kept popping into my head. If this had been Luke, would he have deferred to Nick or would he have attempted to push his own preferences?
“Well, since Amy is the mastermind for this event, should we see what she thinks?” Cal asked, which was something Luke definitely never would’ve done. Not that I could answer Cal’s question since I’d tuned out their conversation. I gave him a blank look, trying to figure out what they’d been talking about. Cal grinned at me and pointed to the open field on the other side of the new practice field.
“We were wondering whether it might be a better idea to have the livestock auction away from the competition ring. If you do that, you’ll want a separate money taker to handle the wins,” Cal said, saving me from further embarrassment.
“Right.” I looked where he was pointing. “How soft is that ground out there? With all the livestock and vehicles, we don’t want anyone to get stuck. Folks will need an easy place to park and pick up whatever they bought without worrying about their wheels spinning.” Cal nodded as if he approved of my answer, and that made me feel better than it should have. I reached for my phone. “Let me check with the vice principal and see what he thinks. I know they’ve given us full useof the fields, but we still need to account for the vehicles and any potential damage.”
Cal and Nick stepped away to give me some privacy while I called the school. Turned out there was a service road on that side of the campus that would work for the auction and there was plenty of parking on hardpacked ground to handle the cars. With the situation resolved, we wrapped up our meeting and headed back to Cal’s truck.
We were quiet on the ride back to town. I’d wanted to talk to Cal about where he thought our relationship was going but I couldn’t figure out how to ask. We pulled up in the small parking lot attached to the town hall and I blurted out, “Dinner tonight? With me, that is.” I closed my eyes, willing myself not to cringe. I sounded like a teenager trying to talk to my crush. While I did have a crush on Cal, we certainly weren’t kids. I needed to stop being so antsy around him.
“Well, I do like to eat,” Cal said, a smile stretching his cheeks. “Will this be a family dinner at the ranch?”
“No!”Dammit. I need to calm down.I’d clearly had too much coffee. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I was thinking a restaurant, but if you’d rather go to the ranch, we can do that instead.”Please say no.
He reached out and set his hand on my knee to get my attention. Warmth spread from where he touched me. “I’d love to go to dinner with you. And while I’m open to a meal at the ranch, I’d much rather have you to myself. What would you like to do?”
The fact that he was asking for my opinion was distractingly attractive. “Well, Magiano’s has great pizza and pasta. Or we could go to the Rooftop. That was the place where we ate on your first night here. They have a mixed menu and they offer lots of finger foods.”
Cal rubbed his chin while he thought about it. “If it’s okay with you,I’d say Italian sounds good. It’s been a while since I’ve had a decent pizza. Are you up to sharing a pie with everything?” he asked.
“That sounds great.” I loved my pizzas with all the veggies and meats on it, but Luke had been a pepperoni-only kind of guy. I looked at my watch. “I have some work to do. Did you want to meet me here around six? We can walk over.”
