I pushed off the couch, but the moment I did, she was there, grinning at me and holding out a bowl.
Grimacing, I stared down at the flecks of…something on the popcorn. “What’s on it?”
“Just try it. I swear, I’m not trying to poison you.”
“But it has…things on it.”
“It has oil and herbs.”
“On popcorn?” I questioned.
“Have you ever tried it?”
“I’m not sure any sane person alive has tried it.”
“I’ll try not to take offense to that,” she said as she walked around me and plopped down on the couch, pulling her fleece blanket over her that was as big as a king-sized bed.
“Do you really need that whole blanket?”
“Why?” she smirked, waggling her eyebrows at me. “Wanna share?”
“Not even a little.” Sighing, I took a seat, but I couldn’t tear my gaze from that humongous blanket. “Why do you need something that big?”
“Because sometimes I like to fold it in half for extra warmth. And other times, I like to roll myself into a burrito.”
Shaking my head, I eyed the popcorn again. How bad could it be? Taking a tentative bite, I chewed for a solid minute. It wasn’t like normal popcorn, but it wasn’t necessarily bad either.
“So?”
“It’s…”
“It’s what?”
“It’s different.”
“Well, of course, it’s different,” she grunted. “It’s got herbs on it. I made the oil myself. Well, not the actual oil, but I picked out the herbs I wanted to infuse it with. It took me six weeks to make this batch.”
“Of oil?”
“Well, you can make it faster, but I prefer this method. I only use fresh herbs, and I like to let it sit on the windowsill in the sun, but it’s not very easy in the winter.”
“What’s the faster method?”
“Cooking it on the stove. Well, that’s the gist of it, anyway. I was actually thinking of selling it at the wine and vinegar shop.”
“Why wouldn’t you sell it in your own shop?”
“Because…I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want to go into competition with Max.”
“Max?”
“The owner of the wine and vinegar shop. He just opened.”
“It’s business,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, but…” She shrugged, looking uncertainly into her popcorn. “Anyway, should we startThe Fellowship of the Ring?”
“Sure.”
