Someone knocked on the café’s front door.
“I’ll get it,” Vanessa said.
Andrea’s heart pounded. She had to keep reminding herself not to panic each time the phone rang or someone unexpected arrived. Since she’d received Scotty’s letter, he hadn’t tried to contact her. Hopefully, his lawyer had told him to stay away from her and the boys.
Vanessa reappeared with David. “Look who I found?”
“Katie said she popped in earlier and you were busy. I thought you might need another pair of hands to help prepare the food for her wedding.”
Andrea’s shoulders relaxed. Just having him here made her feel better. David had called into her home each evening to make sure she was all right. The boys had enjoyed his visits, even if Andy knew why he was there. They’d played all sorts of board games, easily filling in the time between when they got home and bedtime.
“I thought you were having dinner with Peter and Katie’s families tonight?”
“I’d prefer to be here.” He showed her the picnic basket from The Lakeside Inn. “You’re surrounded by food, but I didn’t know if you’d had time to eat. Diana made dinner for everyone.”
Charlie poked his head up from a table behind the counter. “What kind of food did you bring?”
“Charlie Smith,” Andrea scolded. “It’s rude to ask that question.”
“But I only want to know.”
“I’m sure you do, but there’s a correct way of asking and that wasn’t it. Do you want to try again?”
Charlie sighed. “That was really nice of Diana. Did she give you some sandwiches?”
David opened the basket. “There are sandwiches, quiche, pies, and muffins. And just for you, a juicy red apple.”
Charlie dropped his colored pencil and stood beside David. “Can I have a sandwich, please?” He glanced at Andrea, and she nodded.
“That was a lot better. What about you, Andy?”
Andy looked at David. “I’ll have a sandwich, too, please.”
“Your wish is my command.”
Andrea’s eyebrows rose. “Does that mean I can have whatever I want?”
“Only if it’s inside the picnic basket,” David said with a grin. “Otherwise, you’ll have to make it yourself.”
“A sandwich will be all right.”
“We’d better wash our hands,” Charlie grumbled.
While they did that, David found two plates and filled them with the enormous sandwiches Diana had packed.
Andrea picked up the list of food they still had to make and sighed. Even though Katie and Peter had chosen a barbecue dinner for their guests, there were a lot of individual dishes that needed to be prepared.
“What’s next on the menu?” David asked.
“We need to make the marinade for the beef.”
“Show me the recipe and I’m all yours.”
The grin on his face brought a blush to her cheeks. If life were that simple, she wouldn’t be standing in a hot kitchen feeling like a schoolgirl around her first crush.
Andy and Charlie saved her from making an even bigger fool of herself. When they saw the sandwiches, they raced to the counter.
“Yum,” Charlie said. “Can we eat them on the veranda?”
