“But he would probably like a nice roast served with mashed potatoes, green beans, hot rolls, and maybe since I’m already making bread, I can make cinnamon rolls for dessert,” she whispered.
“I don’t know about whoever you are cooking for, but I’ll go home with you,” a voice behind her said.
She turned around to face a good-looking cowboy with a big smile on his face. “You don’t think that’s too heavy for this time of year?”
“No, ma’am. It’s good old comfort food that any feller would love to have on the table when he comes in from a hard day’s work. Add some cold sweet tea, or better yet, a beer. You don’t remember me, do you?”
He looked vaguely familiar when she stared right into his face, but she couldn’t place him. “I’m sorry. Have we met before?”
“I’m Hank from the speed-dating event,” he said.
“Oh. I’m sorry, but there were so many guys who sat down at my table.”
“Are you still into watching sunsets?” Hank asked.
That question brought him back to her mind. “Yes, I am. There’s nothing more beautiful.”
“I disagree,” Hank said with a grin. “I’m looking at something far prettier than a sunset, and besides, when the sun’s dropped below the horizon, it’s gone. You are gorgeous twenty-four seven.”
“Great pickup line, Hank,” she said with a giggle, “but I seem to recall you are out for a good time, and sunsets would bore you to tears.”
“And I said you might change my mind, especially if you are making all that food for supper,” he teased.
“I don’t think so,” she singsonged, and pushed her cart on down to where the roasts were displayed.
“Can’t blame a cowboy for trying,” he whispered as he brushed against her shoulder when he walked past her.
“Have a nice day,” she said without looking at him.
She had felt absolutely nothing at his touch. That meant she didn’t have an attraction to all cowboys, and only to Bubba.
On the way home, she stopped at a traffic light and noticed a man in bibbed overalls and a straw hat on a riding lawn mower with a little boy sitting in front of him. A visual of Bubba on a tractor with his son right beside him flashed in her mind. She glanced up into the rearview mirror to see if she was as green with jealousy as she felt.
A car honked behind her and startled her so badly that she gunned the old truck through the now-green light and shook the picture from her mind. The rest of the way back to the house, she reminded herself repeatedly that she was only Lula Ann for the rest of the week, and that nothing could come of a relationship built on a big fat lie.
She patted the dash of the truck. “I’m sorry I treated you so badly back there. I’ll pay better attention from now on. Iwouldn’t want Darlene’s grandpa to look down from heaven and put a curse on me for stomping the gas pedal so hard.”
She recognized Darlene’s ringtone when the phone rang, just as she was parking in the gravel driveway. She hit the FaceTime icon and saw that her friend wasn’t nearly as pale as she had been the day before. “Well, hello to you. Do you feel well enough to fly into Houston?”
“I do not. My doctor says that my ears are still inflamed and flying would cause problems,” Darlene said. “As you know, I’m putting the house on the market after this week. You are having such a good time there, why don’t you think about buying it? I’ll give you a good deal, and you could use it as your getaway from the city, home away from home. I even promise to come visit you when we can get our vacation times lined up.”
“No way. I barely get a weekend off a month,” Holly said.
“Just thought I’d throw that out there in case you wanted it. Now let me live vicariously through you. What are you making for this new handsome cowboy for dinner?” Darlene asked.
Holly rattled off her plans. “And it’ssupperwhen I’m Lula Ann, notdinner. In this house we have breakfast, dinner, and supper.”
Darlene laughed so hard that she got the hiccups. “Yes, ma’am, Ms. Lula Ann. Either the house or the name is causing a change in you. My grandparents called the three meals the same thing you just said. If you don’t buy the place, you’ll regret it.”
“What I’m going to regret when I leave here on Saturday is that I never get to be Lula Ann again,” she said, the idea of buying the house still in her mind. Despite what she’d said, shewouldlike a country house in a smaller neighborhood to use as a retreat. She would like to live in a place that had goats and chickens, but they would all starve if she had to care for them. But that was all just a pipe dream.
“You could put on your alter ego anytime you wanted if you owned the house,” Darlene told her. “I can actually hear the gears turning in your head.”
“Then you should also hear them knowing that would be a silly thing for me to do. Besides, it wouldn’t be the same without Bubba,” she said. “I’ve got to get all these groceries in the house and put on a rising of bread.”
“Now you are just being evil. You know how much I love your fresh, hot rolls.” Darlene groaned.
“You should have had a nanny like mine, who made me learn to cook, sew, and clean. I’ll call you later tonight. Feel better.”
