Shoot.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” he asked gruffly. “Who wouldn’t like chocolate?”
“I suppose there are some people.”
“Stupid people,” he said.
She had to hide a smile. “Well, here you go.” She held up the container again.
“Don’t be one of those stupid people.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Come in, girlie.”
“I can’t leave Horse outside, sorry. He makes a lot of noise if he’s on his own.”
“Does he? Big, isn’t he?”
She grimaced. “Again, I’m so sorry about the noise yesterday.”
“What noise? Come inside. Bring the mutt and that cake with you.”
She followed him in and set the cake down on the counter. He had a gorgeous house. It was wooden with a large wraparound porch. The inside was light and clean. Dark wooden floors and creamy-colored walls.
“Big cake,” he said as she pulled off the lid.
“Sorry.” Shoot. Was it too big?
She’d designed it to look like Horse’s face. He was holding a bone in his mouth that had:I’m sorrywritten on it.
“You say sorry a lot. Also, your cake looks like your dog. And it’s also saying sorry.”
“It’s meant to. I didn’t have a lot of time or I would have done a better job.”
“Far as I can see, the job you did was perfect. Too good to cut and eat.” He sounded put-out.
“Oh, I can do this again,” she reassured him. “Or something else. I hope you like cupcakes too. And cookies. I like to bake and decorate. It’s kind of what I do for a living.”
And she really had to film some content soon or her followers were going to start worrying about what had happened to her.
“Yeah?” He shook his head as he sat. “Strange jobs you kids have nowadays.”
She had to bite her lip against telling him that she wasn’t exactly a kid. He directed her on where to find plates and a knife. She let Horse go, hoping he’d behave himself and the dog went and settled in next to the old man.
She gave Horse a surprised look.
“Nice dog. What did you call him before?”
“Horse,” she said.
He snorted. “Good name.”
“You’re the first person that has thought so. Um, what’s your name?”
“No accounting for taste. I’m Abe Johnson. Why is your dog apologizing to me?”
“Oh, for all the noise yesterday.”
