Rhett waves him off, then goes back to eating.
“Should we get him to come inside?” I ask.
“Pushing him will only make him keep his distance,” Gus says.
“I thought I was making progress with him,” I say. “We talked. He stayed here last night… I thought things were good.”
“At this point, I think one of the only things that’s going to make him want to keep working at this, is getting into that safe.” Gus yawns, stretching out on the couch.
Sighing, I get to my feet. “I’ve been trying, but I just don’t know what it could be.”
There is a knock at the front door, and I get up to open it, but Rhett is already there. I see beyond him that it’s Devin, dropping off groceries.
“I’m getting better at this,” he says. “It’s a decent time this week.”
I huff a laugh and go for my purse that’s hanging in the closet behind the door. I take out the money I owe him and give a twenty for a tip.
“And the better you do, the more business you’ll get.” I offer him the money. “Keep the change. Thank you for delivering, Devin. This is so convenient.”
He tips his hat. “Thank you for trusting me. You’re still my only customer.”
“I’ll talk to the neighbors.”
“Thank you,” he says with a smile.
I close and lock the door once he’s in his truck.
Rhett and Gus are already putting everything away.
“You got more than last week,” Rhett notes.
“Well, you three eat a lot,” I say with a smile. “And… I want to try baking.”
“Baking?”
“Yeah, Grannie baked something every day. I never liked it much, but figured it’d give me something to do with you three working out on the farm all the time. Better than walking around aimlessly. Maybe I’ll get good at it.”
“We will gladly be your taste-testers,” Gus says, patting his belly.
I lean up on my toes to kiss his cheek. “Thank you.”
When I glance at Rhett, I find him staring at us, a curious look on his face. I can’t tell what he’s thinking, but it’s something… and I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough.
Chapter Twenty
Daisy
Idumpthemuffins—ifyou can call them that—into the trash that, surprisingly, smells of sweet dough from all the failed baking attempts piled up in there. They smell good, but they aren’t right.
These muffins are flat as pancakes. I’m sure they taste good, but they aren’tright.
The last batch of cookies I attempted came out like muffins, the tops all puffed up.
Did I mix up the recipes somehow?
Rhett was helping me earlier but quickly got out of my way when he felt the tension going up. All he was doing was getting in my way, so he left to help the guys finish whatever it is they’re doing to the barn.
Grannie’s pecan pie is my goal here. That’s what I want to succeed at. But if I can’t get any of these other recipes right, how will I get her perfect pie right?
