“Is that your mom’s recipe?” Randy asked.
“Sure is,” Liam replied, reaching into the other oven and taking out the garlic rolls. “Why don’t you go sit down at the table.”
With a curious expression on his face, Randy did, but not before he reached down and gave Piper some love. He washed his hands and made his way into the dining room. I chewed nervously on my lower lip and tried not to stare as I passed him on my way back to the kitchen.
“What else can I do?”
Liam handed me a basket with the rolls and a butter dish, and he gestured toward the dining room. He was right behind me with the lasagna. I placed the rolls off to the side, and Liamset the hot dish on a pad in the middle of the table. He’d already cut a few slices and there was a spatula pushed into the lasagna.
“Smells delicious,” Randy said as he inhaled deeply and rubbed his hands together.
Liam pulled out my seat for me.
“Thank you,” I said, as I looked everywhere but at Randy.
“Mallory made the salad and the dressing,” Liam stated as he sat down and handed Randy the salad bowl.
“It all looks amazing. I’ve had a long day and no lunch, so don’t mind me if I dig in.”
Liam chuckled. “Please, dig away.”
Randy filled up his bowl with salad, then took a piece of the pasta. I handed him the basket of garlic rolls, and he grabbed two.
“Thank you,” he said with a smile as he placed them onto his plate.
After I made myself a bowl of salad, I handed it to Liam. My mouth was watering at the sight of the lasagna, and I couldn’t wait to taste it. It was obvious that if I’d been a vegetarian, I couldn’t have cared less at this point.
“It smells so good, Liam,” I said, as I placed a piece on my plate. “Sogood!”
He smiled at me when I glanced up at him. “Taste it and tell me what you think.”
I did as he asked and moaned in delight. “Heavenly.”
Randy laughed, and I looked at him. I was instantly relieved that the sound wasn’t familiar. I stole a look at Liam and smiled.
When we finished our meal—the men had filled the time with small talk about the ranch—Randy tossed his napkin on the table. “So, are you finally going to tell me why you asked me over? I already know it wasn’t just because of my riveting personality.”
Liam wiped the corner of his mouth and set his napkin back in his lap. “I don’t really know where to start.”
Randy looked at him and raised a brow. “At the beginning is usually the best place.”
“A few nights back, during a storm, I was riding back from Billy’s place, and I saw something in the pasture. At first I thought it was a calf, but the closer I got…I realized it was a person lying on the ground.”
Sitting up straighter, Randy focused all his attention on Liam.
“When I realized it was a woman, I quickly jumped off of Moonshine and rolled her over.”
Randy tore his eyes from Liam to me then back to Liam.
“It was Mallory that I found.”
Now Randy’s gaze was focused back on me, and I squirmed slightly in my seat.
“Wait, I’m confused. What were you doing in the field? During a storm?”
I swallowed and was about to speak when Liam went on. “She was barely conscious, cold, and soaking wet from the storm. At the time, I hadn’t even realized she wasn’t wearing shoes. I got her up on Moonshine and brought her home. She was barely able to answer me when I asked what her name was. She slept for two days straight. When she finally woke up this morning, she had no idea where she was…orwhoshe was.”
Randy looked at me. “Is that still the case?”
