A man’s table manners told you a lot about him. If he was an untidy eater, you could expect him to be messy in other areas. Ira was methodic and neat, but clearly passionate about dessert. It made her curious about kissing him. Would he kiss with the passion and care he put into eating cake? Suddenly, she couldn’t wait to find out.
They ate and chatted about nothing. “I guess I better go back to work,” she said after eating the final bite of Ira’s dessert.
“Us too,” Flint said. “Dad will be champing at the bit to get to mending fences. I don’t want to delay too long or he’ll start without us.”
“Don’t you mean chomping at the bit?” Ira asked.
“Actually, both are correct,” Honey declared, sliding out of the booth. “Champing means biting at. An anxious horse champs at the bit in his mouth. Over time, the saying morphed to chomping, although chomping implies eating while champing is just biting.”
“And you know that off the top of your head?” Ira asked.
“Yeah, I read a lot of weird stuff. Last month I was reading about horses and about commonly misquoted expressions. That one came up.” She shrugged. “My mind stores weird bits of information.”
“You’d be great at trivia games,” Flint said. “Remind me to invite you over for a round of trivia. I’ll bet you could beat Hannah. I know I can’t. My daughter has a crazy brain for random facts. She beats me so badly she won’t even play against me any more.”
“You’re on! I’ll put this on the ranch tab for you. Catch you both later.” She turned to walk away.
“Honey,” Ira’s voice rang out. “Got a second? Flint, I’ll meet you in the truck.”
Flint nodded and left.
“What can I do for you, Ira?”
“Can I cook dinner for you this weekend? Saturday? I’ve just moved into my new house. I’d like to have you over as my first guest.”
The invitation sparked a hundred questions. Why didn’t he invite his friends? Did he have friends? Why didn’t he invite Robert? Or the rest of the family? Why her? She considered the question. “Where do you live? I thought you were in an apartment over the bakery.”
“I was. I decided to get a place of my own. I bought a place out by Everly Bay. It’s not near the waterfront, but I like it.” Everly Bay was a new community on the lakeside, just out of town.
“Okay.” She scribbled her phone number on a napkin and handed it to him. “Text me your address and the time. I’ll meet you there.”
He opened his mouth and snapped it shut. “If you think it’s best.”
“I do. Thanks for understanding.” He didn’t look like he understood her need to be in control and to have an escape plan, but he accepted it and that was good enough. “Text me!” She hurried back to work, she’d already used up her coffee break sitting with him and Lacy was going to have questions for sure.
