Page 108 of Wilde Flame

“My grandmother gave you her lasagna recipe? Willingly?”

“Of course,” I said. “I mentioned I was craving it, so she wrote it down for me. But she also made me promise not to share it with anyone.”

His brows lifted. “She hasn’t even told my mother how she makes her lasagna. You must have won her over.”

“Well, if I’m being honest, she gave it to Emeline, as well. She said since we’re bearing the first grandbabies, we could have it.”

“Definitely don’t tell my mom.”

He moved into the kitchen and leaned down to smell the fresh loaf of sourdough bread I’d made. “What’s with the cooking and baking?”

I shrugged. “I had a long day at the store. Then I stopped by your mom and dad’s earlier.”

“What for?”

There was a hint of coldness in his voice. I looked at him and asked, “Does it bother you that I stopped by?”

“Not at all. I was just curious.”

I went to the cabinet and pulled out two plates. “You’re hungry, right?”

“I’m starved.” He intercepted me and took over setting out the plates and silverware.

“We have salad, too, so we’ll need bowls.”

“On it,” he replied, as he reached up and grabbed two bowls. “Here or in the dining room?”

“I’m okay eating here on the island.”

“You were saying why you stopped by my folks’ place.”

“Right. Sorry. Did you happen to see the newspaper today?”

He shook his head. “Can’t say I have. I’ve been working on a tractor nearly all day, then rode out with Gatlin to check some of the fences. We’ve got some high winds coming in with the next storm, so I want to make sure everything’s good with the fencing.”

Sliding the paper toward him, I said, “Here’s some light reading for you, then.”

I watched carefully as he picked it up. He narrowed his eyes as soon as he saw the photo, and his jaw twitched as he read.

He dropped it onto the island and looked at me. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, and we knew it would come out sooner rather than later. To be honest, I’m surprised it took Janet this long to print something.”

Caden stared at me, then let his gaze drift away.

I grabbed the large fork and spoon and dished out the salad, then took a spatula and cut a piece of lasagna for me.

“How big of a piece do you want?” I asked.

Caden had begun cutting the bread. He glanced up and said, “That’s good.”

We both sat down at the island.

“Wine would be so nice right about now,” I said with a sigh.

“Did you stop by to ask my mother if she’d talked to Janet?”

Setting my fork down, I wiped my mouth. “I did. She told me it wasn’t her who’d convinced Janet to hold off.”