Page 49 of A Simple Life

They looked up, surprised. That turned to delight when Abby grinned widely. “Farmer John!” she crowed. “We’re making cookies!”

I pushed off the doorframe. “I can smell them.” I snuck one, popping it into my mouth and chewing. “Delicious.”

I met Quinn’s eyes and, unable to stop myself, looped an arm around her waist and pulled her in. Remembering Abby, I pressed a kiss to Quinn’s cheek. “Hey.”

She pulled back, her cheeks flushing. “Hey, yourself.” Then she tossed her hair. “You can’t have us arrested since we were given a key.”

I lifted my eyebrows. “Is that a fact?”

She nodded in triumph. “Yes. Laura gave it to me.”

I bent and pressed a kiss to Abby’s head, stroking her soft hair and winking at her. “And how did you accomplish that?”

Quinn grinned. “Bribing her with dinner.”

I looked around, suddenly understanding the amount of food being prepped. “Ah.”

“She’s bringing some chicken skewers to add to the protein portion. She offered me the key so we could come and get started. She said you wouldn’t mind…” Quinn trailed off, looking nervous.

Abby was busy rolling a ball of dough for the cookie tray, and I quickly pressed a hard kiss to Quinn’s full mouth. “I don’t mind at all,” I assured her. “Except for the fact that I have to share you.”

“Stop it,” she murmured.

“What time are they coming?”

“About an hour.”

“Okay, I’m going to go shower so I don’t smell like dust, dirt, and cows.”

Abby wrinkled her nose. “Eww.”

She squealed with laughter as I hoisted her into the air and blew a raspberry on her stomach. “Careful,” I warned. “Or I’ll put you in the field, and you’ll be all smelly too.”

She kept laughing, and I set her down, heading to the door. I looked over my shoulder at the sight.

My girls in my kitchen. My family coming to join us.

What a great day.

“Tell me more about John as a kid,” Quinn urged, laughter glinting in her eyes.

“I think you’ve heard enough,” I said dryly, sipping my beer and shaking my head at my sister, who was enjoying herself.

Far too much, in my opinion.

Quinn and Abby had heard about my attempt to help my gramps plant seeds. How I had decided one wasn’t enough in a hole and put in about a dozen—of different types of seeds.

“Gramps spent hours trying to thin out the plants and fix them,” Laura said, laughing. “John also decided plants needed more water than Gramps thought, so he drowned half the crop before Gramps got to him.”

Laura ignored me. She leaned over, her amusement high as she spoke to Quinn. “When he was young, he got a bike.”

“Like Cody,” Abby piped up.

Laura nodded. “He was a bit younger and the bike was used, but he spent hours painting it and shining it up. He was so excited, and he was going to the cliff to show it off to his friends.”

I groaned. “Not this.”

“What happened?” Quinn asked, resting her elbow on the table and grinning.