Page 56 of Texas Made
“Yes. Ruthie left some cold fried chicken and potato salad for us. I brought wine but also soft drinks. I wasn’t sure you’d want wine since you’re driving back later.”
“Good plan. Wine makes me sleepy and since I’ll be driving part of the time at night, I don’t need that.”
The spot he took her to was one he’d never taken a woman to before. He’d been going there since he was a kid. He liked the solitude, something there wasn’t much of when you grew up with five siblings. He’d never told his siblings about it and he’d never seen them out there, so if they knew about it they kept it to themselves. It wasn’t easy to get to. There wasn’t a path; at least, not one that didn’t meander all over the place. They had to dismount and lead the horses through the huge old pecan trees and oaks that lined the creek bottom to get to the water. They walked along the creek for a bit, then ground-tied the horses.
“This is beautiful, Marshall. It seems like another world, it’s so quiet and isolated. And the trees are amazing,” she said, staring up at them. “How old are they?”
He walked a little farther though not too far from the horses. “Probably at least a hundred years old, maybe two hundred. Some more. This land has never been improved or used for anything, so what you see is native growth that’s been left alone since my ancestors homesteaded it in the 1800s.”
“That’s so cool. I wonder why Damaris never told me about this place?”
“She doesn’t know about it. No one does except me. And now you.”
“You mean to tell me you never brought girls here to make out?”
He laughed. “Afraid not. But now that you mention it—” He stopped walking, set down the basket and blanket and grabbed her hand. “Come here.”
“I know that look in your eye.” She slapped a hand on his chest. “I’m hungry.”
“So am I.”
“I meant for food.”
“I didn’t. Have you ever made love outside?” He pulled her close and nuzzled her ear.
“No. My education has been sadly lacking in that area.”
“We need to fix that.”
“Hmm,” she moaned when he kissed her neck. “No fair. After lunch, Romeo.”
He grinned and let her go. He spread out the blanket and they both sat. Sundays were usually Ruthie’s day off, so he’d been forced to fend for himself on the picnic. He began pulling things out of the basket. He’d placed the potato salad between cold packs and he took that out first. Then he got out the chicken, a side of pickles, paper plates and plastic cutlery, and napkins but he left the dessert in the basket.
“Oh, yum. I love cold fried chicken.”
“Wait until you see what I brought for dessert.”
They finished the chicken and potato salad. Marshall pulled a container of cookies out of the basket, opened it up and offered her one.
“Homemade chocolate chip cookies?”
“Yep. I made them myself this morning while you got dressed.”
Her head came up and she stared at him. “Get out. You did not.”
“Cross my heart,” he said, suiting action to the words.
“I had no idea you could cook.” She took a bite of one, then another. “These are really good.”
“Thanks. And to think, you doubted my culinary skills. I worked hard, you know. You have to spread those little squares out just right so the cookies don’t turn out lopsided.”
She laughed. “You had me going. These are refrigerator cookies.”
“I put them on the pan and cooked them. That’s homemade in my book.”
Jaclyn leaned forward and kissed him. She tasted like chocolate. He could have kissed her forever. He cupped her cheek, stunned as always, by how soft her skin was. “You are so beautiful,” he said, breathing her in. He tugged her shirt out of her jeans and slid his hand under it, caressing her bare skin.
“I think it’s time for my lesson.”
