Page 42 of The Vet's Unconditional Love
"Yeah, that's what I realized.If I overstep, just let me know."
She laughed at that."You can bet your ass I will."
He laughed with her and jerked his chin toward the house."Want to come in, then?The food's almost ready."He peered into the bag she'd brought, and his eyes widened."Apple pie and ice cream?"
"Yeah, I hope that's okay."
He chuckled."It's more than okay.It's my favorite."
"I'd love to say I knew and that's why I brought it, but I had no clue; it was just a lucky guess."
"Whatever the reason, I'm just glad you did."He glanced up at the house."Maybe one day you can teach us how to make it."
She raised her eyebrows.
"I do all right with cooking.I mean, I'm no chef or anything, but I keep us fed.But when it comes to baking, I'm a total disaster in the kitchen.We tried a few times, and we had a few laughs, but the girls voted that whenever we're going to have dessert, we have to get it from the bakery."
"I'll be happy to give you baking lessons.It's one of my favorite things to do in my downtime."
"Do you get much downtime...I mean in the normal run of things?I figured as an editor in New York, you'd be a busy lady.Are you like on sabbatical while you're here?"
She shrugged."I left my job when I moved.In theory, I'm setting myself up to work freelance with some of my authors, but..."She looked out at the mountains before turning back to him."I'm discovering, now that I'm here, that I enjoy having my time to myself more than I enjoy working."
His smile faded."Are we taking up too much of your time, you know, running around with the girls?"
"You are not," she said firmly."I think you already know me well enough to know that I do what I please.But come on, we should get the ice cream into the freezer."
~ ~ ~
When they'd finished eating, Emmett leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach."That was so good, thank you."
Harper laughed."Don't thank me, you did the hard work.The food was wonderful.All I did was bring dessert."
Alana laughed."Dessert's a big deal around here, Harper, you need to understand that.We tried to learn baking for a while, didn't we, Dad?"
"Yeah, but it didn't turn out too well," Tanya said, screwing up her nose."Do you remember those nasty hard cookies?"
Emmett laughed."I try to forget about them."
"And the flat cake," Emmett asked.
The girls laughed, and Alana explained to Harper, "We were supposed to add some raising stuff in it, apparently, but none of us knew that.It came out more like a pancake cake than anything else."
"It didn't taste too bad, though," said Tanya."I put jam and frosting on mine."
Emmett laughed."Tanya's our sweet tooth."
He pushed his chair back, about to clear the table.But the girls jumped to their feet and started grabbing dishes."We can do it," said Alana."You guys both did your part.It's our turn now."
He gave her an inquiring look, but she just gave him a bright smile as she and Tanya made their way to the kitchen.
Harper watched them go, but her smile turned to a frown when her gaze landed in the corner of the room.He knew exactly what she'd spotted.
"Damn, sorry," he said, as he got to his feet."I should have put that away.They're usually all locked up in the cabinet," he assured her.
"I never said a word."
He picked up the rifle from the corner of the room and returned it to the gun cabinet."No, I know, but you didn't need to.And don't worry, Harper.The girls know all about gun safety.It's just..."
