Page 76 of First Bride to Fall
“Um.” She pursed her lips, seeming reluctant to offer an opinion. Which was okay by him. He was happy to play this by ear. Especially since he wouldn’t have to play it for too long. He was pretty sure she’d be gone by this evening.
The houseful of groceries he’d have left over would totally be worth it.
He grinned. “Most of these are cleaning supplies, anyway.”
“Cleaning?”
“Yeah.” He glanced around the cabin. “This place probably needs a little sprucing up.”
“Oh.”
“Now that we’re officially together.” He winked. “You can officially get to work.”
Her mouth dropped open. “What?”
He laughed warmly. “No worries, sweetness. You don’t have to get to work right away. I know you’ve got your ankle problem.” He frowned. “How’s it doing, anyway?”
“Oh. Um, actually. A little better today.” She watched him stow a ten-pound bag of ice in the freezer. “Is that for my ankle?”
“Nope. The ice is for fishing.” He handed her a shopping bag. “This is for the ankle. Your frozen veggie days are done.”
She took the bag, curious now. “What’s this?”
“A real ice pack. The sooner you heal, the sooner you can participate as a full partner in our relationship.”
She paused. “Partner?”
“Yeah, by pulling your weight around here. I mean, there’s nothing actually wrong with your left ankle, or your arms or hands for that matter. We’ll need topull together, Nell, to make this whole thing work. Be a team!” He raised his fist in a fake cheer.
“Oh.” She blinked. “Oh, sure.”
He reached into one of the bags he’d set on the counter. “Look what was on special.”
She goggled at him as he pulled out six mesh bags of Brussels sprouts. “Wow. Um. That’s a lot of Brussels sprouts.”
Yes, it was. He let his face fall. “Oh no. I totally forgot. I’m sorry, Nell. You don’t like these, do you?” He gave his best dejected frown and walked to the trash bin. “I’ll just ditch them in the—”
“No, don’t! That’s wasteful.”
He turned to her. “Yeah, but…” He wrinkled his nose. “They’re going to stink up the house, and you hate them.”
She grimaced. “I didn’t mean that so…absolutely.” A lie. He knew it. But he also knew she wouldn’t have the heart to disappoint him.
“At least I didn’t get peas! Not even the frozen kind.”
“Thank you.” She laughed, and he was still kind of charmed by it, but he told himself to toughen up and remember his mission. He reached for the tofu hot dogs next and set those on the counter, along with the hot dog buns.
“I got your favorite campfire meal.”
“Oh nice! Hot dogs?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’d planned for us to cook them tomorrow during our camping day.”
Her eyes went wide. “We’re going c-camping?”
He chuckled at her horrified look. He couldn’t wait to find out just how little she actually knew about tents and such. “Not going anywhere but here.” He glanced at the grocery bags. “Hey, would you mind putting the cold stuff away so I can bring in your surprise?”
“Uh, sure.” She scrambled to her feet and hopped over to the counter. He noticed she was putting more weight on her right foot, which was what he’d hoped. He felt mildly guilty about giving her a hard time when she was injured. Not that guilty, though. All things considered.
