Page 17 of The Story We Wrote

“I’m making pizza in a round.” My mom took croissant pastry and filled it with everything we loved on a pizza. Pepperoni,pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese and sausage crumbles. She rolled it up and fixed it in the shape of a ring around her pizza stone.

“Looks great, Ma,” I said, kissing her on her head.

“Did you want to stay for dinner, Rhodes? We have plenty,” my mom asked.

“No ma’am,” Rhodes replied. “I have some leftovers in the fridge, and the rodeo is calling my name.” Our town had its own mock rodeos throughout the summer and broadcasted it on our local channel. Tonight was the first one of the season.

After finishing his glass, Rhodes said his goodbyes and headed out to the barn to get his truck. I stood in the kitchen talking to my mom before I headed to my cabin to wash up. I try to eat dinner with my family as often as possible. Since Ellie left, I was trying not to make the house seem as empty as it was. Considering pizza in a round is one of my favorites, the choice to come back was an easy one.

“Before you wash up, can you run those mason jars down to the store? Mrs. McFry had jars she was looking to get rid of, and I thought it would be perfect for Aspen to sell her muffin mix out of,” Mom said.

I hadn’t seen Aspen today. It was near four in the afternoon which meant the shop would be closing up soon.

“Sure thing, Mama.” I grabbed the box that had the mason jars and headed for the door.

Getting to the farm stand, I saw Aspen standing behind the counter. Her back was towards me. It looked like she was packing something. She was bobbing her head and swaying her hips in a rhythm. I stood for a few moments, admiring the way her body moved. I couldn’t help but smile, her presence was alluring. I felt lighter around her, like nothing could bring me down. The world could be on fire and, as long as she was around, it would be okay.

When I decided I’d been standing there long enough, I made my way to the counter and put the boxes down. Aspen spun, humming a tune.

When she saw me, she screamed, “Shit!” putting her hand on her chest while taking a deep breath. “You scared me!” she said, laughing. “How long were you there, creep?” She gave me a playful smile and opened the cardboard box.

“Like 20 minutes,” I lied, smiling back.

“Bull,” was her only reply. I walked around to the empty part of the counter and jumped up to sit on the surface. Aspen stood facing me, one hand on the counter. She eyed me from head to toe.

“These are from my mom. Something about muffin mix?” I questioned, pointing to the box and shrugged my shoulders. Taking off my cowboy hat, I ran my fingers through my hair before placing it back on my head. My hair was damp and my clothes were filthy. That didn’t seem to bother Aspen, considering I heard her swallow hard enough to gulp.

“She came down earlier. Told me you’d bring them to me before closing. Look at you, right on time,” she teased, closing the box up. She took her rag and threw it over her shoulder, hip now leaning against the counter holding her weight. Aspen stood in line with my leg, looking up at me. Those beautiful doe-like eyes were hypnotic. I stared back, unsure what to say or how to keep the conversation going, but I needed to.

“Wanna have dinner at the main house tonight?” I asked without thinking. My brain needed an excuse to stay longer, to be around her for more than the few minutes it took to drop off the jars.

“Can’t,” she said, sounding a bit breathy. “I’m meeting Penny for dinner. Raincheck?”

I nodded, it was worth a shot. Part of me was glad she said no, because I didn’t feel like lying to my mom about why I asked our new employee to dinner.

“How was your first day?” I went with a simple question, low hanging fruit. I needed to keep her talking.

“Great!” She exclaimed, pushing away from the counter. Her movement put distance between us, I was missing the warmth against my leg. “We had quite a few customers. People are excited about the stand and what I want to bring on. My newest addition will be with these jars. I want to make the dry ingredients for my muffins and have them on the shelves. Customers can buy them and just add the wet ingredients. They make the perfect gift or if you want to make muffins quickly at home.”

Watching her talk about the store and the new items created a tightness in my chest I couldn’t identify. Her beaming smile, the apples of her cheeks on full display. I could listen to her for hours going on and on about blueberry muffins. Hell, she could talk about taxes, or golf, and I would listen with my full attention on her. I’d never sat inches from someone and felt the need to be closer. I’d never wished I could hear a woman speak for hours a day, never wanting her to stop. I’d never played the exact moment when I felt a woman’s lips on my skin over and over again to the point of insanity. One thing I did know for certain, though,I was totally fucked.

Aspen

It’s nice to finally be in the same room as my best friend. So much had happened emotionally, and I guess physically, since I moved to Cassidy Ranch. I was dying to spill. Dying to tell all the details. They’d been stuck in my head for days, itching to get out.

I sipped my margarita, more like I inhaled it really. Penny and I tried to go for tacos and margaritas at least once a month.With adult life being crazy, we penciled in this time for each other. Whatever other time we could make in between was a blessing. Penny had been nonstop since getting her job at the library, and I was beyond proud of her.

“Alright, spill,” Penny said. “I can tell you have something to say. Your face is doing that thing.” She waved her hand in a circle in front of me.

I squealed, “What thing?”

“Your eyebrows pinch and you get this look in your eyes.” She knew me too well.

“I kinda, maybe, I’m not sure what to call it…heavily made out with Boone Cassidy while skinny dipping in a swimming hole.” I paused, waiting for gasp or at least something to show me she was surprised. Instead, her eyes were wide and she was staring at me, waiting for more. “Well, we were both a little tipsy. I wouldn’t say I was super drunk, because I still remember it. I had a good bit of tequila and wine. You know how I get with wine. One thing led to another, and I was taking my clothes off with Boone under the moonlight.”

“Shut the fuck up,” was all Penny said. I waited a beat, seeing what else she wanted to say.

When nothing came up, I continued. “We were just talking after everyone went to bed. Playing 21 questions, and it was actually really nice.”

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