Page 32 of Higher Notes

“Is this Carrera marble?” Sikes asked as though I’d know the answer or what the hell Carrera marble even was.

“Never heard the word without Porsche after it. What do you know about marble?”

“Not much. Just that bakers love it. Supposedly it stays cold enough to roll dough on without it sticking.”

“Now you’re a baker?” Damn, Sikes was full of surprises today.

He shrugged. “You know I like to bake.”

“Yeah, cookies and cakes from a box, but I have yet to see you roll out dough.”

“Just thinking ahead to Thanksgiving. Our first real one and I’d like to make the pies this year. Homemade, not store bought.”

Who knew? Guess adding Jason to the mix changed more than just the head count.

“Huh, things I never knew about my partner of twenty years.”

“Don’t think of it like that. If I’d thought of it before I’d have done it. Just having a family to take care of now made once unimportant things important.”

He had a point. Now, where did I fit into that? What was I interested in?

Maybe I’d find my niche once we’re in the house.

Now, having the ability to look around Diamond and Easton’s place gave me a chance to appreciate having a home of our own. The ability to put our touch on it. I loved how open it was from the kitchen across the dining room and into the living room. No separation between rooms was a great idea when others were involved. Then no one was left out unless they wanted to be. Nothing between us and our guests, or in our case the family while we were cooking or working on something.

We’d been so focused on what we wanted in our master suite we hadn’t bothered with much more. Each of the kids had their own room and Dana had her suite. Jason was leaving it up to her to pick the rest of the finishes. Would it offend her if Sikes and I made suggestions? Now that I knew he had an interest in baking, if we could afford the countertops he mentioned I’d like to see him get them.

Look at me, thinking like a grown-up.

“Hey, guys,” Jason clapped his hands as he came down the hall. “Ready to roll? I guess Fizzbo sent our plane tickets over?”

Sikes pulled his phone out. “That he did. Bright and early tomorrow morning.”

“All right, let’s roll.”

I used the time during the drive to research Carrera marble and quickly learned it was wayyyy out of our price range. But I did find affordable similar countertops.

“Whoa,” I whistled without thinking.

“What’s up?” Sikes waved to the guard as we drove past the shack leaving their compounded community.

“Have you ever priced Carrera marble? We’d need a second mortgage to get it.”

“Wait, who wants Carrera marble?”

“Sikes, the baking queen.”

“I only mentioned it. But no, I’ve never priced it. Sounds like it’s out.”

“Wait, you cook?”

Both our heads turned to Jason. Thankfully we were at a stoplight.

“We can both cook. Baking, though, hadn’t gone past cookies and cakes. This one here,” I gestured toward Sikes as he groaned. “Wants to make homemade pies for Thanksgiving dinner this year.”

“My heart just grew two sizes.” I swear, Jason swooned, and I rolled my eyes.

“Fastest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” Sikes said.

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