Page 25 of On His Ranch

“Yes, I think you mentioned that yesterday. In any event, you’re not doin’ a thing wrong. I think you’d probably enjoy it more if you loosened up a bit, though.”

“I’ll try.”

“Now, the grits are cooked and there’s no water left. See?”

Piper looked at the bottom of the pan as she stirred and nodded her agreement.

“Okay, so now you stir in your toppings. I have crumbled bacon, three different kinds of cheese, whatever you want.”

“How do you make it?”

“This isn’t about me, you’re makin’ ‘em. The hard part’s over, you can’t mess this up.”

Piper stopped to stare at her, her eyes wide. “But—”

“Keep stirrin’!” Patti reminded her.

She turned back to the stove, quickly moving the grits with her spoon. “But Patti…”

But the older woman had left the kitchen. Piper could still hear her, rummaging in the pantry and humming to herself, pretending she couldn’t hear.

Fine. I guess I’m on my own.After a few minutes of staring at the rows of ingredients in front on her, she settled on butter, bacon, parmesan cheese, and garlic powder. She turned the burner on low and kept stirring, watching as the ingredients melded together. As the last second, she added a few tablespoons of heavy cream and combined it with a few more stirs.

As though Patti could sense she had finished, the woman magically appeared at her shoulder, sniffing appreciatively. “Looks good. Smells better.” She clapped her on the shoulder approvingly.

She was beaming as she set the table. How was it possible that she felt so at home in Patti’s kitchen after knowing her less than twenty-four hours and still felt like an outsider at her aunt’s?

She was so lost in her thoughts that Piper didn’t even hear the door. She didn’t know they had company until she heard Chase’s low southern drawl as he spoke to his mother.

Before she could turn around, he was behind her, his long, strong arm with fine, almost translucent hairs reaching around her as he fiddled with the silverware. It felt like an embrace, and she turned to look at him, her eyes wide.

“Forks on the right,” he said, tipping her a wink.

“Stop teasing her,” Patti scolded. “You know we don’t do formal here.”

Before either of them could answer—though Piper’s tongue felt flat and useless as she was mesmerized by the look in Chase’s dark, powerful gaze. Somehow, it seemed even more captivating than it had yesterday. Was it possible that the power he held over her had gotten stronger even while she slept?—Senior walked inside and conversation shifted to include him.

Then they were all at the table, laughing and passing dishes around, loading plates down with crispy waffles and savory sausage patties. Patti apparently considered it her life’s mission to feed people, because every time Piper scraped her plate clean her hostess would say, “More?” and put another waffle or a scoop of grits on her plate before she could answer.

“I don’t know what you did to these grits, Ma, but I think they’re your best effort yet,” Chase announced.

Piper flushed and looked down at the table, surprised and pleased.

“He’s right.” Senior patted his belly. “You’ve outdone yourself. At this rate, I’ma be too tired to head back out.”

“Actually, Piper made them,” Patti said.

“Well, how about that,” Chase drawled.

“Pretty and talented in the kitchen?” Senior added. “I look forward to learnin’ more about you, young lady.”

Her cheeks were blazing, but she couldn’t help but feel delighted by the praise.

“It was her first time, too,” Patti added. There was no missing the pride in her voice.

“Good job.”

Piper craved the sound of his voice and couldn’t resist looking up to meet his eyes. When he mouthed “Little girl” she let out a strangled sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a groan.

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