Page 16 of Older Cowboy

“It is.” At last, someone willing to offer some sympathy. She didn’t know why so many of the people who knew her couldn’t seem to catch the memo. He squeezed her hand then, and she squeezed his back.

The only problem with this was that she couldn’t help noticing that his palm had become callused, likely due to the work he did, and feeling that coarseness against her skin was surprisingly intoxicating. Definitely welcome.

It also fit perfectly with his overall persona of being this rough and tough farmer man. He was rough and tough, yes. But also funny and self-deprecating. A father who obviously loved his son. Honest and forthright. She gazed into those sky-blue eyes with the russet brown starburst at the center.

He was indisputably handsome. Ridiculously so…

No. No, no,no. None of that mattered. Especially not that last one.

She released him, stretching out toward the napkin dispenser on their table to cover the action. Erika didn’t want to hurt Cody’s feelings, but she couldn’t lead him on, either. This wouldn’t be going anywhere. It couldn’t.

Fortunately for her, he changed the subject to dad jokes again, and once he started rattling them off, Allison came by, asking if they wanted dessert.

“Oh, yeah,” Cody nodded his head vigorously. “I’ve heard your black forest brownies are a must-have.”

“True,” Allison said, holding her head up with pride. She had every right to. Those brownies weren’t only delicious, they didn’t only sell well, those babies had won awards. Not just in local bake sales, either. A couple of years back, they’d come in first place during a Best of Montana contest.

But of course, Erika didn’t eat sweets. She had tried the brownies, though.

“They’re superb,” she told Cody.

He raised a couple of his fingers. “Two, please.”

Erika had just taken a sip of her cooling coffee, so although she tried to cancel her part of the order, the coffee went down the wrong pipe. She fell into a series of awful choking coughs that didn’t allow her to speak, and by the time she managed to get past the clog in her throat, Allison had disappeared into the back.

Too late to cancel.

Cody had stood to pat her back. “You all right?”

She made about a million different hand signals to indicate that she was, but Erika felt sure she was likely coming across like a chicken with its head cut off. Despite this not being a date, this wasn’t how she wanted to be seen.

Her face heating, she peered up at Cody. He was so tall. She’d noticed it as she strolled beside him earlier. Blake had been her height, but this farmer man had at least six inches on her. Maybe more. She wondered what it would be like to dance with him.

No, Erika, you are not thinking about that, she reprimanded herself. She fell into such a tizzy that she forgot all about how to cancel her order without it coming across as rude.

Technically, she could send it home with Cody. Yet when it arrived in front of her, smelling freshly baked and chocolatey, her mouth literally watered. And honestly, what harm could it really do? She could splurge just this once.

The instant the confection hit her tongue, Erika’s eyes rolled back into her head. The brownie melted like fudge as soon as she tasted it, the flavor weaving into her senses. If heaven above had a taste, this would be it.

Erika ate her dessert gradually bite by bite as Cody waxed poetic about his own admiration of it.

“Allison, this is the best dessert I’ve ever had, bar none. I’m not even kidding.”

“Thank you,” Allison said, even though Erika knew she heard such compliments all the time. “Enjoy.”

Cody started sharing more anecdotes about halfway through, and Erika listened to the resonant sound of his voice. A distant part of her recognized that she could easily close her eyes and listen to him forever. His intonation was so soothing but not the type that would lull her asleep. She wondered what he’d sound like reciting poetry, then felt her cheeks heat again.

Why was she thinking such outrageous things? This was why she shouldn’t have sugar. Not when she seemed to be having such an extreme reaction to it.

She and Cody continued to sit there and talk, and Erika had laughed at his stories and jokes so often that her stomach now felt sore. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had such a good time or anywhere close to this much fun.

“Okay, you two, I hate to break up the party, but it’s closing time,” Allison announced, and Erika goggled at her in shock. Spinning to look outside, she noticed that yes indeed, it was dark outside. When she retrieved her cellphone, she could see that it was five minutes until nine. That meant they’d been there forthree hours.

How was such a thing even possible? It felt more like three minutes.

“You probably have an early morning,” Cody assumed, and he was right.

“You probably do, as well.”

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