Page 48 of Fire and Icing

“Wow.” Dustin’s eyes are soft, his brows knit with genuine concern.

“It’s fine. We’ll get through it all. Well, all of it except Vanessa. She’s just who she is.”

“What’s wrong with your oven?” Dustin asks.

“It won’t hold a constant temp. Sometimes it does. Other times it doesn’t get hot enough to bake. Sometimes it drops heat in the middle of a baking session.”

“That can’t be good.”

“No. It’s not. Consistent heat is one of the keys to good baking.”

“Want me to take a look at it?”

“Do you know anything about ovens?”

“Not a thing. I just thought it sounded good to offer. You know, I’d be the type of guy who can fix all things, the one who shows up with dinner when you haven’t eaten, and I even play guitar.”

He wags his eyebrows playfully.

“Such a triple threat,” I tease. “Well, two out of three isn’t shabby.”

“I don’t know how to fix an oven. But I do know a guy,” Dustin says.

“Do you, now?”

“I do.”

Dustin pulls his cell out of his pocket, selects a contact and brings the phone up to his ear.

“Hey, Liam?”

Liam. Of course. I should have thought of Liam.

I don’t know what Liam says, but over the course of the phone call, Dustin asks me if I’ll be around this afternoon. I tell him I will. By the time he hangs up, Liam is planning to stop by to fix my oven this afternoon. How I’ll pay Liam is anotherquestion. I’ll figure that out later. We really can’t function with only two reliable ovens.

“Thank you,” I say as soon as Dustin clicks end.

“You’re welcome. Liam’s our captain’s brother.”

“I know.”

“Right. Yeah. You would. Of course. Anyway, I’m glad I could help.”

I look across the table at Dustin. He’s smiling, as usual. The way he’s slightly leaned back in his chair with his arms casually folded across his chest, it feels like he belongs here.

“I’d better get going,” he says, standing and extending his hand for my plate.

“I’ve got these. I’ll just wash them after you leave.”

“I’ll get them!” Syd shouts from inside the kitchen.

Dustin and I both crack up.

“Syd!” I shout.

“Coming!” she pops through from the back.

“If you’re going to spy, you should be more covert,” Dustin suggests.

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