Page 13 of Lorna's Savior
Andy grinned, stepped up beside her and took a large pinch of salt from the container he kept it in. He raised his hand high above the pot and let it rain down into the water. He then grabbed a fork, stuck the handle in it and had her taste it.
“Wow, that’s salty.”
“It is, but not too much, because the pasta will absorb it.” They turned the flame on beneath the pan, then jumped when the microwave sounded. Laughing, they put it in the pan and crumbled it up.
“Do you like onions and peppers in your goulash?”
“Don’t know, I’ve never had it like that. But I do like peppers and onions.”
“Good to know,” Andy said, and gathered the items in question. He set them up and showed her how to chop the vegetables, add it to the meat, then add the spices. After he stirred everything together, he looked at her and grinned. “Now we wait.”
“For?”
“The water to boil, the meat to finish cooking, then we add it all together in the same pan and let it heat up again, then we can eat.”
“Okay, then. What do we do in the meantime?”
Andy grinned as he stalked closer to her. He placed his hands on her hips and brought her to him. Without saying a word, he bent down and kissed her. He didn’t lift his head for several minutes. When he did, he placed his forehead on hers, and sighed. “I missed you when I woke the other morning. I thought we could have round two.”
“Sorry, but I had to get home.” Lorna frowned at him. “If you live here, why did you have a hotel room? Sorry, that was rude to ask.”
“Not at all, I had my carpets steamed that morning, and I didn’t want to walk on them until they were dry. Plus, the landlord had repainted your apartment, and the fumes were terrible. I ended up staying there for two nights, just to make sure the carpets were dry, and the fumes had disappeared.”
Chapter 6
“Oh,” Lorna said. They jerked at the sound of sizzling, and found the water had boiled over. Andy quickly hurried over and removed the lid, then stirred the macaroni in, telling her all the steps he was taking. As they waited again, he turned, and said, “Tell me about your promotion.” Andy sucked in his breath when she grinned, and her beauty radiated from her. “Wow, just from your expression you love your work.”
“I do. It’s only been in this last year that things have finally turned around.”
“How so?”
“How long have you lived in this town?”
“Six years, why?”
“Have you ever heard of The Larson Foundation?”
Andy cocked his head to the side and frowned. “Can’t say I have, but I served in the Marines with a guy by the name of Larson.”
“Who?”
“We called him Finn, but I believe his actual name is Finnegan.”
“It is, so do you know Patch?”
“I do,” Andy grinned. “I served with both of them. However, I got out before them. I only came to this area because of them. Though I love my family, but as I said earlier, they drive me batshit crazy. Maybe when we talk about them in the future, I’ll explain why.”
“Deal.” Lorna grinned as she stuck her hand out to shake. “Anyway, the Larson Foundation is exactly as it says, a foundation. The Larsons are rich. Like, mega rich. They put on several fundraisers every year. Finn returned home last year, and after a small accident, he learned the ropes, so he could take over for his father, William, who in turn would take over for his father, Eric, who wanted to retire. That happened two months ago.”
“What type of accident did Finn get into. Granted we live in the same town, but we don’t always connect. Maybe I should give him a call sometime.”
“You should. Did you know he was engaged?”
“No, that’s a shocker. I’ll definitely have to touch base with him. But I digress, please continue.” For some reason, Andy didn’t want to tell Lorna that he already knew about Finn and his fiancée. His only excuse was he didn’t want Lorna to run to Finn and ask questions about him.
Lorna grinned and stood to go and stir the macaroni. After returning to the table, she began putting the dishes Andy had retrieved earlier on the table. “Finn’s fiancée is my best friend. Her name is Veronica Parker. She’s a vet over at Applewood’s Vet clinic. Anyway, Ronnie owns a small farm, and one of her horses had gotten out and disappeared. Normally, that wouldn’t both Ronnie, but she was close to having a baby. Ronnie left work, she worked at Larson’s then, while still going to school to get her vet’s degree. She was up in a meadow and found her horse, but a bunch of wild ones were being chased by a feral mountain lion. Ronnie got in the mess of that, and one of them kicked out and hit her. She landed at the end of the ravine. When Finn rescued her, he slipped both on the way up and down. He ended up breaking his ankle.”
“Damn, how bad was this Ronnie?”
