Page 54 of Love Off-Limits
I moved next to him and pointed to the label attached to the tray that held the most recent batch of soap Mom had made. “This batch is still curing,” I said, pointing to the date. “See the dates here? The first one is the day she made it. The second is the day it will have completed saponification and is safe for use.”
“Saponi-what?” A line formed between his brows, and I grinned. He was adorable when he was confused.
“It’s when all the stuff you mix together interacts and changes into soap. That’s the process that converts the lye into something that will clean your skin without burning your skin. It takes about six weeks.”
“I had no idea.”
I crossed to the other side of the pantry and pulled a bar off the tray that was ready to be packaged and labeled. “This is one of my favorites,” I said, handing it over. “Citrus pine.”
He lifted it to his nose. “It smells like Christmas.”
I smiled. “Right?”
He handed it back. “And this is all made from goat’s milk?”
“Not exclusively, but yes.” I put the soap back and moved to the storage shelf holding the bottles of oil. I pulled the olive oil and the coconut oil out first and handed them to Tyler, then grabbed the avocado and grapeseed oil.
“She uses all of these?” Tyler asked as he followed me back to the kitchen.
“Not always. But it’s usually some combination of these depending on what she thinks will complement the scent she’s going for. Since she’s experimenting today, I’m giving her options.”
“What are we going to do with the milk we brought up today?”
My shoulders fell. “Oh, right. Actually, we should take care of that before we start anything else.”
I left the oils on the counter and slid a dozen or so empty trays out of the oversized freezer. The freezer was custom-built to hold what looked like enormous ice cube trays. I placed them on the island next to the milk, then retrieved the pump my brother Brody had designed to speed up the process of filling the trays. It was a simple pump system, with tubing that went into the milk can and a trigger that filled each section of the freezing tray with 3 ounces of milk. Every time I used it, a little burst of pride filled my heart. The farm was full of innovations that were a result of his brain power.
“That...is very cool,” Tyler said once I started filling the trays.
“Brody designed it.”
“Brody. I forgot about him. I think I know the least about him.”
“He’s the nicest one. If you’re going to forget someone, forget Perry.”
“I can’t forget Perry. He scowls at me every time he sees me.”
I looked up. “He doesn’t ever say anything to you, does he?”
“Nah. But his looks say plenty.”
“Just ignore him. He’s a grouch just like my dad.”
“I like your dad.”
“What was he winking about in there?”
Tyler blushed, his face turning a darker red than I’d ever seen before. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Um, now I’m really worried about it.”
“You really shouldn’t be. I promise you don’t want to know.”
“Oh, come on. You have to tell me.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Um, let’s see. Something about waiting until marriage. Then something else about making sure, if we don’t wait, we use adequate protection. And then finally, something else I will never admit to you unless I marry you. Then I’ll tell you.”
Tyler’s blush jumped from his face straight onto mine. “Oh, wow. Nothing like hitting all the big points right out of the gate.” Dad had always been a little tough on the boys I’d dated growing up, but this was next level. And I had no idea what had triggered it. Especially when I was working so hard to keep Tyler at a distance. My family could speculate all they wanted, but they had nothing to go on, nothing to make them think Tyler deserved an inquisition regarding his family’s heritage and an extremely inappropriate lecture on safe sex.We. Were. Friends.Why did everyone else keep insisting on seeing more?
