Page 28 of The Sheriff's Mistletoe Bride
“Do I sense a bit of pride in your tone?And I heard about the Frannie incident, too.Good job both of you!”
“Frannie?How did you…”
“Tillie and the diners in the café.Bless their hearts.”She laughed and Matt had to join in.
“Too true.If I didn’t know better, I’d say Ally was a lifelong resident of Destiny’s River.Maybe it’ll grow on her.”
Tori was smiling big time but he couldn’t see that.Cade could as he lay beside her in their big bed, reading while she caught up with her brother.He shook his head and went back to his book.“Sounds likeshe’sgrowing on you, too.”
“Okay, knock that off.Stick to reality.She’s here until her car is repaired and she’s paid me back for fixing the damage on it.She is one stubborn woman…a lot like you.But her plan is to move on and you need to remember that.”
“Plans change.And, whether you want to admit it or not, Ally Jones is different.And both you and Jillie are different than before she came.There’s a spark in your lives and she put it there.Just don’t go putting it out with your hardheadedness.Take a chance.She leaves and you didn’t try, then you’ll always regret it.”
“I hear you.Now get some sleep and concentrate on bringing that nephew or niece of mine into this world and stop wasting time.”
Matt still had a smile on his face after the conversation ended.He took his glass of iced tea out on the patio.The stars were huge, and the night air had chilled a bit.Autumn had arrived.Soon it would be Thanksgiving.Then Christmas and all the festivities in the town would only grow more.Ally would enjoy the Fall Fest.And the tree lighting and parade…and then there was the Christmas Ball.And New Year’s Eve and… He stopped.All those things he had associated Ally as part being of.That surprised him.He hadn’t done that…well since Casey had been with them.What would Casey think of Ally?He had a strange feeling that she would really have liked having her as a friend.They were a lot alike.But Ally might have more spark in her.Not as quiet as Casey.But then Ally came from a different life in one of the biggest cities in the world.Casey had been a farm girl when he met her and then a small-town girl when they married.She had died a few hours after Jillie had been born.She would forever be frozen in time as she was then.
And she had wanted him to promise to marry and find a good mother for their daughter and wife for himself.She was as unselfish as Ally for certain.He had promised, but it hadn’t been all that easy.He couldn’t marry if there wasn’t love involved and no woman had caused that particular spark to ignite.Until…and that word’s appearance in his mind caused him to regroup his thoughts.Love at first sight?No way.Love at second or third?Now that was getting ridiculous.But Ally was not the usual type of woman he had come across.There was something.Maybe his sister was right…again.Give it a chance.There was time.She wasn’t gone yet.
A few minutes later, he stood in that same spot watching the stars, but this time he dialed a number in his cell phone.It was answered on the third ring.
“Hi, I hope it’s not too late to call,” he said.
“No,” she replied with a soft laugh.“Teddy and I were just having a discussion about his hurrying up outside and getting back into the warm house.”
“Welcome to a foretaste of a Texas fall.It is chilly tonight.Tomorrow you could be turning your AC back on high.Then we could have snowflakes the next day.As they say, if you don’t like Texas weather, just give it a few minutes.It’ll show you.”
“I shall remember that sage advice and keep my summer clothing handy, too.”
There was a slight pause, and he took a deep breath and plunged forward.“The reason I called was to invite you to dinner tomorrow.I should have done it before now.It’s to thank you for being so great about Jillie and taking care of her and going so far as to be involved in the Fall Fest and all.You have gone far above what you need to do.The least I can do is grill you one of my amazing steaks.”
“Amazing?”
“That’s the word used most often when I grill for family and friends.You will be amazed.”
“I warn you, it takes a lot to amaze me.”
“How do you like your steak?Medium well?That is great because…”
“Well done.”
There was a beat or two.“Well done?As in no pink at all?”
“No pink at all.I’ve only had one amazing steak cooked well done the right way…cooked through, no pink, and juicy.That’s a tall order for most chefs.”
“Well…I can do that.One well-done perfectly juicy steak tomorrow at six.”
“I’ll be there.I can hardly wait to taste the amazing steak.”
Matt looked at his phone after the call ended.Maybe he could cancel in the morning.Pressing business out of town.With luck she would forget his boast about his steak prowess.The only time he had attempted a well-done steak it had been too tough to chew let alone too dry, and the steak knife had to be sharpened again.That’s what he got for trying to impress and being cute and basically asking a girl on a date.Not an actual date…but close.And he looked at his watch.He would need time to get a crash course from his brother-in-law and maybe even Tillie.
He was not about to fail.But then again…he could always leave town on an emergency.
Chapter Fourteen
“Ithought youwere joking,” Tillie said as she stood on the porch behind the café early next afternoon and watched in amusement as Carl, her main cook, went over the intricacies of cooking a well-done steak.
“I don’t joke about cooking,” Matt said, trying to remember every word his teacher spoke.
