Page 3 of A Table for Two
Great. Darius was right. The woman is probably pushing fifty.He’d be polite, but he didn’t plan to spend hours with a bunch of old ladies. Changing the subject, he asked, “How are you liking the new job?”
“So far, so good. A lot of training for now, though. I just hate that I didn’t get a chance to see you and show you around. Things are a lot more updated since the last time you spent more than a day or so there.”
“Same here.” The siblings had planned to spend a week together before Andrea began her new position, but the company moved up her start date. “And what are you talking about? I was here for Thanksgiving.”
“Ha! Is that what you called it? You were here about as long as a flight layover. You got in on Wednesday evening and were gone Friday morning. And please don’t try to tell me you had to work because nobody works the day after Thanksgiving unless you’re in retail with all the Black Friday sales.”
Okay, he’d concede to her that point. Growing up, Gabriel had never taken to the town and whenever his family visited, he’d been ready to leave almost immediately. For a city boy, those week-long visits to a place where everything shut down when the streetlights came on had lasted a week too long in his estimation.
“By the way, Serenity said she’d be available if you needed help with anything.”
“That’s nice of her, but I should be able to manage. I would like to take a bottle of wine for dinner. Do you know what she likes?”
“That’s a great idea. I’ll text you the names of a few.”
“Thanks, Sis. I need to get going. I want to do some grocery shopping before picking up Nana.” Last night he’d stopped at a store in Oakland and bought only enough to get him through the night.
“All right. Let me know how it goes. I promise I won’t call you for at least a week,” she added with a giggle.
Gabriel smiled. “Liar. You won’t be able to hold out until Monday.” With their parents gone, he’d become even more protective of her, and they rarely went a week without talking, either by text, phone, or FaceTime.
“Oh, hush. You wouldn’t know what to do if you didn’t hear my lovely voice on the regular.”
He laughed. “Yeah, whatever. You’re a pain in the butt sometimes, but I love you anyway.”
“You’d better. Love you, big brother. Later.”
Gabriel disconnected and thought about how proud he was of his sister. When their parents had died in a car accident eight years ago, Andrea hadn’t hesitated in packing up and moving to Firefly Lake. Their parents had purchased this house so their family would have somewhere to stay during their semiannual visits when Nana and Grandpa’s small two-bedroom home had become too cramped as he and Andrea had gotten older. His parents had eventually relocated to the town a few years before their deaths, shortly after Grandpa passed away. He took another glance around. Although he had always been in a rush to get back to Atlanta then, he had to admit there had been a lot of laughter between these walls.
His phone chimed, and he read the text from his sister listing the wine choices. Pushing away his memories, he went to grab the grocery list and his keys, then drove the three miles to the town’s lone grocery store.
Once there, he was pleasantly surprised by the size of the store and the variety of foods available. He’d been worried he wouldn’t be able to find everything he needed but was happy to be proven wrong. Several people called out “hello” as he passed, and he responded in kind.Gotta love small towns. He glanced around, and Darius’s comment about there not being any women his age here flashed in his mind. So far his friend had been right. Gabriel added steaks and chicken to his basket and headed for the produce section.
As he rounded the corner, his steps slowed. A smile curved his mouth.Looks like Darius was wrong.Just ahead of him, a petite woman with skin the color of rich cocoa stood picking out corn. His gaze roamed down her curvy body in the short-sleeved dress she wore, which stopped just above her knees and gave way to slim, toned legs. She definitely wasn’t pushing fifty. She tossed her long braids over one shoulder, and he got a glimpse of her face. Gorgeous. Intrigued, Gabriel started in that direction. The moment he was next to her, the sweet scent of her perfume floated to his nostrils. “Looks like a good crop of corn,” he said, picking up one and testing its weight.
She smiled up at him. “It is, and this is the best time of year to buy it. Sweet, juicy…yummy.”
Her smile and sultry voice intrigued him. “Is that right? Any cooking suggestions?”
“Depends on how you want to prepare it—boiled, grilled, sautéed.” She added the ear of corn in her hand to a plastic bag holding three others.
“All of the above,” Gabriel said with a chuckle. “Does this mean you’re offering cooking lessons?”
She gave him a sassy smile. “You never know.”
Gabriel lifted a brow.Well, now.She peeled back the husk a little and pierced a kernel. The juice squirted out and hit him directly in his eye, startling him.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said.
He swiped at the liquid. “No problem. I just hope there will still be a little juice left once you get done.” A grin kicked up in the corner of his mouth. “And um…on second thought, maybe I should hold off on those lessons until I can be sure of your cooking skills,” he added teasingly. Her slight smile faded as a glare took its place.
“I’m sureonelittle burst kernel won’t ruin the entire ear, and you don’t know anything about my cooking skills.” She shoved the corn into the bag, dropped it in her basket, and stormed off.
“Wait. I’m—” She didn’t turn around or break stride. Gabriel stared after her, stunned. He’d been enjoying their banter, but obviously that was the wrong thing to say. He guessed he had a lot to learn about women living in small towns. He shook his head and finished shopping.
Two hours later, he drove over to pick up his grandmother. She was out the door before he got out of the car.
“Gabriel! Oh, I’m so glad to see you.” She grabbed him in a crushing hug.
