Page 53 of Fire and Ice
Chelsea nodded. “I feel the same way. Wisconsin is a nice state, but I think this one is the right place for me.”
They crossed back again, and in the middle of the creek, Chelsea tottered on the rock she’d stepped on. “Oh, crap.” She held her arms to her sides, balanced herself, and managed to stay upright.
“I came so close to landing on my butt in the cold water.” She made it to the opposite side, letting out a sigh of relief. “The last thing I want to do is to end up with soaked shoes and clothing in this weather.”
“You and me both.” Grady finished crossing the creek and reached her side. His gaze traveled over their surroundings. “The red rock in and around Sedona is beautiful.” He pointed to a high shelf ahead that reached out, curving up from the creek embankment. “Can you imagine how many millions of years it took for water to carve that out?”
Chelsea put her hands on her hips and studied the canyon they were in. “Instead of a creek, a big river would have probably run through here.” She glanced up at the sky through the trees. “We’d better head back before it gets dark.”
Grady nodded his agreement. “Good idea.”
The way back took less time than they’d taken walking up the trail. They were quiet most of the way back, enjoying their surroundings.
When they reached their starting point, the sky had dimmed, the sunlight fading.
Grady took her hand. “If they haven’t already started, I need to help the guys make dinner.”
Chelsea laughed. “I’m not very optimistic, but they might pull off something. They usually go for tacos, and they turn out pretty good.”
She heard his stomach grumble, and she laughed again. “I think you worked up a good appetite.”
He looked a little sheepish. “I’ve been betrayed.”
She tugged on his hand. “Let’s get up there. If they finished making dinner already, there won’t be anything left for us if we don’t hurry.”
16
The house smelled of hot sauce, fried tortilla shells, seasoned beef, and garlic, and Grady’s stomach rumbled again. The hunger pangs in his belly cheered at the thought of the great food soon to come.
“Don’t you love how everything smells?” Chelsea peered over the breakfast bar. They’d lined up bowls on a countertop with all the toppings—shredded Mexican cheese, diced tomatoes, chopped onions, shredded cabbage, quartered limes, and avocado slices.
“There’s Mexican beer in the fridge.” Joe put the pan of seasoned shredded beef in line before the cheese.
Brad placed a cookie sheet he’d used to hold the taco shells at the head of the line. “Made enough food for everyone to have four tacos each.”
DeAndra stood beside Chelsea. “You mean you made enough for leftovers because you know the three girls eat two each, sometimes three.”
Anneka joined them. “Yep. Just watch—the guys get six tacos each.”
‘You’ve got it,” the twins said at the same time.
“I don’t know about that.” Chelsea looked amused. “I’m extra hungry today. Fresh air and a hike will do that to a person.”
Grady slipped into the kitchen. “Sorry, I’m late. Anything I can do to help?”
Joe pointed to a drawer. “Grab some forks for everyone and large spoons for the toppings.”
Grady took care of the forks and spoons, while Brad found six dinner plates.
When they each had a plate, they went down the line and made their tacos. Chelsea made three while Grady went for four. When they had finished building their tacos, they gathered around the large dining room table.
Grady enjoyed the camaraderie between the siblings as the twins made their sisters laugh, and how good Anneka and DeAndra were with their comebacks. Chelsea smiled and laughed as she watched them like a proud mom, but jumped in every now and then.
After dinner, they cleaned the table, loaded the dishwasher, and put the leftover ingredients into containers and stored them in the refrigerator. They put the remaining taco shells into a gallon-sized baggie and left them on the countertop.
“What six-player-plus game do you want to play first?” Anneka looked up from their family’s bag full of games that she and DeAndra had brought.
“Jenga,” Brad threw out.
