Page 72 of You Chive Me Crazy
“Thank you,” Zoe said.
“Why don’t you chill out over there with Savannah in the shade?” Rolando asked. “I can take over hose duties.”
“Don’t mind if I do.” Zoe handed over the hose.
“Nobody asked me if I wanted to work with this hoser,” I said.
Rolando aimed the nozzle at me. “Keep talking and see what happens.”
“Maybe we should take pictures of you two hunky men washing the truck shirtless and turn it into a yearly calendar like those Aussie firefighters with the puppies,” Savannah said, beaming. “Put some suds on that chest, Lucas. And Rolando, off with the shirt.”
He waggled a finger at her. “Sorry—there are no free shows here, ladies. Pony up the dough if you want a show.”
Savannah pulled a dollar bill from her purse and waved it.
“Seriously?” Rolando shook his head. “You expect me to live off that?”
Zoe and Savannah both laughed, then sat in the shade to chat.
“I’m glad you could join us,” I said to Rolando. “I was feeling a little guilty that you came all this way to hang out with me and I haven’t spent any time with you.”
“Don’t even worry about it,” Rolando said. “You’ve been helping Zoe. We’ll have time later. And it’s not like I need to rush back to work anytime soon.”
Zoe called out, “Hey, Lucas! You missed a spot!”
“I’ll get right on that,” I said, saluting her. “Anything for you, sweet potato.”
She batted her eyelashes at me, then placed her hand on her chest, pretending to be wowed. “Be still, my heart. You'resucha gentleman.”
“Yeah, well, don't tell anyone. I've got a reputation to uphold.”
“Okay, something is happening with you and Zoe,” Rolando whispered. “You’ve got explosive chemistry. I can feel it.”
I snuck a peek at her as she talked with Savannah.
Zoe’s eyes were on me.
“Whatever is going on, I like it a lot,” I said. “What about you two? Am I imagining things or is there something going on there?”
Rolando glanced over at Savannah, then back at me. “About that . . .”
“You don’t need to feel guilty, if that’s what you’re going to say,” I said. “What we had was a long time ago. I think you two would make a wonderful couple.”
“Hey, Rolando!” Savannah called out, waving a five-dollar bill. “Is this more to your liking?”
He smirked. “Add a couple of zeroes to that, and then we’ll talk!”
We laughed as we finished up with the food truck, eager to move on to the first item on Zoe’s massive to-do list.
The four of us worked as a team to complete each of the tasks one-by-one, including preparing the secret sauces for Zoe’s gourmet baked potatoes: garlic butter, béchamel, chipotle, spicy BBQ, and parmesan ranch. All were homemade from scratch, all mouthwatering. I had never been much of a potato fan unless it came in the form of a french fry, but I was looking forward to trying her creations at the food festival.
And not because I was crushing on her big time.
Despite working eight hours—with a brief break for lunch—Zoe's infectious energy and our lively conversation kept us going all day. I couldn’t remember the last time I had so much fun working. And since it was way past dinnertime at the Serendipity Inn, Zoe insisted on treating all of us to burgers and beers at Murray’s Saloon & Eatery, a five-star restaurant that I’d heard many good things about.
The place was bustling with activity and upbeat music as we enjoyed our burgers, fries, and onion rings at an outside table next to the horseshoe pit.
Zoe held her beer bottle out toward the middle of our table. “Thank you all. Seriously. I couldn’t have done it without you all.”
