Page 11 of New Day at the Beach House

“Good. I’ll show you the mockup for the sign we received from our regular sign people when I get home tonight, which should be by five or six. My dad is going to that play tonight with Willie and your mom.”

“Right,” Claire said. “I heard something about that.”

Danny’s smile went slightly mysterious. “Means I’ll be home alone. You want to come over and have dinner? We could sit out by the firepit. Maybe take a walk on the beach.”

“I’d love to. What are you making?” A night with him sounded perfect, no matter what they did.

“Nothing.” He chuckled. “I plan on picking something up on the way home. How do you feel about Indian? Or Chinese? Or is there something else you’d prefer?”

“I like them both, but I’d love some butter chicken. I haven’t had that in quite a while.” Bryan had never really liked Indian cuisine, so it was a rare occasion when she got to enjoy it.

His brows lifted. “Yeah? I didn’t think you’d go for Indian. I am pleasantly surprised. And clearly, I need to stop assuming I know what you’re going to like and not like. Butter chicken it is. I’ll be sure to get some naan, too.”

She let out a soft, happy moan. “I love naan. I shouldn’t have the carbs, but boy, is it delicious.”

“Does that mean you don’t want it?”

She snorted. “No, I do. But we’d better go for that walk on the beach. I’ll have to burn it off.”

“You got it.”

She got up. “I’ll see you tonight then. Possibly with dessert.”

He stood, putting them face to face. “I’m looking forward to it.” He leaned in and kissed her. “I am so glad you came into my life. For all sorts of reasons.”

She could only smile as her cheeks warmed. “Me, too, you. See you tonight.”

“Tonight.” He walked with her to the door, opening it for her. “Hey, do you have enough popcorn, or do you need me to bring you some more?”

She thought a moment. She’d be using up more of it today. “I’ll take a medium bag each of regular and kettle.”

“You got it.”

“Thanks.” She wiggled her fingers at him. “Bye.”

She went straight back to her kitchen and started pulling ingredients. She set out two sticks of butter to come to room temperature, then went to her bedroom to change into a T-shirt she wouldn’t mind getting spilled on.

Baking wasn’t always the cleanest of activities, even with an apron.

She used her standard sugar cookie recipe, which was the best one she knew and the same one she used for decorated cookies at Christmas. But she planned on making two variations: one with crushed kettle corn mixed in, and a second with a buttered popcorn-infused icing.

She had no clue if either one would work, but that was the whole point of experimenting.

After tying on an apron, she set the oven temperature and got to work. She had to infuse the milk that would go into the icing first so that it would have time to cool. She had doubts about how much flavor she’d be able to impart to such a small amount of milk, but she could only try.

She started by creaming the sugar and butter together. Doing that right was key. Then she added in the flour. As she was getting ready to fold in the popcorn, which she’d smashed up a bit to get smaller pieces, a new idea came to her.

She divided the dough into two portions, then went back to the pantry and dug around. She found what she was looking for. Toffee bits. She was hoping they’d give a caramel flavor to one batch of cookies. Combined with the popcorn, it should make the cookie taste like caramel corn.

The island where she was working was slowly becoming a scene of organized chaos, but she plowed on, happily working through the mess. She’d get everything cleaned up as soon as the cookies went into the oven.

That took about twenty minutes. And made her realize that if she needed anything from the house in Landry, it was the rest of her baking supplies.

There was no denying it. She was going to have to go back there. And soon.

Kat’s outfit of the green top with the tan pantsuit looked better than she’d anticipated, which pleased her. She’d take every opportunity to gather some extra confidence. She borrowed her grandmother’s chunky gold necklace again, like she had to go job hunting the first time, wearing it with the same small gold hoops.

Her nicest shoes were sandals and even though they seemed awfully casual, this was Florida. Sandals were pretty standard. And her toes looked good, thanks to the recent pedicure she’d had.

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