Chapter 3
Good question – could she? Sharing a meal with a perfect stranger was something new for Jenny. She hadn’t dated much, and was the first to admit her inexperience. But they were in a public place and the man’s coworkers didn’t seem concerned. Especially not if they were making jokes about him, like Alice had.
“So long as it’s more substantial than a pumpkin donut,” she finally said.
“Of course – I don’t expect you to have sugar for lunch. The donuts are for later. We’re heading for the sausage wagon!”
“That doesn’t sound very healthy,” she said as they started off.
“You might be surprised. But it’s not low-calorie.”
She laughed. “Good thing I’m not dieting.”
“You’ll be glad you’re not. I look forward to these every year.”
“Sausages?”
“Not any old sausages. They’re locally made – I guess big-city folks would call them ‘artisanal’ – with local ingredients. And not just beef and pork sausages either, but chicken, lamb, goat, even elk and venison.”
“Hmmm.” Now she sounded impressed.
“Anyway, they usually serve them split down the middle, grilled, on a French roll, and smothered with pretty much anything you could want. I tend to go for the sauerkraut and onions. Good thing we met before lunch.”
She took a few more steps before she got the joke. “Ewww. I’d have to agree. Does this mean I should vamoose as soon as you’re done eating?”
“That’s what the pumpkin donuts are for – to tame the wild beast.”
“You mean the wild breath?” she teased.
“I was trying to put it delicately for your benefit.”
“There’s nothing delicate about me, so don’t worry.”
He kept turning his head in her direction, studying her, as if to see if it was true. Little did he know she was a tomboy through and through. “I don’t see it.”
“What?” She raised her arms and flexed her muscles. “I’m a brute!”
“Because of your big brothers?” he asked with a laugh.
“That and living on a working ranch for two decades. My dad always thought a girl should be prepared for anything.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked with an arched eyebrow.
She smiled with a playful shrug. “It means he taught me things. Like how to change a tire so if I ever got a flat, I wouldn’t have to call him.”
“That’s convenient. For him.”
“For me too,” she said, and felt her smile fade. “Dad died six and a half years ago. The big C.”
He stopped and looked at her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound insensitive.”
She waved off his worry. “How could you know?”
He smiled warmly. “The sausage wagon’s this way.” They set off again. “So what else did he teach you?”
“How to rope a steer – that didn’t go so well.”
Andy laughed. “Did he teach you to butcher it too?”
“No. The only reason he taught me to rope was so I could do something my brothers could, so they’d stop teasing me about being a sissy girl. Boys – you know.”
“Oh, I get it. So your dad wanted to give you a chance to show them up?”
She nodded and shrugged. “Didn’t quite work. I can outride them, though.”
“You grew up with horses?”
“Kind of hard to rope a steer from the ground.”
“Men do it – I’ve seen it.”
They reached the truck, and Jenny studied the menu, which was as extensive as Andy had implied. He, as promised, got a beef sausage with sauerkraut and onions, while after much deliberation she chose a lamb variety with grilled sweet peppers and relish. (Tomboy or not, she didn’t want her first impression to include onion breath.) They also got two large pops, then moved to one side to wait for their order. “So did your old man teach you how to shoot a gun?” Andy asked.
She turned to him as a smile formed on her lips. “Oh, of course. In case I had to deter a man with ill intent.”
He raised both hands and backed up a step. “Trust me, I have none. And while I am unarmed, I hope the sauerkraut and onions will be enough deterrent should you plan to take advantage of me.”
She laughed at that. “Not likely.”
They stood in silence for a few moments. Jenny was about to thank him for buying her lunch when Andy’s name was called. They’d been so busy bantering back and forth a few moments ago, she’d almost forgot. She couldn’t have him think she was rude or unappreciative.
She waited until they found a table and sat. “The donuts are on me. Seeing as how you bought lunch – thanks.”
“You’re welcome. But to give you fair warning, you have no idea how many donuts I can eat.”
Jenny smiled at his mild flirting. Should she flirt back? Did she know how? Were there books for this sort of thing? Oh, why bother – it’s not like she would see him again after this. Once she took Sir Lancelot home, when would she run into him? Romance wasn’t that small a town.
Unless she really wanted to see him. That was something to think about. Traditionally, she was supposed to let the man pursue her – but she wasn’t a traditional girl (unless your tradition included Annie Oakley) and this was the 21st century … oh, what was she thinking? She didn’t have time to date – she barely had time to build a chicken coop over this weekend. She took a bite of her sausage roll.
“You look like you’re deep in thought,” Andy observed.
Jenny almost choked on her food. Which would be a pity – it was as good as he’d promised.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”
She wiped her mouth with a napkin as she kept chewing, then held up a finger – the last thing she needed was to answer him with a mouth full of food. Finally she swallowed hard and took a sip of pop to wash it down. “Chicken coop,” she managed to get out. “I was thinking about building it.” And about flirting, but never mind that, she added silently.
“Will you need some help?”
Jenny was about to take another bite, but stopped. Here was her chance! And yet she wasn’t sure if it was the best move, no matter how much his fellow volunteers seemed to approve of him. What would her mother say? More importantly, what would her brothers say? She had a sudden vision of poor Andy being dragged behind Tate’s truck down some isolated road in the middle of the night. Tate and Jake could probably make sure a body was never found …
“Jenny?” he prompted, worry in his voice.
“No,” she finally said. “I don’t need any help. Besides, I’ve got a lot of other things to do, and …”
He nodded and sat back in his chair. “Don’t worry about it. Just thought I’d offer.”
They finished their meal in silence, the aftermath of her rejection lingering between them. She didn’t mean to be blunt – it had just come out that way. Growing up on a ranch and constantly working didn’t lend much to her social skills, and sometimes it showed. She’d have to work on that if she ever wanted to date someday. Her brothers … well, they’d been lucky. They’d gone off at separate times to run Grandpa Joe’s riding academy, and ended up with New York girls.
She hoped to marry one day, raise a family, grow old, have grandkids – but she needed to finish school first. No Prince Charming was going to rescue her, carry her off and see that they lived happily ever after. Fairy tales were just that – tales. Her mother made sure she understood that before she moved to Romance, as if she hadn’t known already. She took another sip and wondered if Mom would ever remarry.
Andy wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Ready to have the most fantastic pumpkin donuts you’ve ever had in your life?”
“Considering I’ve never had a pumpkin donut, I’m sure they’ll be wonderful.”
He smiled, gathered their plates and cups and tossed them into a nearby trash bin. “We’d better hurry – my lunch break is about over.”
Jenny felt a stab of disappointment and hoped it didn’t show on her face. Everything usually did. She turned away for a moment just in case, pretending to stare at the caramel apple stand.
“Don’t tell me you want another one of those?” he asked. “When delectable donuts are within our grasp.” For good measure he raised a fist and shook it at the sky.
“You remind me of a character in my English Lit book,” she said with a laugh.
“Which one? I was aiming for sort of a Shakespeare thing – ‘we few, we hungry few, we band of brothers’ …”
She looked into his eyes and smiled, enjoying his wit. And there was a certain lighthearted energy about him that made her think of sunshine and blue sky. If he was a Shakespearean character, he was more Benedick than Henry V. “I don’t think you have to worry about that. Now, about those donuts?”
“This way.” He pointed to the booth opposite the caramel apples.
“You mean I walked past it earlier?” she said in surprise. “I didn’t even see it.”
“You were too intent on those darn apples. Trust me, after one of these, you’ll kiss caramel apples goodbye.”
“You sound awfully sure of yourself,” she commented.
“You sounded just as sure about building a chicken coop – without my help.”
“That’s not fair.”
“All’s fair in lunch and war.”
Jenny rolled her eyes. “That was terrible.”
“I can’t come up with my best material without a donut.”
They both laughed. Good grief, but he was funny! It made her feel better – flirting was easy with someone who looked to have fun.
They approached the donut booth and were immediately surrounded by the scent of pumpkin, sugar and sweet spices. “Give me half a dozen pumpkin donuts to go,” he told the girl waiting on them. “And another half a dozen for the lady here.” He indicated Jenny with a toss of his head.
“Half a dozen!” Jenny said in surprise.
“My treat,” he said quickly. “It’s the least I can do since you’re going to build a chicken coop by yourself. You’ll need your energy.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You are determined, aren’t you?”
He winked. “I try.”
Jenny felt herself blush. Great, he’d gotten to her. But she still wasn’t going to let him help. Aside from not knowing him well enough, he’d be a horrible distraction – she’d never get any work done.
He was about to pay for their donuts, but stopped. “Did you still insist on paying? Because I can cover it, no problem.”
“I’d like to.” This time it came out gently, without an edge. She passed the pimple-faced kid behind the counter her debit card and let him ring it up.
Andy seemed to take it well. “Here you go,” he said, handing her one of the white-paper bags. “Well, I guess this is it. We’d best fetch Sir Lancelot so you can take him home.”
She managed a smile and nodded. “I suppose so.” She kicked at a tuft of grass, feeling like she was back in high school. No – junior high. She was terrible at this, the constant plight of growing up a tomboy. Oh well, her English Lit book was waiting for her anyway. But first she had to get what she needed to build a chicken coop.
Andy started to walk away, and now she worried he’d taken her silence as another rejection. Maybe she should just tell him she sucked at this sort of thing – that would explain a lot. Her mind drifted back to finding a book on flirting – but where? The campus library, perhaps?
By the time they reached the Finding Forever Animal Rescue tent, she decided she’d better look for one. She followed Andy to where he’d put Lancelot’s crate and let him pull it out and hand it to her. “I’d walk you to your car, but they look pretty busy in there. I’d best get back to work.” He looked into her eyes and smiled once more. “It was nice meeting you, Jenny.”
Jenny automatically smiled shyly in return. Oh geez – why a shy smile instead of a confident, take-charge smile? She was really in need of that book. “Nice meeting you too … Andy.” And with a nod, she and Sir Lancelot left the festival.