Shot Cross Buns by Tegan Maher

Author:Tegan Maher [Maher, Tegan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Magical Words Publishing
Published: 2019-04-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

“SO WHAT’S GOING ON with you?” Dee asked for about the millionth time as I stormed around the kitchen, grabbing vegetables for the salad and chopping them with enough force that pieces ended up flying farther than I intended for them to.

“I just can’t believe Gabe is being so hardheaded about this,” I growled, slicing the end off a cucumber so hard it wobbled and rolled off the cutting board and across the island. “Due diligence, my lily-white ass.”

She grinned at that but touched me on the shoulder. “Don’t be too hard on him. He’s got a lot of pride, and just because he didn’t give you the answers you wanted doesn’t mean he didn’t listen to what you said. He’s reasonable, and a good cop.”

There was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it.” Dee wiped her hands on a towel. “You just stay here and keep abusing those poor innocent veggies.”

I glanced around at the mess I’d made. The tomatoes were more mashed than they were quartered, the cucumbers looked like they’d been sliced by a ten-year-old, and the onions for the hot dogs were chopped almost to a puree. The island was a mess, covered in onion and cucumber peels, tomato ends, and bits of lettuce. I took a deep breath and set the knife aside. Dee was right—I was being unreasonable.

Dee, Nikki, and Annie walked in.

“So,” Nikki glanced at Dee and then Annie, “you doing okay in here, honey?”

I shook my head, giving her a half-smile. “I’m not sure the salad is going to be edible tonight I sorta took my frustration out on it.”

Annie smiled and set the bowl she’d been holding on the counter next to me. “That’s okay. I brought a green bean casserole, so we’ll have some vegetables that haven’t been completely massacred.” She bumped her shoulder into mine before putting her arm around my back and giving me a reassuring squeeze.

“And I brought potato salad and grape escape,” Nikki said as she set a bowl and a bottle of wine down on the counter next to the green bean casserole.

I peeled the lid back on the potato salad; it was a perfect, light yellow hue, and I didn’t see a hint of onion anywhere—just the way I liked it.

There was another knock on the door. “Excuse me, ladies.”

Scout was standing on the porch, a six pack and a bag of what looked like spices in one hand and two bags of ice in the other.

“I wasn’t sure what spices you had here, so I brought some with me just in case,” he said, smiling as stepping through the door when I pushed it wider. “I can’t expect to be invited back if I under-season the burgers.”

“Heaven forbid,” I said, smiling back. His clean scent filled my nostrils as I brushed by him, and my heart skipped a couple beats. I was starting to believe I really had feelings for him, but I didn’t trust that just yet. If I did, I wanted to be dead sure before I risked our friendship.

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