Home at Chestnut Creek by Laura Drake

Author:Laura Drake
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2019-07-01T16:00:00+00:00

Allie bit into a cold bologna and cheese sandwich and got madder each time she chewed. Chili—damn fine chili—Mary Jo’s chili, which was the best in the whole county, was in that house. What was wrong with this picture? She took her phone from her coat pocket and called her sister.

“I hope you are happy. Blake and Deke are eating chili and I’m sitting in a cold truck eating a soggy, cold sandwich, because I’m proving to you and Mama that this is just a job,” she blurted out before Lizzy could even answer.

“You get one star in your eternal crown for such a sacrifice,” Lizzy said sarcastically.

“I deserve two diamond stars because it’s my favorite food and Mary Jo made it and it smelled so good.”

“It’s not a social call,” Lizzy smarted off. “Eat your sandwich and do the job and forget about the chili. Folks are already gossiping. I’ll be glad to report to the next one that comes in the store that you didn’t succumb to the devil’s wiles because he offered you chili. Got customers. See you later this evening,” Lizzy said.

“Somebody’s Knockin’” started playing on the radio and Allie groaned.

She remembered the lyrics so well that said someone was knockin’ and she wondered if she should let him in; that she’d heard about the devil but who would have thought he’d be wearing blue jeans and have blue eyes when he came knocking on her door.

Allie squeezed the sandwich so hard that her fingers went through it. She wanted a bowl of that chili so bad she could taste it. And she was meaner than the devil and one bowl of chili did not mean it was a social call. It was food that would provide warmth for her to work on the roof in the bitter cold all afternoon.

Lizzy could fuss at her later that night, but she was going back into that house and eating chili at a table and maybe even a piece of chocolate pie afterward. Besides, Deke loved Mary Jo’s chili even more than she did and he’d tease her all afternoon about how good it was if she didn’t eat with them.

The house smelled scrumptious when she knocked on the back door and entered without waiting for an invitation. “I changed my mind and I don’t want to hear jack shit from you, Deke Sullivan.”

“I ain’t sayin’ nothing. I was about to walk on back to my ranch if you hadn’t come on back in here,” Deke said.

“Why did you change your mind?” Blake asked.

“Because the day she turns down chili, then I figure she’s gettin’ that stuff that her granny has and I ain’t workin’ with a woman who’s holdin’ a nail gun if her mind ain’t right. Why are you in a bad mood today anyway?” Deke asked.

Allie scowled at him. “I’m not in a mood. Where are the bowls?”

Blake pointed. “There’s a bowl beside the slow cooker. Help yourself.”

She removed her coat and hung it over the back of a chair.

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