“But it wouldn’t have to be a hot meal,” Sierra put in. “We could do salads and sandwiches, even so.”
Amber’s face lit up. “Oh, fancy ones? Like cucumber sandwiches, with the crusts cut off?”
Claire winced. Next the girl would want pasty white bread.
“Sure we can.” Sierra nodded enthusiastically. “Cucumbers should be in season by then.”
A frown crossed Amber’s face. “In season?”
Oh, the education. “As in, ready to pick from our garden or in the neighborhood.” They’d probably have to plant extra if they hoped to do several weddings this season, and not just cucumbers would be in demand.
“I see.” But Amber’s furrowed brow belied her words.
“Radishes are also wonderful, for those who like a little extra zing in their sandwiches.” Claire raised her chin and met Noel’s gaze. “We’ll have plenty of those all season long as well.”
He grinned. “Sounds good. You can even leave the crusts on mine.”
That was more like it.
“Strawberry shortcake?” asked Amber.
Claire shook her head. “Strawberry season is well passed by then.”
“I don’t understand. Is it that your grocery store doesn’t carry them? Because I can bring some from Missoula if you like. I’ve never known our supermarket to be out.”
Tact, Claire, tact. “I’d prefer to see what we could do with cherries, which are on at that time of year. It’s part of our philosophy at Green Acres to enjoy food that’s in season right here, wherever possible.”
Amber looked from one to the other, a frown puckering her forehead.
Claire’s brain scrambled for a diversion. “Tell you what. The girls and I will create a list of options for July, and you can choose from that.”
Noel slouched down in the swing and crossed his arms, a grin twitching the dimple on his cheek.
“But I’ve wanted strawberries at my wedding my whole life.”
Claire shot a glance around at the girls, but neither of them looked like they were about to be of any help. Great. She got to be the bad guy. “I’ll see what I can come up with.” She could probably find a recipe that called for frozen berries. Or would it really be so bad to buy just a few baskets at Super One Foods to make a bride happy?
Noel quirked an eyebrow at Claire.
If it made the bride’s brother happy, too, wasn’t that a bonus?
Amber straightened in the Adirondack chair. “Really?”
Claire swallowed a sigh. “Yes, really.”
“Oh, thank you!” Amber leapt to her feet and twirled around, hands in the air. Then she bent and gave Claire an enthusiastic squish.
Whoa. Somebody was demonstrative. Claire patted the girl’s back, gently easing her away. “We’ll create a menu all of us can be excited about. Just you wait and see.”
“Oh, I’m so happy! I can’t wait for Shawn to come and meet all of you. And Mom, too, of course.” Her eyes shone as she grabbed Noel’s hands and bounced them up and down.
He tugged free and leaned closer to Claire. “Sometimes she’s even worse.”
“Aw, she’s adorable.”
His eyebrows did that quirky thing again. “You think?” He turned to look at his sister as though he hadn’t seen her before, tilting his head to one side.
Claire’s insides turned a little mushy, watching his face, dark tousled hair obscuring all but his jaw. He was quite adorable himself.
Jo’s foot nudged Claire’s knee. “Oops, sorry.”
Yeah, right. Claire glanced over and Jo shot her a knowing grin. Sierra seemed to be in her own world, watching ice swirl in her glass.
Claire scowled at Jo, but the responding grin grew.
Sierra stood. “Why don’t Jo and I give you two a tour of the property? We already showed Amber the pole barn where the ceremony can take place, but there are good spots you may want to see that are suitable for photos.” Sierra looked from Noel to Amber. “Are you handling the photographer or are we?”
Amber cast a helpless look around.
No wonder she wanted to have wedding planners at her beck and call. So she could demand strawberries and tuxes and leave the decisions she deemed uninteresting to someone else.
“It’s not a decision that needs to be made today.” Sierra turned to Noel. “Ready for a tour?”
“Sure.” He glanced down at Claire. She scrambled upright as he leaned closer. “Thanks,” he murmured. “She’s a good kid.”
Yeah, she seemed to be. It wasn’t Amber’s fault she wasn’t aware of seasonal food. Education. That was the key. Claire would get right on that after making a killer dinner.
Chapter 5
Noel glanced around the airy light-filled room. He’d never seen anything like it.
“Isn’t it great?” Amber bounced on the balls of her feet beside him. “They built this house out of straw bales and plastered it.”
Noel turned toward Claire, only to discover she’d disappeared into the kitchen that bumped off the center section of the great room. He took a few steps closer. “This is really cool. I’d heard of this type of construction but never seen it before. Was it hard to find a general contractor willing to do it?”
She glanced at him over the sink counter that divided the spaces, her brows furrowing, while Amber passed her, apparently heading for her bedroom.
Sierra came up beside him. “We did much of it ourselves.”
Noel still focused on Claire. “Really? You three?”
Claire stood over a sizzling frying pan, a small grin playing at her mouth. “Jo wasn’t much help. She broke her arm part way through.”
He looked from Claire to Sierra and back again with new respect. “You mean you two did it all?” That couldn’t be right.
“We acted as general contractors, anyway. And did what we could ourselves.”
Noel shifted to see the rest of the way into the kitchen. The sight of a rock wall lined with stoves and ovens greeted him. He backed up a step and looked through the living room window. That rock wall must be three feet thick.
“Thermal mass,” Sierra said. “Once we get the sunroom on the other side glazed this fall, it will work even better.”
Claire came around the corner. “To answer your original question, Sierra’s dad and brother helped us with the timber framing and getting the bales in place. We ordered the trusses, and a bunch of men from our church came by and installed them.”
“So you subbed out the utilities and roofing?”
Sierra raised her eyebrows. “I did the electrical.”
Okay, this was crazy. She couldn’t have done that much physical labor in her life by the looks of her nails.
His disbelief must’ve showed because she stared him down. “I took the classes at Home Depot. It’s not that hard. The tricky part was hooking up the solar panels.” She leaned closer. “Trust me, we had the inspector go through everything. No one around here wants a house to burn down.”
“Not that this place would burn easily.” Claire looked around, satisfaction evident. “Still, with all those trees right there on the hillside, we wanted to make sure.”
Noel took an involuntary step in her direction before noticing the tall stools on the dining room side of the sink cabinet. Apparently folks were welcome to be near the kitchen, just not in it. He took a seat and watched Claire as she moved around the stove, her plaid shirt tucked into jeans, showing off a trim figure. Not so trim he could put his hands around her waist and have them meet, but he’d like to try.
Sierra took the other stool. “Smells awesome, Claire. What’s for dinner? Need a hand?”
“Chicken cordon bleu.” She didn’t turn around. “Baked potatoes are nearly ready to come out, if you want to scoop and mash them.”
Noel’s gut rumbled.
“Mmm, double baked? You haven’t done that in a while.” Sierra slid off the stool and rounded the end of the counter. She grabbed a set of tongs, opened the wall oven, and removed w
hat must’ve been a dozen potatoes.
A glimpse of something deep orange caught Noel’s eye before the oven closed. “Butternut squash?”
Claire glanced over her shoulder at him, their eyes catching for an instant. “Yep. One of the few we have left from last summer’s garden.” She turned back to the meat roll-ups sizzling in a cast iron frying pan and flipped them over.
She’d offered to cook for him every day for three months, and he’d turned her down. Dumb decision. Something tantalizing hung in the air, unrelated to the pretty girl doing the cooking. This straw house wrapped him in hominess.
“Jo and Zach coming for dinner?” Sierra asked as Amber reentered from the hallway.
Claire nodded. “They’re working on the cabin this evening. Anyone who wants to lend a hand over there is more than welcome.”
Though she wasn’t looking at him, she might as well be. Who else could she be referring to? Likely all the women were already doing so if they could. With the exception of Amber, of course.
Noel looked at his sister’s soft hands with their long painted fingernails. Sierra’s hands worked across the counter from him. They looked rougher, the purple nails much shorter than Amber’s. He glanced across the room and couldn’t see any color on Claire’s. Hadn’t they been pink the day she’d given him her bid? That had been weeks ago, though. Maybe she’d considered it a special occasion.
His insides warmed. It had been a special occasion for him, at least, and he’d made the wrong choice after it. He was too much of a businessman to entertain the thought of overthrowing his decision for more than a second, telling Polly her services would no longer be needed.
At least he’d be able to come over here some evenings off and get to know Claire a bit better, though probably a dumb idea since he’d be drifting on at the end of the season. There really wasn’t a permanent place for a woman in his life.
He watched her easy grace as she did her cooking thing.
If there’d ever been a time to consider changing his lifestyle, this might be it.
**
Claire looked around the spread on the plank table with satisfaction. The meal had turned out perfectly, and she’d placed Noel and Zach around the corner from each other at the far end. Away from her.
Noel’s gaze seemed magnetically attached to hers. Every time there was a lull in the conversation — rare, with this bunch — or if she spoke, his eyes found hers.
She kept her gaze down and her mouth shut as much as possible. Except to eat, of course. She wasn’t used to this much attention. Even Graham, whom she’d known for nearly a year before they’d become engaged, hadn’t seemed this obsessed with her.
Everyone else couldn’t help but notice. Jo already had, and Sierra wouldn’t be far behind. The ribbing and teasing later would be merciless.
What could she do? He hadn’t said anything. She couldn’t just up and tell him to leave her alone. What if she imagined his attention? Head kept low, she glanced up between her lashes into Noel’s admiring gaze. Definitely not her imagination. Zach said something and laughed, and Noel looked away, giving a rejoinder.
Claire missed the words. The entire ebb and flow of conversation around the table buzzed in her ears. Maybe it had been a mistake putting the men together. What if they actually hit it off and became friends?
Zach complained — good-naturedly, of course — of all the female companionship his marriage to Jo had produced. With his newly widowed best friend having hopped a flight to Romania to work in an orphanage for a year or two, Zach suffered from an overdose of estrogen.
Looked like he lapped up the guy talk. If Claire wasn’t mistaken, Noel agreed to come by the cabin and have a look tonight. Jo entered the men’s conversation with a bright laugh.
Across from her, Sierra and Amber debated the merits of roses versus gardenias in a wedding bouquet.
Mistake. One gigantic mistake.
Claire hated being left out but, even more, she hated being the center of attention. She’d keep as quiet as possible until time to get dessert out of the freezer.
Why had she gone all out with this dinner, right down to rhubarb mint sorbet? It was like some part of her wanted to impress Noel, remind him what he’d lost when he picked someone else to feed his crew.
Or just impress him.
She shook her head in an effort to dislodge the thoughts.
“You okay?” Sierra placed a hand on Claire’s arm.
Conversation stilled as everyone turned to look at her. Claire surged to her feet as a flush crept up her face. “I’ll go get dessert. Be right back.”
Even the kitchen wasn’t far enough, still in full view of everyone seated at the table. She fled across into the hallway then ducked into the bathroom to splash cold water on her face.
Drat the man. If he affected her this thoroughly, it was a very good thing she didn’t work for him.
**
Noel whistled at the sight of the unfinished cabin nestled in the woods.
“You like it?” Zach grinned and patted the log wall. “Windows and doors are supposed to arrive next week, so we’re hoping to have the roof on by then. Metal, like the main house, because of fire danger.”
Noel had never built a house nor participated in the act. And even though he lived in a twenty-two foot holiday trailer seven months of the year, this cabin looked small. Cute, definitely, but also tiny. “Looks pretty good,” he ventured, taking a few steps so he could see around the corner. No, his first impression had been correct. The sight line wasn’t much longer the other way.
Zach went through the empty doorway, his Border collie at his heels. Noel followed him onto the smooth floor.
“It’s going to be like the main house.” Zach scratched Domino’s ears. “Etched concrete.”
Noel nodded. The hazy impression he’d had of the straw bale house’s floor was some kind of tile. Could’ve been concrete, for how close he’d looked.
No, he’d been too busy watching Claire. Something had sure gotten into her over dinner. Even her friends had noticed. When Zach had offered a tour of the cabin he and Jo were building, Noel jumped at the chance to get a little air, a little distance.
But now he noticed her absence. He shoved his hands deep in his jacket pockets to ward off the late March chill. He hadn’t noticed a woman in years, not the way he’d become aware of Claire. He met and worked with women all the time. Jess and half his crew, for instance. But there hadn’t been anyone he wanted to touch, to hold. Anyone he simply wanted to look at.
Or possibly kiss.
Oh, right, Kenzie. Don’t do anything stupid now. Nothing would be much dumber than putting a move on a classy gal like Claire, then shimmying out of her life three months later.
He could stay.
Zach flashed his headlamp around the dim interior of the cabin, mumbling to himself.
If Zach could pull one of those girls out of the loop and marry her, why couldn’t Noel? Well, Zach was likely the stay-at-home type anyway. A veterinarian, he’d said over dinner.
Man, Noel’s brain galloped way out of control for a woman he’d met all of twice. He forced himself to focus on the small space around him. Why would the couple build if they couldn’t afford anything bigger than this?
“You know, Claire is practically a sister of mine.” Zach rubbed the dog’s ears.
Noel, startled, stared at Zach. “Uh . . .”
Zach narrowed his eyes. “Hey, I could be wrong. Happens all the time, but seems to me you’re a little taken with her.” He held up a hand to forestall any comment Noel might make. “She doesn’t trust easily, and her roots here on the farm are very deep. Just so you know.”
Was that a warning or something else? Noel twisted the words around in his head for a few seconds. “She seems a nice enough girl. What’s her story?” Best to avoid the man’s gaze, so he crouched down and patted the dog. Mom had never let him have a pet. Turned out to be a good thing, after all. The trailer was way too small for a dog th
is size.
“That might be best coming from her. I’m simply letting you know she’s not a flirt. Not saying she can’t or won’t have a little fun now and then, but she’s very serious and dedicated to Green Acres.” Zach waved a hand, possibly encompassing the whole farm.
Noel’s chin came up. “You accusing me of toying with her?” Because he’d known better than that from the get go.
“Didn’t say that, man. Not even going there. You just do your job as the brother of the bride, and let Claire do hers.”
Noel straightened. “You’re warning me.” How did the guy get off on this, anyway? He didn’t own Claire or have designs on her. Anyone seeing Zach with his wife beside him at dinner would never suspect him to be anything but very much in love and loyal to a fault.
Zach flipped off his headlamp and shoved his hands in his pockets. “No, not a warning.” He sighed. “I don’t have the right to, at the very least. But I’m not sure Claire will tell you.”
“If she’s interested in me — and I’m not saying she is, or that it’s mutual, mind you — then why don’t you trust her to make her own choices? She’s no kid.”
Zach shoved past him, out the rectangular hole that served as a door, and into the full dusk of the evening outside. “Forget I said anything.”
“It’s not that easy.” Noel and the dog followed him. “I think I have a right to know why you’re protecting her. Is it me, or would you do the same to any guy coming around the place?” He could only hope that sounded vague enough Zach couldn’t quote him as being hung up on Claire.
Zach strode down the path, leaving Noel behind. Not that Noel was afraid to be in the woods after dark, nor afraid of getting lost. The forest was more his home than anyplace else — his trailer, his mom’s house, or the beach in Mexico. “Zach!”
The other man slowed and finally turned, his jaw working. “What?”
A Farm Fresh Romance Series 1-3 (A Farm Fresh Romance Box Set) Page 30