Baker's Bob (River's End Ranch #16)

by Kirsten Osbourne

  “It’s too warm for snowmobiling again,” he said. The snow was mostly melted. “I’d suggest four-wheelers, but the ground is too wet, and we’d get stuck. We can have a picnic on the lake. Or we can go into town again if you have Christmas shopping to do, but I would rather not if you don’t need to.”

  She shrugged. “The only days I have off before Christmas are Sundays. You’re either going to have to take me shopping, or you’re going to have to not spend one of the Sundays with me. I’ve adjusted my laundry and grocery shopping to Saturdays, but I can’t do the same with the shopping, because I work until two.”

  “I guess we can go shopping.” He made a face.

  “I wish we had time to drive to Boise and meet my mom. She would love that.”

  “I’m not sure I’m ready to meet your mom yet. Where’s your dad? Why would you only meet your mom?”

  “Dad was killed in a car bombing in Kuwait when I was two. It happened a month before my brother was born.”

  “I’m sorry. You don’t remember him then?”

  “Not at all. I have pictures, and I like to think I remember him, but not really. Mom never remarried, saying that one shot at true love is all she got. I hate that she’s never been able to move on.”

  “That’s sad. I’m sorry.”

  “It was a long time ago, and truthfully, I don’t remember him at all. From everything she says he was a good man, though, and I wish he’d been part of my life.” She got out of the Jeep and they walked together toward the Old West town where the church was. “What about you? Are your parents still married and all that good stuff?”

  He nodded. “Yup. We all moved to Louisiana when I was twelve. I went to school with Kelsi and Dani. Did you know that?”

  She shook her head. “I know that Kelsi thought her mother was sending you here to be her husband.”

  “Yeah, her mom said something like that to me too. I wasn’t coming here for that reason though. I wanted to cook.” He shrugged. “They liked it there. Dad’s a professor at LSU, and they’ve been in Baton Rouge for a very long time. The only thing I liked about Louisiana was the food, and the food was to die for.”

  “But you can cook so you can make it for yourself, no matter where you live.”

  “You are one smart Miranda. Yeah, I make sure I have a Cajun or Creole meal at least once a week at the diner. I love Mexican food too. I really just kind of love food.”

  They moved to a pew in the middle of the small, old-fashioned church. There were still a couple of flower arrangements left over from the wedding the day before. Bridget waved at Miranda from the front pew, where she sat, ready to listen intently to her husband.

  After church, Miranda went to the front to hug Bridget. “You still think you can handle being a pastor’s wife?” she asked.

  Bridget sighed. “If he can watch Disney movies, then I can be a pastor’s wife. I just hope I don’t scare anyone away.”

  “Just keep your shrimp fork in your pocket, and all will be well.” Miranda winked at her friend, knowing her propensity for stabbing her twin with a shrimp fork. She claimed it was the only way they could get along, which didn’t make a lot of sense to Miranda, but she just nodded in agreement.

  “Are you dating Bob?”

  Miranda shrugged. “I’m not sure what you’d call it.”

  Bob sighed. “We call it dating.”

  Bridget laughed, hugging Miranda. “Men are so confusing sometimes. And they say women are the ones who need to come with instructions,” she whispered.

  Miranda nodded emphatically. “You’ve got that right.”

  “What are you doing today?” Bridget asked.

  “I think we’re going shopping. Bob is so excited.” Miranda grinned up at Bob, thankful he was beside her.

  Bob put his arm around her waist. “Bob is excited. Bob is always excited to spend a day with Miranda.”

  Miranda saw Matt watching her from across the church, not meeting his gaze. She wasn’t ashamed of being with Bob, but she didn’t want to hurt Matt’s feelings either. It was a strange position to be in. “We should head out if we’re going to Lewiston today.”

  “I’m sorry we don’t have time to go see your mom in Boise, but it would take far too long to get back.”

  “That’s okay. She’s going to come stay with me for Christmas weekend. She’ll be here Friday night, and she won’t have to leave until Monday.” Miranda waved at Bridget as she and Bob headed toward the exit at the back of the church. “When will your family be here?”

  “That same weekend is when my sister and niece are coming. They said they’d do all the ranch activities as well.”

  “You don’t have a brother-in-law?”

  “He’s in Iraq. He’s a marine.”

  “How does your sister feel about that?” Her father had been a marine as well.

  He shrugged. “He was a marine when they met, so she’d better be okay with it.”

  “How old is your niece?” Miranda asked. Her brother was still in college, but he had a girlfriend that she really liked. She looked forward to having nieces and nephews to spoil one day.

  “She’s six. Sweetest girl you could meet. Her name is Heather. I’m looking forward to having them here. I got them a cabin on the ranch, because my apartment is barely big enough for me. I can’t imagine having my sister and niece staying with me.”

  They got into his Jeep, heading toward Lewiston. “Do you want to eat when we get there? Or stop somewhere along the way?” he asked.

  “You’re going to eat someone else’s cooking again? Is this going to kill you?”

  “It won’t kill me, but I may not like it much.”

  She laughed. “You know what? Wherever you want to stop is fine with me. You’re pickier than I am about whose cooking you’ll eat.”

  “What kind of shopping are we doing today?”

  Miranda shrugged. She’d spent almost every evening that week working on the quilt she was making for Duchess Hiccups. She still needed to make his ornament, but she knew just what she’d do, so that would be easy. “I just want to pick up something for my mom, something for my brother, and something for a couple of friends on the ranch.” She needed to get him something, but she’d shop online or in Riston for him.

  “Is this going to take all day?”

  “Not at all. I know what I want for everyone. It’s just a matter of buying it.”

  He spotted a sign for a family restaurant. “Want to try that place?”

  “Sure. Are you feeling adventurous?”

  “I hate chain places more than anything. I worked for one when I was in Louisiana and I hated it. You have to make everything exactly the same every single time. There’s no room for experimentation or for individuality. I like to go to little mom and pop places where I know the cooks actually have some freedom to do what they want to do.”

  Miranda smiled. “Let’s stop there then.”

  He pulled off the highway and into the parking lot of a small restaurant. They went in and she sniffed, letting the aroma wash over her. There was something that smelled delicious, and whatever it was, that’s what she wanted.

  After they were seated, she looked at him. “I want whatever I smell.”

  He nodded. “It smells good, doesn’t it?”

  The waitress stopped at their table, a smile on her face. “You want the special?”

  “Is that what we smell?” Miranda asked. “What is it?”

  “It’s my dad’s meatballs. He makes them all fresh, and they are wonderful! You’ve got choices if you’re doing the meatball special. You can have them over noodles with a brown gravy, in spaghetti sauce, or just in a bowl.”

  Miranda looked at Bob. “I like the idea of the brown gravy.”

  “Then I’ll do the spaghetti sauce and we’ll share!”

  “Sounds wonderful.” Miranda looked at the waitress. “And water to drink for me, please.”

  “Me too,” Bob said, handing the waitress his menu. “Those mea
tballs had better taste as good as they smell.”

  An hour later, they’d eaten their fill, and the food had definitely tasted just as good as it smelled. When the waitress came out with their check, Bob asked, “Can I talk to the chef? Is that allowed here?”

  The waitress nodded. “I’ll go get him.” She took the credit card Bob offered and walked toward the kitchen, yelling, “Dad! Someone wants your recipe again!”

  Bob laughed. “That’s exactly what I want.”

  Miranda shook her head. “Do you think he’ll give it to you?”

  “No idea. I wouldn’t share a recipe with some shmoe that came to the café, but I’m pretty protective of my secrets.”

  An older man with a round belly, bald head, and a white apron stopped beside their table. “I’m the cook here. Peter’s the name.”

  “I’m Bob Blakely. I’m a chef at River’s End Ranch.”

  “Oh, I know the ranch. We go there for a week every summer.” The man beamed down at Bob. “Do you cook in the café? They had a new cook last summer, and he made the best gumbo I’ve ever eaten. I’m dying to get that recipe.”

  Bob laughed. “I would be the new cook. I’ll trade you my gumbo recipe for that meatball recipe. I don’t share my secrets with just anyone either.”

  Peter smiled, shaking Bob’s hand. “Come to my office, and we’ll talk food!”

  Miranda sighed, knowing she’d lost Bob at least for a while. She looked around and realized she was the only one left at the restaurant. The waitress, Stephanie, slipped into the booth across from her. “They won’t be back for a while. When Dad finds someone to really talk food, he doesn’t shut up.”

  “I have a feeling I won’t be getting my shopping done today,” Miranda said with a sigh. “I’m the baker at River’s End.”

  “I love your chocolate chip cookies and your kolaches. You are a marvel with baked goods!” Stephanie looked at her with new interest. “The ranch is one of my favorite places in the whole world. I have so many memories there.”

  Miranda grinned. “I’ve been there for a little over a year now. I love it too. I don’t think I could ever leave.”

  The two women sat for a while, talking about their favorite things about the ranch. “Kelsi’s big pregnant now. She’s due in three months,” Miranda informed her new friend.

  “Really? We played together when we were little. I’d hang out with her and Dani and we’d all swim together. And we’d talk to the crazy fairy lady. Oops…Kelsi says I’m not allowed to call her that. I’m supposed to call her Miss Hardy.”

  Miranda smiled. “I’ve been talking to her this week too. She has bunnies in diapers.”

  Stephanie rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t surprise me at all!”

  Bob walked back to the table then, a piece of paper in his hand. He looked sheepish. “It’s after four. The stores will be closed by the time we get to Lewiston.”

  Miranda nodded. “I guess I’ll be shopping online this year. Did you get the recipe?”

  “I did! And he has my gumbo recipe. He wants your kolache recipe too, but I refused to barter with your recipes.”

  “Good of you.” Miranda smiled at Stephanie. “Come and see me when you are at the ranch next summer. I’d love to chat again.”

  “I’m glad you guys stopped in today. It was nice to talk River’s End.”

  Bob apologized as they walked toward the car. “I am so sorry. I didn’t plan to stay for so long, but he actually showed me how he makes them. There wasn’t a real recipe, so he just whipped up a batch. He said they freeze really well too.”

  She just shook her head. “No big deal. I’m just glad you had a good time.”

  “I did…but I was supposed to be spending time with you.”

  “Trust me, if he’d baked something as good as those meatballs, I’d have been bugging him for a recipe too.”

  “You sure?”

  Miranda stopped walking in front of the Jeep and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him in for a kiss. “I’m positive.”

  He was still grinning as he watched her walk to the passenger door…her bracelet sparkling in the sunlight.

  Chapter Six

  Miranda’s life fell into a pattern after that. On Tuesdays Bob came over and they ate together and watched Lazy Love. On Fridays she made kolaches. And every morning there was a new gift-wrapped box outside the door of the bakery.

  On December nineteenth, which was a Sunday, she and Bob worked in the bakery all day, getting her normal baking done for Monday, so she could focus on baking cookies all day Monday. On Monday night, she would lead the big cookie decorating party in the event-barn.

  Bob watched her as she did each thing, learning from her. “I feel like I know how to bake, because I cook, but some of your techniques are very different. And the pies…why do you need so many pies?”

  “People all want pies during the holidays. I’m not sure why. Holidays are about cookies and pies.”

  “What about fruit cake?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Only fruitcakes eat fruit cake. I guess I should probably make you one, huh?”

  In response, he grabbed her around the waist from behind, raspberrying her neck. She squealed. “Nothing more than you deserved,” he said, grinning as he got back to work.

  She made a face at him, continuing to roll out crusts for pies. “You should make some meat pies. Do you make meat pies?”

  He nodded. “I have a wonderful Cajun meat pie recipe I should make this week.” He frowned. “Would you be willing to make some extra pie crust? Like enough for another forty pies?”

  It would be tough, but she could make it work. “Let’s do that today. We’re going to be here late, I think.”

  He shrugged. “As long as I’m spending time with you, I don’t care what we do.” He noticed that the new charms from the week had been added to her bracelet. She was never without it these days.

  By the time everything was ready to be baked the next morning, and the pie dough was ready for his meat pie special that week, and the dough was ready to be rolled out and baked, they were both exhausted. He slipped his arm around her as she locked the door. “Do you want to go to the restaurant tonight? Or we could try that new place in town? I don’t think I have it in me to cook tonight,” he said.

  She smiled. “I think the restaurant. My stomach is a little upset because it’s been on a steady diet of cookie dough all day. And you throwing that lump of dough at me was unacceptable.” They started walking across the ranch toward the restaurant.

  He laughed. “Admit it. It was fun.”

  She shook her head at him. “I never have that much fun when I work alone.”

  “We really should open our own restaurant and pie shop. Imagine how much we could make.”

  Miranda frowned. “We probably could, but then we wouldn’t be part of River’s End Ranch. I love working there. I feel like I’m part of a big family.”

  “I know. I’m just daydreaming.”

  “Do you really have a desire to strike out on your own?”

  “I think everyone does to some extent. I love the Westons, and my job is exactly what I want a job to be. I just sometimes want absolute freedom.”

  She nodded emphatically. “Me too. And then I think about all the hoops I’d have to jump through to run my own place, and I’m suddenly content working on the ranch.”

  He laughed. “Me too. Of course, if we had our own place we wouldn’t have to listen to Kelsi talk about Winifred.”

  “Why Winifred?” Miranda asked. She usually understood where Kelsi’s names for the baby were coming from. But Winifred?

  “So she’s got a W name like all the male Westons. She thinks she’ll feel like more of a family member with a W name.”

  “That’s pretty decent Kelsi-logic.” They reached the restaurant, and he opened the door for her. The first person she noticed was Jaclyn sitting at a table with her friend Simon. Miranda raised her hand in a wave.

  Jaclyn got to her fe
et and hurried over to Bob and Miranda. “Is everything all set for the cookie decorating tomorrow night? Should I bring some snickerdoodles?”

  Miranda smiled. “No, everything’s all set. I’m making sugar cookies and gingerbread people.”

  “Men and women?”

  Miranda nodded emphatically. “And children. I even have dog and bunny cookie cutters, so there might be a few gingerbread canines and rabbits floating around.”

  “They’re not made yet?” Jaclyn asked with a frown.

  “The dough is made, and I’ll spend all day tomorrow rolling out the cookies and baking them. I want them to be as fresh as possible for the event tomorrow night. I’m so excited to be leading an event this year!”

  “I’ll stop by to make sure you’re working hard tomorrow.” Jaclyn nodded at Miranda’s bracelet. “Very pretty. Your Secret Santa must really care about you.”

  Miranda blushed, looking down at the bracelet. It had veered away from all the baking charms of the week before, and now it was so much more. There was the heart, a dog that looked suspiciously like Cinnamon, a book, and a sewing machine. Whoever was doing this knew her very well, or knew how to get people to reveal information about her. “He must. I love it.” She couldn’t look at Bob while she talked about it, for fear she’d see that he was disappointed with her.

  As they were led to a small table, she looked down at the bracelet. It was getting full, and she loved it a little more each day.

  After their dinner, Bob drove her home, holding her hand for a moment before getting out of the car. “Do you want to come in?” Miranda asked.

  He shook his head. “I’m too tired to go in, but I don’t want to let you go yet either. Today was the first day we really worked together, and I think we make a really good team.”

  She smiled, resting her head on his shoulder. “I think so too. It’s hard to believe we haven’t been working together for years.”

  He slipped his hand behind her neck, under her hair, and tipped her face up to his for a kiss. “Dream of me.”

  Miranda sighed softly. “I’ve dreamed of nothing else for weeks.”

  Bob grinned at her. “You know? I needed to hear that.” He got out of the Jeep and walked her to the door, kissing her one last time, lingering longer this time. “How many times have we been out together now?”