Annie put their meal together and handed the plates to him. “You take these. I’ll get some water for us.”
He left the plates on the dining room table and watched Annie move around the kitchen. She had a calmness about her that intrigued him. “You like working in a kitchen, don’t you?”
“Am I that obvious?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Sometimes. We’re keeping to schedule with the warehouse. The painter’s arriving next week. The kitchen should be looking brand new by the end of the following week.” Dylan had left the color of the kitchen walls entirely in Annie’s hands. She’d be the person having to see them every day, so it seemed fair that she choose.
“That’s good. I’m meeting Molly, Tess and Sally on Friday night. We’re going to taste test the final six menu choices I’ve selected.”
Dylan bit into a meatball and sighed. “If turkey meatballs are one of your options, you can feed me those every night of the week.”
“You’re easy to please.”
He wished he was. “Only in some things,” he muttered.
Annie concentrated on her meal, ignoring the blush on her cheeks as much as he was ignoring the thoughts going through his head. “How’s your website looking?”
Annie stopped chewing and looked up at him.
The laughter in her eyes made him smile. “I’m trying to be on my best behavior. Your website seemed like a safe option.”
She swallowed what was in her mouth. “The website is looking great. Once I’ve decided what meals I’m going to offer we can finish off the last details. It was a good safe question.”
Dylan smiled. For the next forty minutes, they kept asking each other lots of good safe questions. By the end of the meal he needed to go for a run. He’d never worried about what he said to a woman. He didn’t have enough conversations with females to worry about what he said.
Being Annie’s friend without anything else happening was going to be hard work, harder than figuring out how to live a normal life.
He was hoping that one day she’d want to be more than friends. That maybe, without knowing how it had happened, she’d fallen in love with him. He almost laughed out loud. The chance of that happening was less than the odds of three kittens living permanently in his home.
Chapter Ten
“This one’s a winner.” Molly waved her dessert spoon in the air. “You can’t leave tiramisu off the menu. Even if your customers have no teeth they’ll be able to eat it.”
Sally laughed so hard that tears rolled down her face. Tess passed her some tissues. It had been one of the funniest business meetings Annie had ever been to. They’d started the evening by going through her “to do” list, crossing things off with a flourish. The fun had started when Annie pulled the main dish options out of the oven and microwave.
Tess had been hysterical as she’d compared the virtues of smoked salmon over baked ribs. Molly had devoured most of the chicken casserole before anyone else had eaten more than a mouthful, and Sally had eaten nearly half a loaf of bread with the butternut squash soup.
Tess moved fast, whipping what was left of the tiramisu out from under Molly’s nose. She dipped her spoon into the sweet dessert and smiled. “I agree with Molly. This one’s a keeper.”
Annie turned to the piece of paper she’d stuck on her wall. She put a big tick beside the tiramisu. “That gives me three entrees, five main course meat dishes, two vegetarian options, and four desserts. Are you sure about the apple and plum crumble?”
Sally threw her tissues in the trash. “You can’t leave it off the menu. It tasted absolutely yummy and you could make the filling ahead of time.”
Tess nodded. “She’s right. You want food that tastes amazing, freezes really well and is easy to reheat or thaw. The crumble beats pancakes hands down.”
“You could always add pancakes to the menu later on?” Sally suggested. “It could be a special limited time offer.”
Annie was having a hard enough time sorting through her basic menu without adding other options. “Okay. I’ll go with the crumble.” Her cell phone beeped and she took it out of her pocket, looking at who’d sent her a text.
“It’s Dylan again, isn’t it?” Sally grinned from the other side of the kitchen counter.
Annie poked her tongue out at her far too romantic friend. It wasn’t only Sally that had suddenly taken an interest in the text. Tess and Molly were waiting for the latest installment in her less than interesting life. She looked down at her cell phone and re-read the message out loud. “He’s arrived back at the hotel from his pre-race briefing. Everything’s going well. Off to have dinner.”
Molly sighed and Sally giggled.
Annie glared at them. “You’ve got it all wrong. Dylan’s my friend.”
“Of course he is.” Sally scooped some chocolate fudge ice cream out of a bowl. “He’s only sent two texts in the last couple of hours.” She nibbled on the ice cream, then looked at Tess. “Why did we reject this? It’s delicious.”
Tess looked down at her notes. “It defrosts too quickly and crystallized ice cream is no one’s favorite dessert.”
Sally nodded as she dipped her spoon into the bowl again. “Dylan seems like the type of man who would appreciate a fine dessert. Maybe homemade chocolate fudge ice cream might change his mind about the friend thing.”
“It’s not Dylan that needs sweetening,” Molly said with a grin.
Annie pushed her kitchen stool out from the counter and stood up. “There’s nothing wrong with being friends.”
“Of course there isn’t,” Molly agreed. “Except when more could be better. And from what I’ve seen of Dylan, more could definitely be better.”
Annie turned the coffee machine on and looked at the three women who’d helped turn her life around. “Dylan and I are friends. If you want to talk about romance, you can’t go wrong with Tess.”
Tess put her pen down and frowned at the plates in front of her. “I’m not so sure about the romance part. Planning a wedding is like living in a war zone. Everyone wants to do things their way.”
“At least you won’t have to worry about bridesmaids’ dresses.” Sally rinsed her dessert bowl under the faucet. “We’ve got so many of those that it wouldn’t matter if another thirty brides descended on us, we’d still have enough dresses to go around.”
Tess smiled at Annie as she left a hot cup of coffee in front of her. “Thanks, Annie. Has everyone chosen the bridesmaid’s dress they want to wear for my wedding?”
“Not yet,” Sally said. “I was waiting for everyone else to choose first.”
“Why don’t we go and choose our dresses now?” Molly looked at everyone with an excited gleam in her eyes. “We’ve got all night, unless someone’s disappearing on a hot date they haven’t told me about?”
“Not me,” Sally groaned. “If I had a man in my life I wouldn’t have eaten so much dessert.”
“And half a gallon of soup,” Molly reminded her. “I can’t figure out where you put all of the food you eat. You’re as skinny as a bean pole.”
Sally grinned. “I was born with a fast metabolism.”
“And it helps that you never sit still for more than five minutes,” Tess added.
Sally shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe. But the sitting still thing has a lot to do with having older brothers. If I sat still for more than five minutes they put gross things down my shirt, like frogs and worms.”
Annie left a mug of coffee in front of Sally and Molly. “Being an only child definitely has its benefits. There were no worms in sight when I was little.”
Sally laughed. “It wasn’t just when I was a kid. Sean found a huge spider in mom and dad’s barn last week. He dropped it on my shoulder and ran for cover.”
Molly snorted. “Did you let him live long enough to tell anyone what he’d done?”
“I did better than that.” Sally’s grin turned mischievous. “I waited until later that night when he’d fallen asleep on the sofa. I dropp
ed the spider on his nose. I’ve never seen him move so fast.”
Tess’ mouth dropped open. “You didn’t?”
“I did. He’s going to have to stretch his imagination to beat that one.”
Annie had met Sean quite a few times since she’d become friends with Sally. He’d be plotting an ever bigger prank to get even with his sister. And if he got his other brothers involved, Sally’s days of worrying about one brother at a time would be over.
Sally sipped her coffee. “Do you know what the best thing about choosing dresses tonight would be?”
Everyone shook their heads.
“No brides in sight, except Tess. It will be fun.”
Molly smiled at Sally. “I like how your mind works, spiders and all. Who wants to choose their bridesmaid’s dress tonight?”
“I’m in,” Sally said.
“Me, too,” Annie added. “Give me ten minutes to clean this mess up and I’ll be right with you.”
Tess reached for the plates in front of her. “It’ll take half that amount of time with all of us pitching in to help. Where do you want the leftovers?”
Annie looked at Molly. “You’d better wrap them up for my amazing food photographer. She’ll starve to death if we don’t feed her.”
Molly patted her tummy. “I’m profoundly grateful, even though I haven’t taken any pictures of the food yet.”
In a blur of motion, everyone started clearing the table. They filled the dishwasher until they couldn’t get another plate inside and cleaned the counter until it gleamed.
In less time than she thought would have been possible, Annie looked at her spotless kitchen. “You guys are amazing. I’ve just got to feed Dylan’s kittens and then I’m all yours.”
“I’ll take you to Logan’s home in my car,” Molly said.
Tess picked up her car keys. “I’ll take Sally with me. We’ll see you in fifteen minutes.”
Annie locked the front door after Tess and Sally left, switched most of the lights off, and helped Molly take the leftover food into the garage.
“There are some empty boxes on the shelf over there.” Annie nodded to the metal shelving unit she’d bought from Walmart. Boxer, Blinky, and Boots started meowing as soon as she got close to them.
Molly looked down at the kittens. “How cute are you?” she crooned. She put the plates of food in the boxes and patted the little kittens at her feet. “How is Dylan going to send these adorable kittens back to the shelter?”
Annie poured a cup of food into the kittens’ bowl and gave then some fresh water. “I don’t know. They’ve grown on me and I’ve only been looking after them for two days.”
“Maybe he’ll change his mind?”
Annie hoped he would. “Maybe. If not, I’ll look after them myself. It would be heartbreaking if the shelter had to split the kittens up to go into different homes.” She picked up one of the boxes of leftover food and looked down at the kittens.
Boxer jumped on top of Boots and started licking her fur. Molly smiled at the loud purring coming from both kittens. “If you run out of options, come and see me. My sister’s not too keen on having pets in our apartment, but I might be able to change her mind.”
“Sounds good.” Annie walked toward a door on the far side of her garage. “We’ll have to leave quickly. Blinky can sense freedom faster than Boots or Boxer.”
Molly stood behind Annie, slipping quietly out of the garage. Once the door was locked, she looked through a small window at the kittens. “Three kittens accounted for. Let’s go and choose our bridesmaids’ dresses.”
Annie walked down the driveway beside Molly. She thought about the kittens, about Dylan and the race he’d be competing in tomorrow. It was a big deal for him. He’d been training hard, pushing himself beyond what most people could ever achieve. She had a feeling there were other reasons he was competing in the race. Reasons that had nothing to do with the physical endurance he’d need.
Molly unlocked her car and they put their boxes of food in the trunk.
On their way over to Logan’s home, Annie decided to text Dylan and wish him good luck for his race. Then she’d concentrate on choosing a bridesmaid’s dress.
Worrying about more than six hours of tough endurance racing could wait until tomorrow.
***
“How’s your head?” Tess asked Annie as she stumbled through the door of Angel Wings Café the next morning.
Annie tried to smile, but she wasn’t feeling entirely sure that would be a good idea. “My head’s still attached to my shoulders, so I’m doing okay. I’ll be better once I’ve had a cup of hot chocolate.”
Tess, Sally, Molly and Annie had stayed at Logan’s home until after midnight. They’d tried on so many dresses that Annie couldn’t remember what most of them looked like. They’d also drunk a couple of bottles of wine and devoured Tess’ secret stash of peppermint cremes. It was the chocolate that had decided Annie’s fate. With half a ton of sugar running around her body, she hadn’t slept much at all.
By five o’clock in the morning, she’d had enough of tossing and turning in bed. Instead of wasting more time, she’d jumped on her bike and pedaled around Bozeman before most people were out of bed. By six-thirty she’d had a shower, eaten breakfast, fed the kittens and put a load of washing on her clothesline.
And now she was at work, getting ready for another busy Saturday morning. She hoped like crazy that Dylan had gotten more sleep than her. “What do you want me to start on first?”
Tess took a large mixing bowl off a shelf and passed it to Annie. “Savory pinwheel scones with bacon, cheese, pesto and sun-dried tomatoes.”
Annie started measuring out the flour she’d need. “No problem. Did Logan get some sleep with all of the noise coming from the loft?”
Tess nodded. “He said he didn’t hear us. It’s probably because his snoring is so loud.”
Annie smiled. “I hope you took that into consideration before you agreed to marry him? A lack of sleep can be serious grounds for divorce.”
“If it’s only his snoring that keeps me awake, then there’ll be more important things we need to discuss.”
Annie groaned. “It’s too early for smutty talk. I need a hot drink.” She put the kettle on and while it was boiling, cut up the bacon and onions, ready to put in the scones. “I love the dresses we settled on.”
“They are lovely, aren’t they?” Tess’ smile filled her face with joy and made Annie appreciate what true love could do to a girl’s outlook on life.
Annie and Molly had chosen dresses from the Cinderella Collection. They’d decided to relive every childhood wedding fantasy they’d ever imagined. And top of their fantasies had been bridesmaids’ dresses with enough sparkle, tulle and satin to decorate the auditorium at Bozeman High for a Senior Prom. Neither of them had ever worn dresses as big and flouncy as the ones that were now hanging in Tess’ closet.
Sally had chosen a dress from the Grace Kelly Collection. She’d found a beautiful bridesmaid’s dress in aubergine silk. It clung softly to her body, dipping in and out in all the right places. Even though their dresses were different, they looked amazing together.
Annie took a sip of her hot chocolate and sighed. “Did Molly find the tiara she was looking for?” The next bride they were helping had chosen a stunning tiara to go with the dress her mom had made. Molly had spent a lot of time trying to find it, but it had disappeared.
Tess shook her head. “I don’t know where it’s gone. We’ll have to see if one of the other tiaras will work.”
Annie opened the fridge door and took out the bacon. Within minutes she’d finely chopped an onion, sautéed the bacon and onion together, then set them aside to cool. She hummed along to the radio, mixing the flour, milk and butter without having to think too hard about anything.
“Have you heard from Dylan this morning?” Tess asked.
“I told him to focus on his race.” Annie glanced quickly at Tess before sprinkling flour on the counter. She li
fted the scone dough out of the mixing bowl and started rolling it flat.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
Annie knew she hadn’t. There was a good reason for that. A better reason than why Dylan had texted her an hour ago, letting her know he was heading down to the start area. Tess would see more into their friendship than what was there. She was in wedding mode and wanted everyone else to feel the sting of Cupid’s arrow.
Annie, on the other hand, was in duck-and-dive mode. Cupid’s arrow wouldn’t be getting anywhere near her. “Can you pass me the pesto?” She bit her bottom lip and tried not to smile at Tess’ frustrated glare.
“When are both of you going to admit there’s more to your relationship than friendship?” Tess slid the jar of pesto along the stainless steel counter and waited for Annie to answer her.
“Your pancake batter is ready for the griddle.”
Tess’ eyes squinted into narrow slits. “One day you’re going to regret not grabbing hold of him and never letting go.”
Annie’s smile broke free. “If I did that he’d be hyperventilating all of the time. Dylan wouldn’t know what to do with me.”
“I’m sure he’d think of something,” Tess said dryly.
Annie thought so, too. But she wouldn’t admit that to Tess. She looked at the clock on the wall. The rolling start for the first part of the Half Ironman race would be starting soon. Dylan would be swimming in the Boulder Reservoir for more than a mile, biking for fifty-six miles, then finishing off the race with a thirteen mile run.
Annie didn’t care about how picturesque the Ironman website had made the course sound. It would be over seventy miles of hard, body breaking work. And that didn’t even touch on the mental strength needed to push your body through all of the pain.
With the pinwheel scones rolled and sliced, they were ready for the oven. Annie glanced at the clock. This time she wasn’t worried about what was happening in Colorado, she was more concerned about not being ready for their first breakfast customers.
Loving You (The Bridesmaids Club Book 2) Page 19