“Seems like you’re doing right by her.” Maren’s bare toes curled against the porch. She pushed off in sync with Grady. “That’s what counts.”
He fought to keep from telling her that he was trying to do right by so many more people than he could ever explain. But if he filled her in on the reality of what his life had become, there was no way she’d allow herself to sit so closely next to him. She’d pull her leg—which was currently pressed against Grady’s—completely away. He liked it where it was.
They finished their lemonades while they rocked. When the ice melted into pools of water at the base of his cup, Grady settled it onto the porch railing in front of them.
“Can we do something? Something to totally take my mind off of everything?” Maren’s feet planted and the swing stopped abruptly. “I could really use a bit of fun.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“Anything. I’m just not ready to go back to that house. I could use a few more hours away from Josie. Plus, I like being here with you, Grady. It’s like old times again.” Suddenly she shook her head, tossing off her words. “I’m sorry. I should probably just go. I don’t think Kiley would be all too thrilled if she found out I was here.”
And there it was again: a decision Grady had made that he thought would make everything right, but now it seemed to spin everything in the totally wrong direction. Grady’s life had become a tumbleweed, rolling round and round and picking up everyone else’s junk along the way. Lie after lie stacked on top of the other and just kept tumbling out of control.
But with Maren, he felt grounded. She obliterated the junk, always had.
“You want fun?” Grady slapped his hand to his thigh. “Fun it is.”
“What did you pick?” Maren clutched the brown paper bag to her chest. “No, don’t tell me. Wait, yes, tell me. I want to know.”
“You’ll have to wait until we do the grand unveiling.”
“Ugh!” Her head slammed back against the headrest. “I didn’t see you in the produce section at all. I spent a lot of time there and wasn’t graced by your presence once.”
“Because I didn’t buy any produce.”
“Don’t tell me you only bought processed foods.”
“I’m not telling you anything.”
“Please.” She brought her folded hands to her cheek and batted her thick eyelashes. “Just one little hint.”
“No hints. That’s not the way this works.”
“I know,” she resigned on a sigh, slumping further into her seat. “I know.”
In fact, Grady was surprised she remembered at all. It had been over a decade since they had done this. It started one night as two hungry teens who couldn’t agree on what to eat. They decided to make each other dinner. The trick was, they could only use five ingredients, and those ingredients had to be of the other’s choosing. Neither created anything anywhere near edible, but it was hands down the best time they’d ever had in the kitchen. Over his years as a bachelor, Grady had learned a thing or two about cooking a meal, but the ones he had shared with Maren in his youth would always be the most memorable.
“I’m a little scared,” Maren admitted, laughing. She slipped her feet from her shoes and wiggled her toes, then propped them onto the dash. “I hope you have the pizza delivery number handy just in case.”
“Have a little faith, will you?”
She plucked a strand of her hair from her side-swept ponytail and twirled it around her index finger. It was the same lock Grady had been itching to play with back on the porch. “I have faith in you, Grady. I always have.”
Grady knew he shouldn’t have felt those words as deeply as he did, but he couldn’t help it. His stomach spasmed and shoot, if a grown man couldn’t get butterflies, because he definitely had them. Lots of them.
The small market was a quick drive from Grady’s place and before he knew it they were pulling up to park just outside his house. He hopped down after shutting off the engine, hurrying to the passenger side so he could open the door before Maren had the chance to.
“Thank you.” She smiled down at him sweetly. Grady tried to pull the paper bag from her hands, but she wasn’t having any of it. “Nope. I don’t think so.” Her head whipped side to side. “You’ll cheat and look. This puppy stays in my grip until the big reveal.”
Grady chuckled and shut the truck door behind her. “Suit yourself. Just trying to be chivalrous.”
“Well, you’ve never really had to try.”
Grady wasn’t sure what she meant by that. He wasn’t dumb enough to think they could forget their monumental fall out, that they could slide back into their comfortable friendship after so many lost years. But they could hash it out later. It would probably feel good to finally do it when the time came. For now, he just loved the fact that things felt somewhat normal with Maren. That’s all he ever wanted.
Setting the stage for their culinary battle was more elaborate than the first time they had done this back as teenagers. Maren asked Grady to leave the kitchen and wait in the hall while she hid her secret ingredients under various pots and lids she’d retrieved from his cupboards. When he was allowed back in to ready his for the reveal, she seemed a little disappointed that he just kept it all in the bag from the store.
“That’s it?” Her mouth pursed.
“They’re hidden.”
“I guess.” He wanted to laugh at the completely adorable, yet dejected look on her face. “Okay. Never mind. Your half attempt will have to be enough.”
“Make no mistake.” He grinned, lips curling. “I’m saving all my energy for the cooking. I’m planning to annihilate you.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
“Won’t even have to try.” His hip pressed against the tiled counter and he folded his arms over his chest in a show of false intimidation.
“Your over-confidence is entertaining, Grady.”
“Glad I can provide a little entertainment. See? There are still some good things left for you here in Riverburn.”
Maren’s face blanched for a split second before looking to the counter cluttered with their purchases. She dropped her hand to a yellow mixing bowl and said in her best announcer’s voice, “Three…two…one!” while whipping off the cover.
Grady tipped the five ingredients out of the bag and they rolled across the counter.
“Cauliflower?” He pointed to the white vegetable on display under the raised bowl Maren held in her hand.
Her face recovered from her earlier unsatisfied expression and now lit up like a firework-filled sky. “Yes!” she said enthusiastically, then got to work yanking off other pots and lids to show the rest of her selection. “And rhubarb, thyme, quinoa, and red potatoes.”
“Don’t even know what queen-wha is. Some fancy city food?”
“Quinoa. Grady, it’s delicious. You’ll love it.” She pushed at his hip with her fingers to nudge him away from the counter. “Scoot over so I can see what I’m dealing with here.” If her disappointment hadn’t been so endearing, Grady would’ve felt bad. She pouted as she rifled through the ingredients like maybe they could morph into something better than their original form. No such luck. “Cheese balls?”