It was so different from her jumpsuit that he found himself stalling out a moment as he was going down the stairs. It wasn’t like her uniform completely hid her figure, but it was very clear that it was disguising at least some of it considering how she looked in those simple shorts.
“Hey there,” he said once he was on the landing.
To his surprise, she all but shoved a basket into his face. “Thank-you-for-helping-me-out!”
“I—what—oh, you’re welcome.” He went through a whole spectrum of emotions as he took the basket from her, revealing a good number of cookies and cupcakes sitting inside. They were artfully arranged, and he felt even more confused than ever.
“Oh, did you make those yourself?” his mom asked.
Sal looked overhead to see his mother standing at the top of the stairs. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes were glinting in that way they did whenever she had a real mom idea.
“Oh, yes. I wanted to thank your son for helping me when I got hurt.” Nova’s eyes went wide. “It wasn’t serious, of course. I’m fine. I just wanted to show my gratitude or something along those lines.”
But it was clear that his mom wasn’t even listening as she rushed down the stairs. Well, she did the closest thing to rushing as a woman in her fifties did when it came to descending anything. “Oh, these look just lovely!” she said once she was close enough. “Sal, may I see the basket?”
“Of course.” He handed it off to her, glad for the reprieve. What was it about Nova that made him feel so off-balance? First, she was tackling him, then dismissing him, then breaking her knee in front of him, and now she was baking him cookies?
“Goodness, look at this frosting! And these cookies are so cute! You have a gift.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Nova said.
Sal wasn’t going to lie; it was actually pretty satisfying to watch a blush slowly creep up Nova’s cheeks.
Nova continued, “Anyway, thank you again, I’ll be going now.”
Before either of them could say a word, the woman practically sprinted out, disappearing down the front steps before the door even had time to close. That was pretty amusing, and Sal found himself smiling as he inspected the basket.
It was cute, as it turned out. Made of wicker, the basket had been polished and painted with delicate, scrolling vines. It was also chock-full of baked goods, delicious-looking cookies, and individually iced cupcakes.
“Can I try one, honey?” Mom asked, looking at him like it was suddenly Christmas.
“Of course,” he answered, probably too quickly. But lately his mom only seemed happy when she was with his older brothers and their partners, so it felt good that he could make her smile. Even if it was because of cookies that someone else gave him.
His mother took one of the cupcakes and nearly bit off half of it in one go. Sal laughed, wiping the icing off her nose with a finger. “You’re making a mess, Mom.”
“Ith dewisush!” she said around her mouthful, eyes going wide. She gestured for Sal to try and, despite the fact that he hadn’t gotten a single workout in during the past two days, he picked one up and bit into it as well.
The sweetness of it slid over his tongue, but there was a bright, almost citrus taste to it, stopping it just short of being tooth-achingly sugary. It was moist, but held together in his hand, and none of it seemed cloying or stodgy. All in all, it was one of the best cupcakes that Sal had had in a long while.
“Wow, that is something,” he said after his bite, his mother still eagerly tearing at the one she took. “But this is way too much for one person to eat. Think if I leave them in the kitchen, everyone else will have a go at them?”
“I don’t see how they could resist!” his mom said before a bright expression crossed her face. “That girl! Who was she? You seemed like you knew her.”
“She’s one of our new hires. A vet tech or assistant or something.”
“Ah! I see! Do you think that maybe I could borrow her for the next wave of baked goods I’m supposed to make for the food pantry?”
“You mean the one that Solomon is running?”
There was some drama that had gone down with the church his family had helped rebuild—Sal hadn’t exactly been paying the closest attention—but the result was that his second eldest sibling was in charge of the entire project.
“Yes! And the community center too. Silas and Teddy told me that some of the kids specifically visit after school to see if I’ve brought them treats. It tickles me pink, to have little tummies all eager for my baking again.” She gave him a sort of side-long look, which was impressive considering that she was facing him. Moms were talented that way. “Of course, one of you could always give me some grandbabies to spoil—”
“You were talking about baking, Mom?” Sal cut in quickly. That was about the last road he wanted to go down at the moment. What was it about mothers that made them all starry-eyed for their children to have children?
“Oh! Right! Anyway, on that lovely young lady’s next shift, please ask if she’d be willing to work in the kitchen with me for a couple of shifts. And the vet too, I suppose.”
Sal was surprised when a lick of jealousy flickered through his chest. “You know, I can help you in the kitchen.”
“That’s brilliant, love! Having both you and that sweet young lady will be a huge help. I’ll send you an invite for your calendar. Silas just showed me how to use it on my phone, so I figure I better practice so I don’t forget!”
She took another cupcake and three cookies before practically floating back to his parent’s wing, no doubt to give Dad some of the goodies. Sal watched her go, happy that she was clearly happy, but something else entirely twisting in his stomach.
Approximately zero of that had worked out how he had hoped.
13
Nova
“Now come on, love, this’ll make you and your friends feel a whole lot better,” Nova said, gently petting the side of the young calf’s head. He made a disagreeing grunt, his hind legs kicking up for just a minute.
“Aw, come on now. Periwinkle and Runt let me do it without a fuss. You don’t want to be a drama queen, do you? Think of what your friends will say!”
Maybe it was silly, but Nova liked to talk to the animals like they understood her. She figured that, even if they didn’t, they knew tone and volume well enough that they might be comforted by pleasant chit-chat. But it seemed that the calf in front of her wasn’t going to be soothed by some friendly conversation.
Time for the big guns, apparently.
Wrapping one arm around its neck, she took the nose tag she had ready and curled it through in one quick motion. The calf let out a bleat of alarm, but the thing was in place before the sound even finished.
“There you go! That’s not so bad, is it?”
Indigo the calf licked at it, giving her a reproachful look. Whoops, it was probably going to take time to get that trust back.
“Look, it wouldn’t have come to this if you didn’t insist on chewing on everybody’s tails.”
That was the thing about cows, and young cows especially, they loved to chew. Which was great when it came to breaking down food for their three stomachs. Less awesome when it came to chewing each other’s ears, tails, or even gnawing off whole udders from their mothers and aunts.