“Huh. I rarely arouse that much curiosity in people.”
She squirmed in her seat, raised her wineglass as though to drink from it, then changed her mind. “Based on your description of your upbringing, it sounds like a very male-dominated environment.”
“It was.”
“Your mother was okay with that? With the frequent moves, the isolation?”
He gave her a long look before saying quietly, “My mother never set foot in Alaska.”
Her lips parted with surprise, and she seemed about to ask another question, when Jasper’s voice came from behind them. “The minute my back was turned.”
Chapter 8
Jasper’s voice startled Talia. What was left of the wine in her glass sloshed as she left the rocking chair to meet her husband halfway. Although Jasper’s tone hadn’t been one hundred percent teasing, she responded as though it had been.
“You caught us red-handed.” She took the grocery sack from him and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for making the run.”
“You’re welcome.” He returned her kiss. Then, “Drex,” he said, smiling and motioning toward the empty highball glass on the table. “Looks like you need a refill.”
“I wouldn’t say no to one. Let me pour yours while I’m at it.”
“Thank you.” Just then the microwave dinged. Jasper turned toward the kitchen. “What’s that?”
Talia laughed. “It’s called a microwave. Great invention. Not the abomination you’ve called it.”
“That’s a matter of opinion.”
“Well, you’ll be able to form another opinion soon. Drex has cooked the corn.”
Drex poured Jasper and himself each a bourbon, then joined him and Talia in the kitchen, where they were making final preparations for the meal. With the same amount of fanfare as he had used to put the corn in the microwave, he pulled on a pair of oven mitts and demonstrated how to get the ears out of the husks.
“Whack off the end with the silk.” He severed it from the cob with one hard chop with a butcher knife and had a bloodthirsty desire to plunge it into Jasper’s heart. “Hold it upside down by the stalk. Annnnnd, out it slides, clean as a whistle.”
Talia applauded. “I’ll get the butter.”
She set the small dining table on the porch and placed lit citronella candles around. Jasper grilled the burger patties on a smoker that probably cost more than Drex’s car.
Jasper kept one eye on the burger patties, the other on Drex, following his every move, which made Drex wonder if he’d given away his increased antagonism. He decided to test the waters. Drink in one hand, the other in his front pants pocket, he strolled over and joined his host at the grill.
Wielding his spatula, Jasper flipped the patties. “That was quite a trick with the corn. Where’d you learn it?”
“A friend showed me. He’s a—”
“Foodie?”
Thinking of Mike’s bulk, Drex laughed. “No. That suggests a refined pallet. This guy will eat anything.”
“Has he taught you any other tricks?”
“Nope. My culinary skills end there. That smells great, by the way,” he said of the sizzling meat. “You obviously have the knack.”
“Was the UPS delivery for you or Arnott?”
Drex gave him a sharp look.
“I saw the truck as it pulled into the drive.”
“Huh.” Drex swirled the ice cubes in his glass. “I ordered a box fan. I would have returned yours tonight when I came over, but I had a handful of cupcakes.”