“The dining room is over here.” She led the way to a long table with a white lace tablecloth, and he sat down at the head of the table. Because of course he did. The woodwork was ornate, the tablecloth so laughably flimsy... And he just looked out of place. Too big. Too rough. She bet he didn’t even eat eggs Benedict. He was probably expecting raw meat and a cup of milk with an egg cracked into it.
“I hope that you like... I hope you like it.”
“I’m sure I will,” he said.
He took his hat off and set it next to him on the table. Then he took a bite of breakfast. “Wow,” he said, pointing at it with the fork. “That’s damn good.”
She lit up from the inside. “You think so?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Where’s your breakfast?”
“Oh,” she said. “I don’t eat with guests.”
“Do you eat with acquaintances?” he asked.
“Um...”
“How about people who’d like to get to know you a little better?”
Oh, Lord. The way he said that. And looked at her. Her mouth went dry and scratchy, like she’d licked a fuzzy caterpillar.
“Grab a cup of coffee.”
“Oh... Well...”
“Come on,” he said.
And she found herself doing it. Because he told her to. She didn’t know where to sit. There was the chair right next to him, but that seemed wrong. The chair all the way down at the end of the table, which seemed silly. She opted for one two spaces down from him, clutching the coffee tightly. Her heart was pounding absurdly. It was so early in the morning and she was being fluttery over a man.
“Did you have a good dinner last night?” she asked.
“I did,” he said. “The pie was the highlight.”
“I made that,” she said, smiling.
“I know,” he said.
And then she felt silly. Because he knew. And maybe he’d just been complimenting her on purpose, and maybe he hadn’t actually loved the pie, but had wanted to be nice because he’d known that she made it.
She cleared her throat. “Oh. Well. I’m glad that you liked it.”
“You’re an amazing cook.”
“Thank you. I... So... Your cousins... You don’t see each other very often? I felt like Sadie more or less implied that.”
“I haven’t seen them in about ten years.”
“Oh,” she said. “Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I didn’t see my family for a long time. But then my dad and I moved here. I’m the oldest of all my cousins, though. By quite a lot. At least the cousins I know of.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. My dad... He got married really young. And he moved to Texas to get away from here. To get away from his family. The Donnellys are a whole thing. Their dad... He was difficult, and he left town years ago. And their grandfather—as I understand it—was sort of hard, too. But when their grandpa died he left the ranch to all four of his grandsons, split equally. Didn’t go over well with my uncle Finn, who had been there the whole time working. But it meant something to all of them. So...my uncles Liam and Alex came to the ranch for their share, Uncle Finn was already there, and then me and my dad came from Texas. I was not thrilled about it.”
“I guess not. You were seventeen you said.”