“It seemed corny,” she said. “And messy.”
“Afraid that if you did, you wouldn’t dream of Danny?” Charlie said.
“No. Maybe. Yes,” she admitted.
“Maybe some small part of you recognized that you and Danny were too different. High school sweetheart love is fine in high school, but beyond that? Not so much.”
“Danny is a good guy,” Jazzy said. “He just got mixed up with Andi.”
“Danny’s ancient history. Let’s not discuss him.” Charlie flapped a hand.
“Did you ever sleep with a kismet cookie underneath your pillow on Christmas Eve?” Jazzy asked.
“I’m a die-hard romantic. What do you think?”
“I’m assuming you didn’t dream of—”
“No one. I dreamed of nothing. No one. It was depressing. I never tried again. What if the cookie prophesy is true? What if I never find my beloved?” he mourned.
“It’s just a cookie, Charlie.”
“Will we ever find love?”
“We’re not even twenty-four yet. We’ve got plenty of time to find love,” Jazzy reassured him and herself.
“Maybe,” he said. “But you’ve only got seventeen days to learn how to bake.”
“Sixteen,” she corrected. “I’m throwing in the towel for today. C’mon. Let’s go install your towel rack.”
Chapter 6
The next morning, Jazzy doubled down instead of withdrawing from the contest. She wasn’t a quitter. She would see this through.
After her morning coffee and a romp session with Sabrina, she was off to buy a cast-iron Dutch oven and take another run at campfire baking.
It was midmorning when she walked into Tractor Supply with the coupon code she’d gotten from Roan’s video. Would it work? She didn’t know, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.
She didn’t shop at the farm store, so it took a minute to find the cooking section.
When she rounded the corner, she spied Andi in the middle of the aisle, standing in front of the cast-iron cookware.
Gak!Instinct had her backpedaling.
Too late.
Andi spotted her. “Morning, Walker.”
If Jazzy fled now, it would look like she was avoiding her. Pulling in a deep breath, and putting a big smile on her face, she strolled over. “Hi!”
“Heard through the grapevine that you went ahead and entered the cowboy cookie challenge.” Andi eyed her up and down. “Gotta hand it to you, you’re a glutton for punishment.”
“Danny’s not with you?” Jazzy asked.
“He’s meeting with Pastor Luther,” she said. “Reserving a spot for our wedding for next Christmas.”
Ouch.She’d once imagined she’d be the one marrying Danny at the Presbyterian church. “How come you’re not with him?”
“Danny has his list of prewedding chores and I have a cast-iron cookie recipe to perfect.”