when people had her to dinner, because she knew it was the polite thing to do. But then she usually got embarrassed when she was asked to perform tasks beyond her abilities.
“Josh, get her a drink,” Birdie ordered.
“What’ll you have?” Josh asked Mia as he stole a slice of the bell pepper Andie was cutting. This time his sister let him get away with it.
“What are my choices?” Mia said.
“Sweet tea, lemonade, bourbon, or beer.”
She didn’t think it was wise to go straight for the hard stuff, so she requested a beer. Although both Andie and Birdie appeared to be sipping bourbon.
Josh got two beers out of the fridge and twisted the caps off before handing one to Mia. “Cheers.” He clinked his bottle against hers before taking a long swig.
“Dig in.” Andie set the charcuterie board on the breakfast bar in front of Mia.
Mia didn’t need to be told twice when there was cheese on offer. She went straight for the feta, which she’d been craving since the day she moved in. She was on her third piece before she noticed Josh watching her. “What?”
“Nothing.” His gaze skated away, and he took another swig of beer.
“I like cheese,” Mia said. “And I really like this feta.”
One side of his mouth quirked. “I seem to recall the word you used before was ‘exquisite.’” He was definitely teasing her, but she decided she didn’t mind.
She reached for another piece of cheese. “So if a person wanted to buy some of this feta for herself, where would she have to go?”
“She could just ask.” His dark eyes met hers and held, causing her stomach to do a flip. “I’m happy to drop some by for you next time I’m here.”
She lowered her gaze to the cheese board, feeling slightly dizzy. “I’m trying to be a paying customer, not asking for a favor.”
“You can get it at the farmers market in Austin every Saturday,” Birdie said, sipping her bourbon with one hand as she flipped steaks with the other.
Mia lifted her eyebrows as she looked back at Josh. “I have to drive all the way to Austin to buy cheese made here in town?”
He shrugged. “I don’t have a store at the farm or anything.”
“There’s not a farmers market here in Crowder?”
“There is,” Andie volunteered as she was setting the table. “First Saturday of every month in the town square.” She threw a pointed look at her brother. “But someone doesn’t think it’s worth his time.”
His mouth turned down at the corners. “I earn five times at the Austin market what I’d be able to make off a booth here. It doesn’t make financial sense to miss the one for the other.”
Andie rolled her eyes as if she’d heard this explanation before. “Yeah but Ray does the market in Austin every week, so you could run the booth here yourself.”
“I don’t have time,” Josh said. “I’ve got to do the milking by myself while Ray’s in Austin.”
“You could make time, if you wanted to.”
“I don’t want to.” Josh’s tone had gone flat.
Mia sensed she’d reopened an old argument between them and regretted it. “I guess I’ll just have to drive to Austin, then.” Her voice had gone extra chirpy in an attempt to smooth over the tension.
Josh’s gaze flicked back to her. “Like I said, I’m happy to drop some off for you.”
“I don’t want to be a freeloader. You’d have to let me pay you for it.”
“If you want. It’s twenty dollars a pound.”
Mia choked. “Twenty?”
“That’s the retail price. Ten dollars per eight-ounce container.”
“People in Austin have more money than they know what to do with,” Birdie said. “Can you imagine paying that much for cheese?”
Andie leaned between Mia and Josh for a pickled okra. “They’ll pay through the nose for anything with the word ‘artisan’ on it. They love all that locally made, pasture-raised shit.”
“It’s why I don’t sell the milk,” Josh said. “I make three times as much if I turn it into cheese.”
“Maybe we can work out some sort of barter arrangement,” Mia offered, only half joking. Josh’s artisan cheese wasn’t a luxury she could afford.
“Can you do anything useful?” Josh’s tone was so dry it was hard to tell if he was being earnest or teasing her again.
Mia thought about it. Practically speaking, she wasn’t good for much. “Math?”
“I’ve got a calculator for that. And an accountant.” Definitely teasing.
Did that mean he was flirting? She considered the possibility and decided she liked it. Her stomach did another flip