can pull it away. “Is that cinnamon? I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
Leigh Anne swats him with the back of her hand. “Leave Joey’s food alone,” she says. “Be good.”
“I absolutely will not,” he says, his eyes narrowed, but playful. “I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks.”
I shake my head. “You’re completely hopeless.”
He smiles. “I just love good food. What’s wrong with that?”
“Come on, help me get the ribs in the oven,” I say. “They’re going to need a good hour in here and then we’ll take them out to the grill.”
“Sounds good,” he says.
I look out the window and frown. “You haven’t heard anything from Dad yet?”
“No. Want me to call him?” Knox asks as he loads the ribs into the oven.
“I guess not,” I say. “I don’t want to call when he’s driving. I’m sure he’ll be here in a few minutes.”
“He probably just saw someone he knows in town and is talking their ear off,” Knox says.
“What else can we do to help?” Leigh Anne asks.
I put her to work chopping vegetables while Knox goes out to load some beer into his cooler. We talk about how things have been going with school and how she’s feeling now that her trial is finally over.
If someone had told me two years ago that I’d be hanging out here at the abandoned lake house with Leigh Anne Davis. I never would have believed them. We’d been friends for a while back in elementary and middle school, but we drifted off once high school started and all the little cliques separated into rich and not rich. Popular and not popular. I was definitely in the not popular crowd, and Leigh Anne was queen of the richies.
I thought she was such a stuck-up snob back then, but she had either changed or I had completely misjudged her. These days, I wasn’t sure I had a closer friend.
“Oh, I almost forgot. I have something for you guys. I’ll be right back,” I say, remembering the belated birthday present I’d bought for Leigh Anne.
I run out the back door to retrieve it from my car and see the familiar sideways smile of Colton Tucker as he pulls up in his truck, country music blasting. He parks next to me and leans his arm out the window.
“Hello, gorgeous,” he says. “I hope I’m not too early.”
“Not at all. Leigh Anne and Knox are inside,” I say. “I just came out to grab a gift I brought for Leigh Anne.”
“Were we supposed to bring something?” he asks. He smiles and holds up his left hand. “All I brought was a six pack of beer.”
I shake my head. “No, I’ve had this for a while and just haven’t had a chance to get out here and give it to her,” I say. “Come on, let’s get inside. I’ll put you to work in the kitchen.”
I glance down the red clay drive that leads out to the main road.
“You didn’t happen to see my daddy anywhere did you? He left before me and he’s not here yet.”
“No, I didn’t see him,” he says. “Did you try calling him?”
I shrug. “I’m sure he’s fine,” I say, and reach in the car to grab the wrapped gift on the passenger seat. When I straighten, I notice Colton’s been studying my backside. I give him a look to let him know I’ve caught him ogling, but he just tilts his head to the side and raises an eyebrow. He gives me that half-smile of his that gets my heart racing every time.
Why does my body insist on betraying me every time he’s around? Most of the time, he aggravates the mess out of me, but for some reason, when he gives me that certain look, my insides catch fire.
I spin on my heel and head toward the house, determined to give him absolutely no encouragement.
Inside, the smell of ribs and baked beans fills the house, and I inhale deeply.
“It smells amazing in here,” Colton says, coming in right behind me.
He’s uncomfortably close, so I move deeper into the kitchen and place my gift on the table.
“Hey, Leigh Anne,” he says, pulling her into a hug. “What are you guys cooking?”
“Not us,” Leigh Anne says, hugging him back. “Joey. She’s the cook around here. Trust me when I say that no one wants to eat my cooking. Not until I can convince Joey to give me a few lessons.”