was at the stove. She had just pulled a pan out of the oven. She turned, pulling the oven mitts off her hands. “Cole, I bet you could go for a beer. Am I right?”
He smiled. “Yes, ma’am. I’d love one.”
“Help yourself. They’re in the fridge. You just make yourself at home while you’re here, okay?” she said over her shoulder as she reached into the cabinet to get some plates down.
“I’ll get it,” Angel offered.
“I got it,” Cole insisted, smiling, and opening the refrigerator door. He pulled out two bottles, and handed one to Angel. “You gonna join us, Miss Natalie?”
She turned, and looked at him. “Well, sure. I’ll have one.”
He smiled, and handed her the other one, and reached in, and grabbed another for himself.
“Let’s sit down. Let the roast cool for a minute or two while we drink these,” Natalie proposed. “I made pot roast. I hope you like roast, Cole.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied. “It smells great.”
“Let’s sit out on the patio. That way Cole can smoke,” Angel suggested, and led the way out the French doors onto the back patio. There was a glass table with an umbrella over it, and four chairs.
“Well, you had a long ride out here from California, huh?” Natalie asked, taking a seat.
Cole sat between her and Angel. “Yeah. A little over seven hundred miles. I broke it up, though. Rode half yesterday, and stopped for the night. Today was mostly crossing the desert. I thought it would never end. I kept thinking, if I break down out here, I’m a goner.”
“We laugh, but if you break down crossing the desert, and you don’t have water with you, you’re in some serious trouble,” Natalie informed him.
“I believe that,” Cole agreed, lighting a cigarette. He turned to Angel. “You weren’t kidding about the beauty of the mountains around here. I felt like I was in a John Wayne movie or something.”
Angel smiled. “At least it’s not too hot here, this time of year.”
Cole took a hit off his beer. “Yeah. I hear it can get pretty bad during the summer.”
“Last summer it stayed over a hundred and ten degrees for a month straight,” Natalie said. “You didn’t want to leave the house until the sun went down. It got so hot, that even the blacktop parking lot at the Food City got soft. My high heel sunk in it, and I had to take my foot out to pull my shoe loose. You should have seen me, hopping around on one foot, trying not to touch the hot pavement.”
Cole laughed. “You should come to California. “We’ve got the cool ocean breezes.”
“That does sound heavenly.” Natalie smiled.
“You’d love it. You should make the trip sometime.” He smiled back.
“Maybe, I’ll do that.”
“Well, you’ve always got a place to stay, if you come,” Cole offered.
Natalie laughed, taking a drink of her beer. “Don’t be surprised if I take you up on that. I just may show up on your doorstep one day.”
“Not a problem,” Cole assured her.
“Did you have any trouble on the drive out here?” Angel asked.
Cole looked over at her. “Trouble?”
“You know, flat tire, break down, whatever.”
“No. No problems.”
Natalie got up. “You two sit, drink your beer. I’m going to go in, and check on TJ, and set the table.”
“I can do that.” Angel started to get up.
“Nonsense. You have company.” She turned, and walked inside.
Cole turned to Angel. “Your aunt seems like a real sweetheart.”
Angel nodded. “Definitely. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”
“So, you live with your aunt?” He nodded toward the house.
“Yes. She took me in when I came back home.”
Cole took a drink of his beer, studying her. “You didn’t go home to your Dad?” He frowned.
She shook her head, and sipped her beer. “His unmarried, pregnant daughter embarrassed him.”