Almost Fired by the Cowboy - Natalie Dean Page 0,40

in five minutes. They’ll need to cool, so why don’t you hop on the cream cheese batch, and I’ll mix the buttercream. Do you need the recipe? I just follow a standard one, with a lil’ vanilla and lemon juice added.”

“That sounds good. I remember the portions.”

“Ah! Perfect, where have you been all my life! I always secretly hoped that one of my sons would be more culinarily inclined, but most of them only humor me.”

“Hey, I like baking with you,” Sal said, jokingly miffed from where he was still measuring.

Nova thought he looked much cuter than someone his size and shape had any right to. There was flour across one of his cheeks, his hair was mussed, and his tongue was sitting out of the side of his mouth as he very carefully poured more flour onto the bowl atop his scale. He was just so sweet. How had she never noticed that before?

“I just got kinda big for the kitchen,” Sal continued.

“That’s true. He went through that typical teenage awkward phase where his limbs were all too big for him. Kept stepping on my feet.”

“And breaking things.”

“The good thing is that you’ve grown into yourself, haven’t you?” Mrs. Miller blew him a kiss and he just laughed, shaking his head.

If Nova didn’t know better, she would think they were a normal family. How did they go from this loving, wonderful, and homey sort of reaction to the tension she had witnessed between Sal and his brothers?

Was it money? She was willing to bet it was money. If there was one thing she’d noticed since coming to the States, it was that there were a whole lot of people who worshipped at the altar of money rather than God’s. Whether it was putting a price on human life, medical treatment, or schooling, it definitely seemed like dollar bills ruled all in the good ol’ U.S.A. There were lovely people, of course, like Auntie Kini, and the older man who sold flowers down her block, not to mention Elizabeth and dozens of others, but they seemed to be the minority so many times.

Nova didn’t get it. Jesus had mentioned time and time again how the rich weren’t likely to get into heaven and how the lust for gain was the quickest path to darkness, but that seemed to be glossed over. Especially with gross megachurches and pastors who were millionaires. If there ever was an oxymoron, it was right there.

“Yeah, grown is an understatement,” Nova teased.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Mum Miller said with the same wit her son had. “My little boy is clearly perfect.”

“Not little, not a boy, and most certainly not perfect.” Sal shook his head again and went to the fridge. “Oh, Mom, we’re out of eggs.”

“Shoot! I forgot to move them in from the pantry’s fridge. Would you go grab about two dozen for me? I think that’s all we’ll need for today.”

“Wait… you have another fridge… in your pantry?” Nova asked.

“Of course. Where else would we put the overflow items? It’s much more cost-efficient to buy in bulk, after all.”

Yup. It was definitely money.

“Right,” Nova said.

“Anything else you need from there?” Sal asked.

“You know what? How about a box of butter and then a bottle of that sparkling apple cider. I think we’ve all earned a treat.”

“Breaking out the apple cider already? You must be feeling happy.”

“Well, we’re about three hours ahead on my list, thanks to the two of you. I don’t see why I wouldn’t be happy!”

Sal nodded and headed out of a door in the back of the kitchen past his mother, leaving Nova alone with the kind lady.

Although she had been nothing but nice, Nova felt that rise of apprehension in her. She never knew how to act with parents and when Sal was there, she’d had a buffer. But being alone with a millionaire mother? …or was it billionaire mother? Yeah, Nova was pretty sure it was the “B” one. Well, it was making her nerves rise up again.

“You and Sal seem to get along,” Mrs. Miller remarked idly as she unwrapped several sticks of butter.

But Nova knew better than that. That was an investigatory mother question if she ever heard one. “Do we?”

“Of course. It’s not often I ever see him interact with employees. I do love my boy, but he tends to be somewhat standoffish.”

“Does he?” She was probably playing it too careful, but she suddenly felt like she was walking on some sort