Bryce stood up at the end of the long row and said, “Peas are done. Want to take care of what tomatoes are ripe?”
“Sure thing.” She got two smaller baskets from the back porch and handed one to him. “What does a science geek do for fun?”
“Pretty much the same stuff as a lot of guys: Go fishing, watch football, and I’ve never met a book I didn’t like to read. I’m an eclectic reader. I’ll read anything from Faulkner to the back of the Fruit Loops box.” Bryce gently pulled tomatoes from the stalks and put them into his basket. “I’ll be over to the bookstore to look through your mystery and western sections when I get a chance. I’m kind of on a kick lately with those two genres.”
“Ever read The Great Gatsby?” she asked.
“Sure,” he answered. “I had to read it for a lit class, but it’s been a while.”
“Well, we’ve all read that for our book club this month. We meet next Monday night. You’d be welcome to come if you want,” she said.
“I’d love to. What time?” Bryce asked.
“We usually meet at six thirty. I don’t even leave the store on those nights,” she answered.
“I’ll be there as soon as soon as I close up the drugstore, and I’ll bring a pizza for our supper,” he said.
“I’ll have the sweet tea ready.” She was looking ahead to the evening when they reached the end of the row.
He picked up the basket of peas and tucked the smaller basket of tomatoes under his arm. “Want to get these washed before supper?”
“No, I’ll do them later. You must be hungry.” So this is what it’s like to have a guy friend, she thought. Bryce is much too good of a man for Anna Grace. I kind of even feel sorry for her for only seeing him as a pharmacist and a notch on her social belt.
Bryce set the two baskets on the porch and sat down on the steps. “Mind if I use the garden hose to wash off my feet? I wouldn’t want to track mud into your house.”
Cricket turned on the faucet and handed the hose to him. “When you get done, I’ll do mine, but my kitchen has seen its fair share of dirty feet over the years.”
He reminded her of her brother when he stood and sprayed off his legs and then sat back down on the steps to let them air-dry. Rick did that every night before he put on his shoes and headed back out across the field to his home with Jennie Sue. She missed him living in the house with her, but she couldn’t have been happier for him to have fallen in love with Jennie Sue.
“I’m making chicken and dumplings for supper. We’ll have corn on the cob, and a cucumber and tomato salad to go with it. I popped a blackberry cobbler in the oven when I got home. It should be ready to take out right about now.” She sat down beside him on the steps.
* * *
“Just like home,” he sighed. “I never thought I’d get a meal like this when I came to Bloom. I expected to cook for myself or else eat in that little café a lot, and by the way, blackberry cobbler is my favorite dessert.”
Bryce wasn’t a romantic person, but he could have sworn there was chemistry between them when Cricket’s arm brushed against his. That was crazy, though. As sexy as she was with all those curves and those big hazel eyes, she could have any guy in the whole county. She would never be interested in a plain old geeky guy like himself, Bryce thought.
“One thing my mama did before she died was teach me to cook, which is something I like to do,” she said, “but eating alone does get lonely. Pretty often, I either eat with Jennie Sue and Rick or they come over here. The girls love to help in the garden. Aubrey is five, so she really does know how to pick beans and peas. Dina is only three, but she’s learning.”
“I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know how to work in the garden, or when I wasn’t happiest there,” Bryce said.
“Whatever put you in pharmacy school then?” Cricket got up and headed inside the house.
He stood up and followed her. “I thought about being a doctor, but I’m not real fond of the sight of blood. Then I figured I could work in research, which I did when I got into pharmacy school, but for some reason, pharmacy kept calling out to me. Maybe it was Fate.”
She opened the back door and went on in ahead of him. “If it was Fate, then maybe you should go out with Anna Grace. After all, you were brought here for a reason.”
“I don’t think it’s got anything to do with that woman,” he said. “I’ll set the table for us if you’ll point me toward the cabinet where the dishes are.”
She flung up a hand and it brushed against his biceps. Yep, there were definitely sparks, and Bryce didn’t even believe in love at first sight. In his previous two relationships, he and the women had been friends for months, and there hadn’t ever been electricity with either of them like he felt with Cricket.
“Sorry about that,” she said. “I’ll get the food dished up and on the table. Plates are up there. Utensils are in the first drawer to the right of the sink. Paper napkins are on the table. Glasses for tea to the right of the sink.”
“Just like Mama has her kitchen set up.” Bryce took down two plates and put them on the table. “Everything for efficiency.”
“It’s the only way to run a farm kitchen,” she said as she scooped up chicken and dumplings from the slow cooker.
When everything was on the table, he asked, “Where should I sit?”
“At the head of the table. I always sit right here.” She started to pull out her chair, but he beat her to it.
“Allow me,” he said and then took his place when she was seated. “Do you say grace?”
“Usually silently,” she answered, “but since there’s two of us, maybe you could do the honors.”
“Gladly.” He bowed his head and said a short prayer, and then picked up the crock bowl full of dumplings and started to pass it to her.
“Help yourself first,” she told him.
He took out a healthy portion and then sent them over to her. “I got a confession. I’ve never sat the head of the table before. That’s always been Granddad’s place on one end and Dad’s on the other.”
“Have you got brothers and sisters?” she asked.
“Nope, there’s just me, and I come from a long line of only children. My dad and mama both are only kids, and so were my granny and grandpa,” he answered as he took his first bite. “These are amazing dumplings. They taste just like what my granny makes.”
“That’s some high praise.” Cricket passed the salad and then the bowl of buttered corn to him.
“Just statin’ facts, Miz Cricket,” he drawled. “You reckon Anna Grace can make dumplings like these?”
“The cook at their place might be able to,” she answered. “You should tell her that you really like dumplings and see if she invites you to Sunday dinner after church.”
“Does she go to the same church as you do?” Bryce took a sip of tea.
“Oh, yes, she does.” Cricket nodded. “She and her friends, the Belles’ daughters, sit together on the back pew so they can hurry out as soon as the benediction is over. I guess she wouldn’t invite you to Sunday dinner. They all gather up and go to some place in Sweetwater for dinner every Sunday. I hear they have a standing reservation.”