Page 53 of Forever Yours
“Mrs. Crenshaw must’ve made a deal with the devil, that’s the only way to explain how she wins every town cook-off.”
“I picture her using one of those 1950’s cookbooks that has ham filled Jell-O or raw beef as the featured recipes.”
“I like a good steak tartare.”
“That isn’t tartare,” Leo explained. “My grandma made a dish with seasoned raw ground beef held together with eggs. I’m not kidding when I say she served it at barbecues, just left out in the heat.”
“Raw ground beef?” Gabe questioned.
“Oh yeah, we loved it as kids, but I couldn’t imagine eating it now.”
“I’m thankful you don’t have those recipes.”
“You didn’t stop in here last night,” Leo ventured after a moment.
“I was…busy.”
“I’ve noticed you haven’t stopped in on your days off like you usually do. Does it have anything to do with a certain barista?”
Gabe glanced toward Devlin’s shop, wondering what she was doing right now.
“Ah, so it does.”
“It does,” Gabe admitted. “We got close at the cabin when we were snowed in and we’ve, uh, kept it going since we’ve been home.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Anyone that stops you from working sixty hour weeks is worth it.”
The sound of the doorbell jangled in the bar, and they heard Devlin’s voice come from the main room.
“Gabe? Is anyone here?”
“Speaking of your distraction, I think you’ve got a visitor,” Leo called as Gabe sprinted out of the kitchen. “I’ll stay back here and watch the chili. It needs to simmer for a few more hours before the cook-off tonight.”
“Hey! I didn’t think I’d see you until later,” Gabe said, walking around the bar to give her a quick kiss before leading her to a bar stool.
“Emma came in and I had to come over and find out what this divine smell is.” She closed her eyes in pleasure and took a deep breath. “I’d say it’s chili, considering the contest tonight, but I’ve never smelled chili this good.”
“I don’t know how he does it, but Leo is able to take the most mundane food and elevate it to levels that I’ve never tasted. I still don’t know how I got him to stay here.”
He wanted to tell her about his plans to open an eatery to highlight Leo’s talents, but they weren’t at the point where they could each talk about their respective plans. He wasn’t sure that, despite everything they’d done in the last few weeks, they were ready to go there.
“Just lucky, I guess,” he offered.
“That’s the reason I came over.”
“You mean you didn’t come over just to see my handsome face?”
She reached up and stroked his cheek, scratching over his day-old stubble. “That’s obvious, but no, chili isn’t the real reason for this visit. Annabelle called me this morning and asked if I could be a judge at the chili cook-off tonight. I wanted to let you know that Finnegan’s would now have a ringer in the judging department.”
“I don’t know,” Gabe joked, “Mrs. Crenshaw is on a roll after winning the tater tot hotdish contest in October. I’m not sure you have the time to sway the other judges.”
“You have so little faith in me.” She leaned in and brushed her lips against his. “I have abundant powers of persuasion.”
“You can persuade me to do just about anything, but unless you’re going to seduce a bunch of octogenarians, we’re just going to have to win the old fashioned way.”
“Oh fine,” Devlin sighed. “I was already letting the power go to my head, it’s best that I don’t realize my full potential.” She looked at her watch before standing. “I’ve gotta go, I want to shower before tonight and maybe get a nap in.”
“My afternoon is free,” Gabe insinuated. “I can come over there later?”