Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
“ W ere you upset with your dad when he left?” Fisher’s voice was quiet, and Tris got the feeling that if she didn’t want to answer, he wasn’t going to hold it against her.
“Oh yeah. I was angry. So mad. He didn’t keep his word. He didn’t stay true. It didn’t matter how much ‘in love’ he was or whatever, and it didn’t matter what Mom had done, which honestly he admitted that she hadn’t done anything. He just found someone else. But that’s not right.”
“I know. I get mad just thinking about it.”
“But Mom took me aside one day because I was really having a rough time with it, and she said if I want God to forgive me for my sin, then I need to forgive my dad for his.”
“Your mom said that?” he asked, disbelief in every syllable.
“Yeah. Isn’t that amazing? Just shows what an amazing Christian she is. That he had done something so terrible to her, and there she was, showing me why I needed to forgive him and being the example herself. I know she struggled. I know what he did hurt, and we talked about the reality of it. I was an adult, after all, but she never bad-mouthed him or tried to get me to hate him. She always presented it as a sin and maybe a character flaw, but not that he was a bad person.”
“That is…so unusual.”
She nodded, and then the timer on her phone went off.
“All right. We pour this over the crackers,” she said, taking the saucepan and moving to the cookie trays where the crackers were spread out.
“Shouldn’t they be separated a little bit so they would each be an individual cookie?” he asked as she made sure every cracker was touching the ones next to it.
“No. It’s kind of like… It’s kind of a bark that you break off?”
“Like an almond bark or a chocolate bark.”
“Yeah. Like that. Only it’s so much better.”
“You keep saying this, and I’m really curious.”
“Okay, now that we have this on, we get the chocolate chips and we sprinkle them evenly over the top,” she said, and he took the bag and did the sprinkling.
“Then we put them in the oven for just a little bit until the chocolate chips start to melt.”
“Just a little bit. Is that what the recipe says?”
She grinned. “I looked, and I couldn’t find a recipe this morning. Mom wrote it down somewhere, but I have it up here.” She tapped her head, and he laughed. “You’re not going to be laughing when you win first place tonight. You’re going to come back here begging me to forgive you.”
“All right, we’ll see about that. I’ll apologize if that happens.”
“All right. I’m ready to accept your apology anytime.”
“I’m gonna see it happen first,” he said, but they were both smiling.
She pulled the trays out of the oven. “Now, you take a spatula or knife or anything and just spread those melted chocolate chips over the top.”
“And that’s it?”
“If you want, you could add nuts or something to the top. Coconut could be a thing, but I like it just like this. You let it cool, and then you break it off and eat it.”
“Yay. We get to the eating part, finally.”
“I know. Back in high school, when we had our fire debacle, you never did get to try the cookies, did you?”
“I had something better,” he said.
It made her heart start thumping fast and her palms sweat.
She saw his throat bob like he was swallowing hard, and then he lifted a hand up and touched the hair at her temple, running his fingers through it lightly.
“I’ve had a really good time with you the last two days,” he said softly.
“The best two days I’ve had since high school,” she said, and it was true. No one had ever gotten her as easily or as well as Fisher.
“You make me wish that I could turn down that promotion and stay here.”
“If I didn’t have this bed-and-breakfast with my mom, I would go to Richmond in a heartbeat.”
“I wonder if she’d sell it?”
“We talked about it, but she wants to die here. I even said, ‘Why don’t you sell it, travel the world, do the things you always wanted to do that Dad never wanted, because now you can.’” She shook her head. “She just says that she’s happy here, couldn’t imagine anything she’d rather do than run this with me. She was very clear that I didn’t have to stay. But I want to.”
“It’s not just the bed-and-breakfast or your mom, is it?”
“I think I would wither in the city,” she said, loving that he got her so quickly and so easily. She didn’t even have to say it.
He nodded. “You’re too…real for the city. You don’t have that jaded air about you that seems to be so popular there. Everyone has to act like they’ve been everywhere and done everything and… I don’t know, I guess I like it there, but I really like it h ere better.”
“Did you say that your dad wanted you in his business?”
“I could probably get a position there pretty easily.” He paused. Then he said, “But I think the only reason that would make it worthwhile for me to come home is if there was a future with you.”
She blinked up at him, unsure what to say. Did she tell him that there was?
But he didn’t give her a chance. He lowered his head, and she touched his chest, and one of them took a step closer, although she wasn’t sure which one because his lips were coming down on hers, and she was almost transported back in time, only they were both older and this was better and she really didn’t want it to end.
“Cooking seems to bring out the romance in you guys,” her mom said as she stepped into the kitchen, and they broke apart. But they didn’t move back.
“It kind of does, doesn’t it?” Fisher said.
“Goodness. I guess it does,” Tris said, trying to catch her breath and regain her equilibrium.
“I just came in because I thought you said you needed to leave at six, and if you do, you need to get moving.”
“Time has really slipped away.” He glanced at Tris. “I need a shower.”
“You go on. I’ll let this cool, and I’ll get it wrapped up in a pretty package for you to take.”
“All right. I appreciate it.” He paused and then touched her cheek with his hand, and he didn’t seem to care that her mom was standing right there. “Can I talk to you when I get home?”
“I’ll wait up. I’m sure Mom will let me man the desk tonight, and I’ll be there until you get back.”
“All right. Thanks.”