Chapter Seven #2
“I’m listening.” I leaned forward, taking it all in as they explained their plan to park the truck in the lot and have it open for cookies, hot cocoa, and eggnog during the busy days at the farm.
The truck would have space heaters to keep everyone inside it warm, but we wouldn’t need to cook anything, thereby reducing the risk of fire.
“Honestly, I love the idea,” I agreed. “It would cut down on the congestion in the store during Saturday family days, which means people might be able to shop more easily. It would also provide a place for those picking up a tree to stop for a hot drink. That said, why wouldn’t you build a small hut like the ones in the park for the tree lighting?
Keeping the truck out all winter puts it at risk of having a serious problem come spring.
If we can’t store it safely inside the way we’d planned, it might need costly repairs before it can get back on the road.
” The room was silent, and I glanced around, their expressions stunned.
I grimaced. “Or not. You know what? Forget I said that.”
“No,” Ivy said, scooting forward. “I won’t forget you said that. I should have thought of it.”
“Me too,” Cameron said with a frown. “We were looking for a way to keep the kids working together on the truck, and it never crossed our minds that we were putting the truck at risk.”
“Maybe you aren’t,” I said quickly. “I don’t know that much about vehicles, so I could be off base.”
“You’re not,” Lance said. “It was a worry that crossed my mind, too, but I figured Ivy and Cameron were cool with it.”
Ivy glanced at Cameron, who gave her a sheepish grin. “We’ve been schooled.”
“I’m honestly embarrassed,” Cameron said as he shook his head.
“Don’t be embarrassed, Cam,” Stephan said, patting his shoulder gently. “You always tell us this is a learning experience, and we can’t know everything all the time. The same goes for you.”
“He’s right. You do say that,” I reminded him.
“How fast do you think we could get a hut here?” Ivy asked as Becca stood.
“Hope is playing in Cameron’s office. I’ll do a quick check online. We could buy a prebuilt for this year, and then if it works well, we can have one built that suits us perfectly during the summer and repurpose the old one on the property.”
“I like it,” Cameron said with a nod. “Stephan, would you go with Becca and put together some options for us? We trust you know what we’ll need. Once you have two or three to choose from, head back and we’ll decide which one will serve our needs the best.”
“You got it, boss!” Stephan said, popping up and following Becca from the room.
“I didn’t mean to cause a problem,” I said, capturing my lower lip between my teeth.
“You didn’t,” Lance said. “You may have prevented a problem down the road with the truck.”
“Considering our plans for it, we need to protect it,” Ivy said with a nod. “I’ll reach out to my friend about storing the truck. I’d told him we wouldn’t need a spot until January, but he won’t mind taking it in November as we’d originally agreed.”
She was probably talking about her friend who had loaned me the camper, and I fought against the grimace the thought brought to mind. Hard as I tried, I couldn’t stop thinking about what I was going to do in a few more days when my camper had to go into storage as well.
Rubbing my palms on my jeans, I pushed myself up.
“Looks like my work of being an absolute menace here is done. I’ll see myself out.
Tick tock, taco truck, and all that. Indie and Lance, congratulations, and expect full-on spoilage from the girl gang, but my lips are sealed until you tell everyone. ”
Ivy stood and pointed at the chair I’d exited. “Sit. We’re just getting started with this meeting, and you’d better buckle up.”
When Ivy Lund told you to do something, you did it, so I lowered my butt back onto the chair. I couldn’t help but think, ‘Oh boy, here we go,’ while I did it.
What the heck was I thinking when I agreed to let Major work on the food truck with us?
Was I ashamed of the work we did there? No.
Was I nervous I’d make a fool of myself with him there to witness it?
Yes. That was only one of the things I was nervous about.
What if he didn’t like my management style?
What if there was an accident or someone got hurt?
Well, okay, so he was a doctor and could probably handle that, but my heart still hammered in my chest every time I thought about working in such close confines with him.
That cologne of his was likely to overpower my good sense and have me swooning into the fryers half the damn time.
With resolve, I straightened my backbone and climbed into the driver’s seat just as there was a knock on the metal passenger door.
When my head snapped sideways, there he stood.
He wore a blue t-shirt that said, “The Bird’s Nest,” and a smile.
I motioned for him to open the door, and he slid it open, hopping up into the seat.
Okay, not what I meant, but what’s a girl to do?
“Hi,” he said. “Let’s do this!”
“Hi,” I replied, trying to hide the grin on my face at his eagerness and enthusiasm, even if my heart was still pounding like I’d run a 10k race. “Where did you get the shirt?”
“Ivy! She said I had to have one since I was the celebrity chef for the day.”
“She did, did she? The celebrity chef? Last I heard, you struggled to use a microwave.”
He snickered as he buckled his seatbelt. “That’s fair. We can go with ‘celebrity order taker,’ how about that?”
“Sure, but what are you doing?” I asked, motioning at his seat.
“Riding to the job site?”
“The kids usually meet me there. I figured you would, too. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck there until I’m ready to bring the truck back.”
His shrug was nonchalant. “Not a problem. I have nothing else to do today.”
“What if the hospital calls?” I had turned fully in my seat now, so he couldn’t ignore the conversation.
“They won’t. I’ve marked myself unavailable for all calls and cases. I’m all yours.”
If only, I thought, remembering not to say it aloud at the last second. “Alright, then let’s do this.”
Rather than wait for his answer, I turned the ignition over and pulled out of the parking lot, turning left and heading down the main street.
“Where are we parking it today?” he asked in conversation, and I stopped for the stop sign.
“The park. I need a parking lot that is large enough for the truck and still has space for customers to park and socialize. I have to stay off the grass because of AJ.”
“You’re confident the town will turn out for it. I can tell.”
“Genesis has made it known on social media that this is the last day for the truck until spring. Yeah, I’m confident.
” The truck was silent for a moment until I replayed what I said.
“I mean, not like snooty, uppity, confident,” I clarified quickly.
“Just that I know this town will grab their last chance to eat at The Bird’s Nest.”
His gentle pat to my shoulder was meant to be comforting, but it just keyed me up more. “Relax. I didn’t think you meant it in a snooty or uppity kind of way. The people in this town love their tacos. It’s understandable. The free cupcakes won’t hurt.”
“Magdalenas,” I clarified.
“Is that what the diner named the cupcakes?” he asked, the confusion loud in his tone.
I shook my head as I waited for traffic on the way to the park. “No. A Magdalena is a Spanish cupcake. They look like muffins but taste like cupcakes. Most are lemon or citrus flavored, but they can also have fruit or chocolate chips on the top.”
“No frosting? Not sure how those will go over.”
“Trust me, no one will care. Besides, they’re easier to eat without frosting. For this event, the bakery made them in their Twinkie-style pans and piped some buttercream into them. That makes them easy to carry and eat without sacrificing flavor. My favorite is lemon with blueberries.”
“I’m confused if they taste like cake or more like a muffin,” he said, his head tipped to the side as he engaged fully in the conversation.
“Sweet, like a cake,” I explained. “You don’t even need icing on them, but we often sprinkle powdered sugar over them.
Yaya taught me how to make them when I was just a little bit of a thing, so I taught the bakers here.
You can also use the batter to make a whole cake, which is why they now get plenty of birthday and wedding cake orders for them at the bakery. ”
“I love that,” he said, turning to face the road again. “Sharing recipes is honestly the best way to keep our family’s legacy alive while also introducing people to new cultures. I learned that in the service. The locals often shared dishes with us.”
“I bet you had some great food,” I said, turning into the park. It was early, so there weren’t any cars waiting, but it wouldn’t be long, and they’d pour in. Becca was scheduled to arrive with the kids in fifteen minutes, and I wanted to get the table items out for Grady and AJ to work on first.
“I went into the military a picky eater and came out willing to try anything.”
Once I had the truck backed around and parked with the window facing the street, I shut off the ignition. “Last chance to back out.”
“Not on your life. This is the perfect opportunity to meet the people of this wonderful town and work with a beautiful woman. Where do we start?”
Before I could make a sarcastic comment about the beautiful woman part, he jumped down from the passenger seat, probably to prevent me from making said comment.
If there was one thing he seemed to know about me, it was my lack of confidence in my body, at least when it came to men.
Especially men of his caliber. He could have any woman in this town, and there wasn’t a chance in hell that woman would be me.
Besides, I had to be at least eight or ten years younger than he was.
Major was a fantastic person, but I had to remember that he was here to get to know people, and flirting was not on the menu.
Even if he thought it was available for order.