Part 35 (1/2)
”I know that. Why did you ask me?”
”You pa.s.sed the date.”
Tears filled her eyes. She blinked them away. ”Hormones,” she said thickly. ”I didn't know you were keeping track.”
”It wasn't hard. You only told me about the baby a couple of weeks ago. So when Naomi said you got the all clear from your doctor,” he said, ”I wanted to celebrate.”
The idea had popped into his brain and he hadn't been able to shake it loose. He'd decided to give in to the impulse and see what happened.
”You didn't have to do this, but I'm glad you did,” she said, heading down the hall. ”Is the kitchen this way?”
”Yeah. Turn right.”
He rounded the corner and plowed into her. She'd stopped just inside the room.
”What?” he asked, feeling the criticism rolling off her. ”It's big. There's plenty of light. It's a good stove.”
She eyed the six-burner stainless steel appliance that had come with the house. ”Better than good, but jeez, Cal. It's red.”
He nodded. ”They'd just painted before they put the house on the market. I'll change it.”
She winced. ”You should do it soon. A red kitchen isn't a good idea. You'll never get the color right on your vegetables and it's not appetizing. But I can live with it.”
”I'm glad, because I'm not painting today.”
She walked over to the stools at the island and plopped down. ”So what are we having?”
”Fajitas. Steak and chicken.”
”Cool.”
As she seemed to have settled in for the evening, he knew he wasn't going to get out of cooking in front of her. ”Want something to drink?” he asked, when he really wanted to offer her something to read, or a movie on TV. Anything so she wouldn't see him fumbling around in the kitchen.
”Sure. What do you have?”
”Virgin margaritas.”
”Perfect.”
He poured them both drinks, then turned on the heat under the grill pan. He could see her eyeing the flame but didn't know if he had it too high or too low.
”You want to do this?” he asked.
”No. I do it for a living. I like having you cook for me. It will be fine.”
”Any pointers?”
She smiled. ”Cal, it's nothing more than a simple stir-fry on a grill pan. You'll do great.”