Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 17588 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 88(@200wpm)___ 70(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17588 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 88(@200wpm)___ 70(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
I guide Carter into our home. He is my mother’s guest so it’s only polite, although I have reservations about being here alone with him. He takes a seat at the kitchen table and waits nicely. He looks sexy in his leather jacket, even if what’s underneath looks like his Sunday best.
“Just randomly making chocolate chip cookies on a Friday afternoon, huh?” he says, looking out the window, his tone revealing his uncertainty about whether he should be here alone with me.
“Just helping my mother out. She wants a bunch of cookies for brunch tomorrow.”
“They smell fantastic. I didn’t know she had such a baker under her roof.”
I giggle. “I’m just following my grandmother’s recipe. I grew up on these cookies.”
I pull them out of the oven, seeing that they are exactly the right shade of brown. Not too soon, not too late. Perfection. I set them down to cool.
“Kind of surprised to see you here, Cadence,” he says. “You’re usually not here when I come to visit your mother.”
“I’m usually busy with school or work. I don’t get to spend a lot of time in the house these days.”
“School? I thought you graduated.”
“I’m going to the county community college. It’s a bit of a drive, but I can’t imagine living so far from home, and the community colleges don’t have dorms, anyway.”
“What’re you studying?”
“Early childhood development. Fancy term for being an educated nanny or daycare specialist.”
He laughs. “Maybe it needs a fancy term. It sounds like important work that society seriously underrates.”
“I’ll mostly be making sure they’re fed, having fun, and aren’t hurting themselves.”
“There’s an art to that. Or science, I don’t know. But it isn’t as simple as you’re suggesting it is.”
I put my hands on my hips. “Carter Rowdy, I never expected you to have such strong opinions on childcare.”
He cackles. “I guess I do. It’s hard work. And I don’t think you should undersell yourself. You’re doing more than I would.”
I don’t know what to think of his words. They’re flattering, but it doesn’t seem insincere. “Are you suggesting you dislike children, Carter?”
Stroking his chin, he shakes his head. “I am not saying that. Most people wouldn’t allow me around children, though.”
“And what do you mean by that?”
“I’m a bit of a troublemaker, Cadence. People don’t want someone who’s going to start fights and curse up a storm around their kids.”
I smile. “I don’t think you’d be that bad around kids. You seem like a gentle soul underneath the gruff exterior.”
“And I think you’re a bit naïve.”
“You’re here for my mother to teach you how to sing, Carter. You’re not the uncomplicated soul you’re trying to sell yourself as.”
He breaks eye contact, and there’s a long pause between us. “So, do you work alongside your education?”
“Same thing, pretty much. I take a lot of shifts at the church’s daycare, helping those parents who can’t afford commercial daycare but still need to work.”
“Will look real good on your resume, too.”
I giggle. “Not sure if I’ll ever be applying for a job that requires one. I like helping at the church. If I can do that forever, then I will. But I suppose it’s a nice fallback plan.”
“If you’re doing something you love, keep at it. I’m sure plenty of guys love a woman with a huge heart and plenty of room.”
“Like you, Carter?”
A smirk comes to his lips. “Yeah, like me.”
I sway a bit as I lean on the counter. “So what about you, then? What do you do? I don’t think getting in fights at bars pays very well.”
“Nah. Hours are terrible too. I only moonlight as a bar fighter.”
I chuckle at his joke.
“I’m just a pair of hands at the Rowdy ranch. I help my father and brother keep the cattle under control, feed the horses, and do whatever needs to be done. It’s good, honest work, and my father treats me like any other employee when it comes to money. I’m thankful for his generosity. Don’t think I got much to offer beyond my back and hands.”
I grab the spatula and a paper towel, and set down a few cookies in front of him, then steal one myself. Grandma’s recipe is perfection, and neither my mother nor I have ever been tempted to really change it too much.
Outside using organic ingredients, anyway.
“I’m sure you have plenty to offer, Carter. Like your voice.”
“Hey, that’s for me only. And I’d appreciate it if you did your part and kept your knowledge of my dark secret to yourself.”
“Dark secret?”
“I guess since I get in so much sh... trouble,” he hesitates with his words. Him trying not to curse in front of me is oddly adorable. “It should be called a light secret, but it’s still a secret and I’m not exactly itching to have it known that big, tough Carter Rowdy is getting singing lessons from a church lady.”