And Then You Dance (Crested Butte Cowboys Series Book 2) Read Free Page B

shock, but stronger.
    He moved, but not quite far enough. And instead of looking in the refrigerator, as he had been, he was looking at her.
    “What?”
    “Nothin’.” He walked to the other side of the island and sat on a stool. Still watching her.
    The kitchen was Renie’s favorite part of the house. It was a cook’s kitchen—a gourmet cook. With two convection ovens, a seven-burner Wolf cook top, and big, rough-edged granite counters, it also had all kinds of cool things built in, like the wine cooler.
    Renie looked through the refrigerator and found he’d gotten vegetables too.
    She pulled out a head of lettuce and raised her eyebrows at him.
    “What?”
    “This is a vegetable,” she answered. “Not a very nutritious one, but still a vegetable. Did you know that when you bought it?”
    “You’re hysterical. And you should be glad my mama didn’t hear you say that to me. She forced me to eat plenty of vegetables when I was a kid.”
    “Forced you.” More eye rolls.
    “You gonna make dinner or keep makin’ fun of me? If you don’t get at it, I’m gonna start cookin’ myself, and you don’t want that.”
    “It’s time you learned to cook. You’ve got this amazing kitchen, and then when you invite—”
    “Don’t say another word about me inviting girls over Renie.”
    He glared at her, so she gave him an okay sign.
    “So who’s gonna teach me? You?”
    “Sure, tonight will be your first lesson.”
    Renie made Billy wash the lettuce and then showed him how to chop other vegetables for a salad. He needed to practice chopping and dicing, but it wasn’t bad for his first attempt.
    A couple of times she put her hand around his on the knife, to show him how to hold it at a better angle. The first time he flinched.
    “What?”
    “Nothin’. I didn’t expect you to do that.”
    “Billy what’s going on with you? It seems as though you’re all jacked up on energy drinks or something.”
    Renie walked to the sink to wash her hands, but more to take a deep breath and get herself settled again.
    “What do you want me to do now?”
    “Sit down and I’ll cook the shrimp. You can watch. Or go out on the deck.”
    “I’ll watch.” He pulled the stool closer to the end of the counter. “How come you don’t complain about cookin’ for me?”
    “It isn’t all for you. I’m cooking for myself too. Plus I enjoy it. It’s something my mom and I did together, as far back as I remember.”
    “Some of my best memories are sittin’ in this kitchen watchin’ you and your mama cook.”
    “We have had good times in this kitchen,” she answered. “I miss her.”
    “I miss her too.”
    She stopped what she was doing when he said it, and he wondered for a minute if he had said the wrong thing.
    “What?”
    “Nothing. It’s strange. I’ve lived in this house since I was born, and now I don’t anymore. Sometimes I forget.”
    “You’re welcome here anytime,” he said quietly.
    “Thanks,” she said, but there was more to it. She shook her head as if she were shaking a thought away. “I understand what you mean about missing my mom being here. I’d miss Dottie if we were at your parents’ place, and she wasn’t there.”
    “See? Exactly.”
     
    “It’s not the best idea for me to stay here all the time.”
    “Why not?”
    “It’s your house now Billy. Not my mom’s anymore.”
    “What does that have to do with anything?”
    “Doesn’t it feel weird to you?”
    “Weird how?” He knew what she was talking about. But, he wanted to know whether she was feeling the same profound changes between them that he felt.
    “Never mind,” she shrugged.
    “Don’t make a big deal out of nothin’ Renie. I said you could stay here whenever you want, and I meant it. If anything changes, I’ll say so.” He was lying, and she knew it. Nobody read him as well as she did.
    He’d been in Renie’s life since she was a little girl. Now that they were both adults, and things were changing