Taking the Bull by the Horns, a Cascade Texas novella Read Online Free PDF Page B

it down on the counter and motioned for her to open it.
    She untapped it gingerly and peeled back the top to reveal a fudge coated layer cake.
    “Mm. Big sweet tooth?” She smiled.
    “Oh, yeah.”
    “Well, I hope you have enough room after my lasagna.” She nodded toward the noodles boiling on the stove, the sauce cooking beside it.
    “What can I do to help?”
    “You don’t have to.”
    “Lavender.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Just because I’m a guy doesn’t mean I’m helpless in the kitchen. What can I do to help?”
    She slipped out of his reach, watched the strands of hair fall from his fingertips, then sucked in a deep breath to focus. “Can you grate cheese?”
    He eased back, relaxed in victory. “I can do that.”
    She gathered the supplies he’d need, grateful. She hated to grate cheese, always worried about scraping her fingers on the grater.
    Taylor, however, used it with confident, long strokes. His hands mesmerized her.
    “Why don’t you use a food processor?” he asked.
    “I hate cleaning it.”
    She stirred the sauce, then got salad ingredients from the fridge, and checked the noodles. Good, they were ready. Removing them with her tongs, she began layering them into the pan.
    “So did you know who Gertrude was when you started talking to her?”
    “Who’s Gertrude?” He placed the bowl of cheese on the counter beside her and hefted the head of Romaine. “What do you want me to do with this?”
    “Rinse it, then you can start tearing it into the bowl on the top of the refrigerator there. Gertrude is my grandmother. Did you know that when you started talking to her?”
    “No, I didn’t know who she was. And she and her friends started talking to me.”
    “Ah.”
    “I did know you would be there, though.”
    She whipped around to look at him. “Are you kidding?”
    “No. Everyone knows you shop after school on Friday. I wanted to find you and apologize for whatever I did to upset you last night.”
    She rested a hip against the counter and waved her tongs at him. “So you weren’t really buying that stuff? You were just trying to find me?”
    “Oh, sure, I bought the stuff. I cook sometimes in the RV.” He rinsed off the lettuce and started tearing.
    She turned back to the lasagna, aware her next question would open her up to more questions than she might want to share the answer to. “So why did you think you upset me?”
    “You left in kind of a hurry, and you didn’t look too happy. I thought I’d done something wrong, and I want to apologize.”
    She shook her head. “It’s not you. I’m just not very good out of my element.”
    “So why did you go last night?”
    “I was invited. Not a usual occasion.”
    “Why not?”
    “I say no too much. People stop asking.”
    “Why do you say no?”
    “I have other responsibilities.” Not that he would understand that.
    “What, your grandmother?” He glanced toward the door where she’d disappeared. “She seems fine to me.”
    “She has her days. And when her schedule is disrupted she gets agitated. When I got home last night she was a mess.” Why was she telling him this? “Sorry. Not your problem.”
    “I asked,” he replied easily. “Alzheimer’s?”
    She shook her head. “She had a stroke when I was in high school. She never fully recovered and can’t really be on her own.”
    “So where’s the rest of your family?”
    “God knows.”
    He stopped tearing and looked at her. “Are you kidding?”
    “Nope. No idea where they are.” She finished layering the lasagna and slid it into the oven. “Are you okay with that?” She gestured to the lettuce.
    “Sure, I got it.”
    She reached for another bowl and pulled out ingredients for the salad dressing. “She can’t eat raw eggs, so I have another recipe for Caesar salad.”
    “What does she do while you’re at school?”
    “She stays here. The neighbors keep an eye out.”
    “And last night?”
    “She stayed here. She wasn’t