“Oh, I always use a knife. I can still hear my mother. ‘It’s not ladylike to use your hands.’”

Cassidy sighed yet once again and reached for her wine. By the looks of it, she would have lots of leftovers. Dinner for next week, she reasoned.

Chapter Twenty

Laura sat down with a contented sigh and took a small sip of her hot coffee. A male cardinal was singing from the tree branch above the feeders. Soon, a female joined him and she watched as they flitted between the branches. Their patio faced west so there was never a view of the sunrise. Of course, there was never a view of a true sunset either. There were too many trees for that. Which reminded her that she still hadn’t explored Cassidy’s woods. She would make it a point to go out there one day next week and see if she could find the leaning tree. She wouldn’t mind taking in a sunset from there. If she could still climb the tree. She wasn’t a teenager anymore, she reminded herself.

“Hey…you out there?”

Laura smiled at the sound of Cassidy’s voice. “Yes.”

“Can I come over?”

“Sure.”

She automatically ran a hand over her hair, wondering how bad it looked this morning. Again, she shouldn’t care. Bedhead or not, this was her time. If Cassidy chose to come over, she would have to take her as she was.

Cassidy came walking through the grass in flip-flops and even from here, she could see the steam coming from her coffee cup. She matched Cassidy’s smile and remembered her manners this time, motioning to the chair beside her.

“Thanks. Beautiful morning, isn’t it?”

“It is. You’re up early.”

“So are you.”

“I’m always up early.”

“So am I.”

“Yeah…but you have company and I don’t. And where did you find the model?”

“The model? Ashly?” Cassidy nodded. “Yeah, she does kinda look like a model, doesn’t she?” Cassidy took a sip of her coffee. “She’s a friend of a friend.”

“Blind date?”

“No, no. Not really a date. Well, I did go out with her a few months ago, but there was nothing there. No, I had dinner with friends this week—Macie and Karon—and Ashly was there. They’re coming out this afternoon to spend the night, but Ashly was free on Friday so she came out early with me.”

“So you just have what? An unlimited list of women to choose from?”

“She’s young. And she’s going to have a hell of a hangover this morning. She drank an entire pitcher of margaritas by herself.”

Laura made a face. “I like margaritas, but two is my limit. I’d rather have a cocktail with bourbon.”

“Yeah, me too. So how was the steak?”

Laura stared at her. “How did you know I had a steak?”

“It smelled divine.”