“Yeah, not a big fan of you letting that cat out of the bag either,” he returns.
I fight rolling my eyes again because that also isn’t on me.
He totally sucks at hiding he’s one of the best guys in the world.
He was the one who gave it to me.
I just wrote about it.
“Are you gonna offer me a drink and a VIP table or what?” I ask, deciding on the fly I could have just one, watch the show for a spell, and still be back to the hotel at a decent (ish) hour to get some rest in before I have to be up in the morning.
“French 75, Hendricks?” he asks back.
I smile at him. “You know me so well.”
“You’re a pain in my ass,” he mutters as he rises from his chair.
“You still love me, though,” I say as I rise from mine.
When he makes it to me, he slings his arm around my shoulders, I slide mine around his waist, and he guides me to the door, retorting, “Need to get my head examined, but yeah, I do.”
And yeah.
I love coming home to Denver.
It rocks.Chapter SixSomething SpecialKAThe next day, early afternoon …I’m a little surprised I’ve been called to Axl’s house.
The plan was late afternoon at Auggie’s, pork rind nachos, Fat Tire beer, and swapping recipes and tales on his back patio.
So Axl texting me and asking me to his place before that happens is a surprise.
His house has no real yard, it’s set just a bit off the sidewalk, and it’s literally around the corner and down one single block from where I used to live in Denver’s Baker Historical District.
It is, in fact, the house where I drank wine, ate food, shot the shit with my friends who lived there and babysat those friends’ daughter.
A baby I sat with in my lap in the hall that was in the back of that house, running between bedrooms, and we made funny faces at each other in the closet door mirrors.
A baby that is now a grown woman who I attended her wedding who has her own baby.
Yeah.
Ugh.
Even if the exterior and location is my friends Dixie and Chris’s old house, the interior is all Axl’s.
It’s da bomb.
After he invites me in, I look at the piece of art sitting on the cabinet in front of his window.
And the other piece in the corner.
I don’t mention either as Axl invites me to take a seat on one of his couches, tells me we’ll walk together to Auggie’s as he lives just down the road, and then he excuses himself and heads to the kitchen.
When he returns, he has a couple of sheets of notepaper with him.
He sits next to me on the couch and says, “I wanted to give these to you to include in my section, but I didn’t want to do it in front of the guys.”
I think this is weird because we were talking about recipes.
I mean, why couldn’t he share a couple of recipes in front of the guys?
I look down at the paper in my hand, and first think how classy it is he has monogrammed notepaper.
Then I flip from one to the other, and instantly, I know why he’s not sharing these in front of the others.
I look back into his ice-blue eyes and whisper, “Axl.”
“You didn’t think I’d take care of you?” he asks.
Tears fill my eyes and then I’m in his arms.
“You knew I’d take care of you,” he says in my ear.
“Yeah,” I mumble against his shoulder.
“Yeah,” he replies. “Something special.”
He is so right.
Something special.More Recipes from the Kitchen of Axl PanteraAxl’s Sandwich and SideFried Pork Sandwich
(Kristen Ashley Favorite)2 cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
4 thick pork loin boneless chops, butterflied and pounded thin
2 sleeves saltines
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups oil
1/2 cup mayonnaise
4 hamburger buns
12 dill pickle chipsIn a 9x13-inch baking dish, stir together the buttermilk, salt, pepper, cayenne and garlic powder. Place the pork chops in the buttermilk, cover with plastic wrap and marinate overnight in the refrigerator. In a large resealable bag, add in saltines and flour. Close bag and pound with meat mallet or rolling pin until saltines are coarse crumbs. Heat oil in a large iron skillet over high heat to 365 degrees. Remove the pork from the buttermilk and dredge in the saltine crumbs. Fry two chops at a time in the oil until golden brown and internal temperature is 145 degrees. About 3 minutes per side. Remove from grease and drain on paper towels. Spread mayonnaise on each bun, top with 3 pickle chips each and fried pork. Enjoy!KA Note: Full disclosure, Suzanne isn’t just a fantastic cook, she’s a friend. And somewhere in our conversations, I must have mentioned to her that this was my mother’s favorite sandwich. It’s a favorite of mine too. It’s also an Indiana staple. I honestly haven’t seen this anywhere else but in restaurants in Indiana. I crave it, and when I go home, I make certain to get one.
