Page 23 of Until Joy

“Oh my God, that smells wonderful. I don’t think I’ll have to lie. Gimme, gimme.”

“Hold your horses, Missy. I have to plate everything properly.” I pulled out the side items first and put them on the trivets I had waiting. She leaned over the counter with her eyes wide. I grabbed two plates from my cupboard, and put them on the counter. Then I uncovered the dishes.

“You have bacon bits on the mac and cheese,” she clapped. “I could fall in love with you, Graham. I really could.”

Bam!

Her words hit me like a sucker punch, straight to the middle of my chest. I had the spoon midway in the air, ready to scoop up a portion of the cheesy goodness, then stopped and stared at her. She was looking at the food, her hair pulled back so I could see her high cheekbones and full lips.

“Joy,” I whispered.

She looked up. “Yeah?”

I stared at her beautiful face for one long moment. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

She reached out and put her small hand on top of mine. “So am I, Graham.”

I mentally shook my head and got back into the game. I scooped up her mac and cheese, ensuring I got plenty of bacon, and put it on her plate. “Is this enough?”

“For now. I can always come back for seconds.”

When I turned to the oven and pulled out the brisket, I had a moment without her watching my face and I took it. Why in the hell did her one innocent comment throw me for such a loop?

Smiling, I turned back with the tightly wrapped brisket I had barbequed earlier this morning. I hoped it came out as juicy as it was supposed to. Joy squealed as I pulled back the foil.

“My God, Graham, look at that. The meat is almost falling apart! And all that juice. Make sure you put a lot on my plate.”

“A woman after my own heart. We’re eating on the deck. Is that okay with you? It’s in the shade.”

“That’s fine by me, as long as you have something cold to drink… and furniture.”

I laughed. She had a point. “Beer, tea, or lemonade?”

“Definitely beer.”

“And for the record, I do have a table and chairs.” I picked up our plates and headed to the sliding glass door. “Can you open?”

“Sure.” She opened the door, and we stepped out onto my deck. “Graham,” she exclaimed, “you can’t be totally against shopping. This furniture is beautiful.”

“One of my friends has a mom who owns a furniture store. He got this from her. He was moving into a place without a deck, so he sold it to me.”

“It’s gorgeous. You should definitely go to her store when you buy furniture for this place.”

“I’ll think about it. Hold on while I get the beer and silverware.”

I came back with silverware, a roll of paper towels, beer, and one glass.

“You drink beer from a glass?” Joy asked. “I wouldn’t have expected that.”

I laughed. “I didn’t know you could be such a smartass.”

I set the glass to the side and handed her the open beer bottle. She took a long sip, then picked up her fork. “Please don’t mind me if I don’t talk for the next ten minutes.”

Laughing, I picked up my fork and dug in. True to her words, Joy ate with relish. She didn’t start a conversation until she was halfway through with her meal.

Chapter 7

“So, tell me about yourself,” I asked.