Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33504 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33504 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
The dishes were left on the counter, as she got to work making him breakfast.
“How did you sleep?” he asked. He had been talking with Blake, who advised that he pick up the habit of small talk. He had a lot to make up for, and this was all new territory to him.
Astrid glanced toward him. “We’re not doing this.”
“What?”
“Talking. We’re not doing the small talk. I’m going to make you breakfast because I have to. We’re not friends.”
“Do you want to be friends?” he asked.
“No, I don’t.”
She got the bacon on to fry, and she also put a little knob of butter into the pan, melting it down and heating through the rice. In another pan, she had multiple slices of bacon on the go, getting all lovely and crispy. He watched her, enthralled as she worked.
“I think you do want to be friends.”
“I don’t.”
“I think you and I would make real good friends.”
She paused and then turned to look at him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
This made him smile.
“Do you remember when you were younger and I pulled you out of the way of a moving car?” he asked.
Astrid paused and that caught her attention. “Why?”
“Because, I think that should grant me a little leeway.”
“You’re going to bargain with the act of saving me?”
“You had your head in a book rather than looking straight in front of you. It was rather silly of you, don’t you think?” he asked.
“Are you calling me stupid?”
“Nope, I’m calling you not very observant. You’re not stupid at all,” he said. Blake had warned him about the insults he might imply.
Lord had never been good at small talk.
He looked at Astrid as she cooked his breakfast.
Mine. That one word never seemed to want to let up when it came to her.
“I am sorry,” he said. Apologizing was not in his DNA.
Astrid paused in her movements and glanced up.
“You’re not a convenience. Not at all.”
She took a deep breath and went back to assembling his food. She’d grabbed the large tortillas, and he hadn’t even seen the jar of salsa she had picked up. She opened it, spreading it along the bottom, and then the rice, with some scrambled egg, bacon and cheese, along with more salsa. She built up the layers, until she was able to roll it into a nice large burrito, but she wasn’t done. Around the outside, she added a little oil, and then it was back into the frying pan to get all nice and crispy.
“Astrid, I’m sorry.”
“And you think ‘I’m sorry’ is going to make it okay? I know what I heard, and it was your friend you were talking with. You hated that you picked me. I get it. You were worried that I might be pregnant, but I’m not. You’re free and clear to do whatever the hell you want.”
She put the burrito in a piece of aluminum foil, wrapped it up, and handed it to him.
“I don’t expect anything from you. Now, I need to get these dishes done. Enjoy your breakfast.”
Lord was stumped. Blake had advised that he apologize and with sincerity. He had done that, and it had fucking sucked. Astrid didn’t believe him.
Leaving the ranch, he didn’t go looking for a job, he went to Blake, who, of course, was fixing more fence. That was a never-ending job.
“How did it go?” Blake asked.
“It fucking sucked. Your advice didn’t work.”
“Did you even try and apologize?” Blake asked.
“I apologized, and don’t even start with me, I was real about it, and she didn’t give a shit,” he said.
The burrito smelled good, and he was not going to let it go cold. Pulling down the back of his truck, he climbed in and opened the aluminum foil to take a large bite. It was still hot on the inside, but that salsa was perfection.
“You’re just going to sit there?” Blake asked.
“I’m eating my breakfast.”
Blake rolled his eyes. “Clearly, you upset her more than you realized, and that means if it really matters to you, you’re going to have to keep making it up to her.”
“How do I do that?” Lord asked. “She won’t give me the time of day. She won’t give me a chance.”
“You got to talk to her today.”
“Because I missed out on breakfast. I made myself so hungry and missed it so I could catch her.”
“Then that is what you’re going to have to keep doing. Besides, if you’re right about this snowstorm, you two could be trapped here for a couple of days,” Blake said. “Neither of you will be able to leave.”
Lord was hoping for that. He was freaking praying for that.
“What do you do? With your wife, when you’ve said something stupid?”
Blake burst out laughing. “I don’t say stupid stuff to my wife. I’m not a fucking idiot. I love my wife and she knows it constantly and consistently. I don’t do stupid shit that will hurt her.”