In Shining Whatever (Three Magic Words Trilogy #2)(58)

She didn't wait for him but filled half her plate with rice and topped that off with beans. "Oops, forgot the pepper sauce," she said, already pushing back her chair and heading for the kitchen.

Hart was no stranger to beans and rice. He'd traveled enough with the rodeo rounds to have eaten many different foods. Beans and rice was one of his favorites, but he didn't understand why she needed pepper sauce.

She returned and shook a bottle of peppered vinegar over her beans and handed it to him when she was finished.

"Don't need it," he said.

"Can't take the heat?"

"We talking about what's in that bottle or what's between us?"

She was speechless.

"Both," she finally said.

"Fair enough. I can take it, all of it" He doused the beans with the sauce and filled his mouth. It was really good. He chanced a look at the bottle, remembering the name so he could buy some when he got back to Texas.

She put three pieces of fish on her plate and added a tablespoon of the stuff he'd thought was dessert beside them. She cut a bite off with the edge of her fork and dipped it into the sauce before putting it in her mouth. She'd forgotten how good Cajun fish was until that moment. It was definitely a sign that she should stay in Louisiana.

"What is that?" he asked.

"Fish sauce. Try it."

"Hot?"

"Not too much. Kind of sweet and sour at the same time. Has strawberry jam in it."

He put half a tablespoon on his plate. If he didn't like it, he wasn't listening to her carry on about wasting good food. The burst of flavor sent him back for more immediately. He might ask the woman to marry him for her cooking alone.

Marry me! He choked just thinking the words. Well, isn't that what you've been beating around the bush about? That's the ultimate thing you want, isn't it? Mostpeople your age who admit they love a woman are thinking of the next step. Why does it come as a surprise to you?

"Something down your windpipe, or are you a wuss and can't handle the hot after all?" she asked.

"Down the windpipe," he lied.

"I'll get us a glass of tea. Forgot to bring that out too. No ice, but it's sweet." She was up before he could catch a second wind, and back before he could process the argument with his conscience.

"Thank you," he said.

"Did that hurt very much?"

"What? The choking?"

"No, saying thank you to me?"

He grinned. "Much worse than choking. Good food. Catfish is wonderful but got a little hot taste to it."

"It's Maw Maw's recipe. They grew strawberries here when she was a young girl. She still loves them in everything. That's what makes the sauce sweet. The hot comes from marinating the catfish in hot sauce before it's fried. It's even better if it can marinate all night"

"You think maybe Minnette was wrong about the storm? Don't look like there's a cloud in the sky," he said.

"No, it's coming. I can smell it"

"Are you kidding me again?"

She slowly shook her head. "Take a deep breath. What do you smell?"

"Fish, beans and rice, and sweet sauce," he said.

"You're Texan. Inland Texan at that, so your nose hasn't been trained to smell a storm. It's coming, all right. We might be housebound all day tomorrow if it hits tonight"

His mind went into overdrive. What would they eat if it stormed? What if it blew the house down and they were killed?

She read his mind. "Don't worry. You won't starve. Minnette threw in a couple of those little canned hams. And the house withstood Katrina. I don't think we have to worry about a tropical squall. You about finished?"

"One more piece of fish," he said.

She waited for him to eat it, then began to gather up the dishes and food. Without being asked, he helped. He set everything on the kitchen table, and she set about covering what they'd have for supper with a clean dish towel, putting the dirty dishes into the dish tub, and running a little cold water on them.

"You think that will get them clean?" He leaned against the wall as far away from the hot stove as he could get.

"Not by itself, but this will." She added a squirt of dish soap, grabbed a potholder, and poured steaming water from the kettle into the dishwater, adding a bit more to an oversize bowl on the other side. "Want a cup of coffee before this gets cold?"

"I'd love one. How do you make it?"

"Like this." She pulled out a drip pot from inside the cabinets, put coffee grounds in the top, and poured the rest of the hot water through it.

"What's that stuff?" He stretched his neck and peered into the other pot bubbling on the stove.

"Cornmeal mush. Country pancakes for breakfast." She quickly greased the inside of a loaf pan and poured the boiling mixture into it.

He wrinkled his nose slightly.

"Trust me, darlin'," she drawled. "You'll like it much better than what you had this morning"

He picked up a tea towel, fished the dishes from the rinsing water, and dried them. "So what do we do the rest of the day? Supper is already cooked and breakfast is cooking."

She looked up to see him raise one eyebrow.