Page 21 of Forbidden to Fall

“It’s good,” he said. “Really good.”

A flash of excitement shot through me, and I put up my hand. “We may just have created our first official product.”

He looked at me with a curious light in his eyes, then high-fived my waiting hand.

Our gazes met, and my chest tightened with the awareness that high-fives weren’t exactly keeping things professional. Mrs. Keller and I certainly hadn’t done that sort of thing.

I grabbed another unfilled puff and injected it. “Would you take your mom the options and see what she says? I’d feel more confident if she chose the combo as her favorite too.”

James’s phone vibrated, and he reached into his back pocket to pull it out. “Speaking of…just a sec.” He turned and answered. “Hey, Mama. Yeah. We’re just finishing up.”

There was a pause.

“I really don’t think she…”

I tried not to look like I suspected they were talking about me, gathering up the dirty dishes and setting them in the large sink.

“I’ll tell her, but—” There was a pause, then a chuckle. “Understood. Love you too.”

I busied myself with rinsing.

A few seconds of silence passed before James spoke. “She insists you come up to the house for dinner.”

“That’s super nice of her, but I should get home.”

“She said, and I quote, ‘I won’t stand for backtalk from either of you.’”

I let out a laugh. “I’ll bet she did.” I scrubbed a mixing bowl. Dinner with the Carvers felt like a pretty clear breach of professionalism. Unless it was, like, a business dinner?

It would be good to discuss things and get a sense for what May thought we could sell. And James’s input would be nice to have while he was still around.

Also, it would take a woman braver than I was to go against May Carver when she’d made her expectations clear.

“She made chicken and dumplings and cornbread.”

I was salivating before he’d even finished talking. I’d remembered May’s sweet tea but forgotten what a great cook she was.

“Your mom drives a hard bargain,” I said. “Let me just finish up these dishes, and I’ll come join. You can go on ahead.”

James’s footsteps approached, and he came up next to me at the sink.

I should’ve known. He had the same stubborn streak as his mom.

It was dark as James and I took the trail up to the house. The air was crisp and fresh in the way only autumn could achieve.

“Can I ask you something?” he said.

“One embarrassing secret is my daily threshold, actually.”

A soft chuckle escaped his lips. “It’s not that sort of question.”

“Okay. Shoot.”

There was a slight pause as our feet crunched on the gravel. “How does my mom seem to you?”

I stole a sidelong glance at him. It was too dark to see his face well, but even if it hadn’t been, James wasn’t one to wear his heart on his sleeve. I didn’t think he wore it at all. It was probably locked in a vault in some doomsday prepper bunker.

I thought for a second before responding.