Read Online All Shook Up by Susan Andersen - Free Book Online Page A

as a bowlful of Mexican beans these days, and bitchy to boot.”
    He couldn’t help but grin. “You call that bitchy? In my neighborhood, we’d call that downright hospitable. I ought to introduce you to a woman named Gina Dickson someday. Now, she has bitchy down cold.”
    She blinked at him in silence for several seconds. “Wow,” she finally said. “You should do that more often.”
    “Huh?” Had they skipped to a different frequency here?
    “You should smile like that more often. You’ve got a terrific smile.”
    He felt it drop away from his face. Dammit, he hadn’t come here to get all chummy. Until he knew more about these people, that would be plain stupid. He thrust the little custard dish out at her. “Here.”
    She took it. But when he immediately turned away, she snapped, “Oh, get the stick out of your rear. Come sit on the porch with me and have a cup of coffee. Contrary to what you seem to believe, we’re not the enemy. And if you truly think we are, then wouldn’t the prudent thing be to infiltrate our camp, to learn what nefarious schemes we plan to hatch?”
    Okay, so now he felt like a raving paranoid. That didn’t mean they still weren’t out to get him. All the same, he turned back, climbed the porch steps, and said gruffly, “That crème stuff was really great. You cook like that all the time?”
    “I used to. I’m a pastry chef,” she said and patted the old wicker rocker next to hers. When he’d seated himself, she gently set her own chair to rocking. “I used to be the evening pastry chef in the restaurant here, but last year Ben and I decided to cut way back on our hours to get an idea of how we’ll handle retirement. So now he only does the buying for the gift and sport shops, and I bake the breads for the restaurant and the Eagle’s Nest, and occasionally a few of the desserts. I miss it sometimes, and every now and then I get a wild hair to whip something up.”
    She leaned forward to pick up a cup from a tray onthe small wicker table, and held it under the spout of a thermos pump. Fragrant steam wafted in the slowly warming morning air as she handed him the coffee. “How are you settling into your cabin?”
    “Fine.”
    “I apologize for the porch roof. We’ve had a great deal of difficulty in the past couple years finding and keeping reliable help for the repairs. The most competent workers invariably end up leaving for Wenatchee or Seattle.”
    “Not a problem.” He shrugged. “I picked up the materials to fix it while I was in town yesterday. I’ll get started on it as soon as I figure out what I’m going to use to cut the wood. I didn’t bring my circular saw.”
    “You’ll fix it?” The smile she flashed him was so warm, he quit rocking and blinked. “Oh, my God, you’re the answer to a prayer. I’m not sure what a circular saw is, but Ben has all sorts of power tools in the garage. It’s never locked. And be sure to keep track of your receipts, dear, for reimbursement.”
    Tate burst into the yard just then, followed an instant later by Dru. J.D. straightened in his seat. She looked crisp and efficient this morning in her neat shorts, polo shirt, and Keds, but he got a glimpse of the image he’d taken to bed with him last night: Dru braless and barefoot, with damp, rumpled hair and flashing eyes.
    Tate raced up the steps. “Hey, J.D.! We didn’t know you were here, did we, Mom?”
    J.D. didn’t miss the irony in her voice when she stopped at the foot of the stairs, looked up at them, and replied, “No, I can honestly say we didn’t know.”
    Or you wouldn’t have come anywhere near here, would you, sweetheart?
    “So what am I, darling, that I don’t even rate a hello?” Sophie demanded. “Chopped liver?”
    “I was gonna say hi, Grandma, but I got sidetracked when I saw J.D. was here.”
    “And you’re always pâté in his book, anyway,” Dru assured her.
    “Oh, well, pâté . That’s all right, then. For a minute there, I was afraid