Daisies in the Canyon by Carolyn Brown

with his life and this wasn’t his first one-time stand.
    “So are you one of those self-proclaimed bachelor-for-life-type men?” Bonnie asked.
    “Are you about to ask him out?” Rusty teased.
    “Not me. He’s not my type,” Bonnie answered.
    “Ouch! What is your type?” Cooper asked.
    “I’m not real sure what is, but I know what ain’t, and that’s a lawman,” Bonnie said. “Now let’s set down. Shiloh has done too much work for us to let it go cold.”
    Dinner was served on the table, family style. Shiloh had arranged the roast beautifully with the carrots and potatoes surrounding it. The gravy boat had a matching plate under it for passing ease and to catch the drip. Rolls were in a napkin-lined basket. Leave it to Shiloh to do everything up all pretty. Lord, it had been years since Abby had been responsible for putting a full meal on the table. And now she had to compete with pretty plates and gravy boats?
    “If you decide to leave this ranch, I’ll hire you to take care of my house and cook for me,” Cooper said.
    Instant jealousy washed over Abby. If there had been a mirror in the kitchen she would have seen a lime-green face when she looked into it. If she hadn’t been so hungry and if roast wasn’t on her list of top ten favorite meals, she would have gone to her room and eaten dinner out of her candy drawer. She shut her eyes to get everything in perspective. Then Cooper’s arm brushed against hers as he reached for another helping of roast and there was another burst of warmth, making her all oozy inside.
    Her eyes popped open so quick that the room was a blur until she could get things into focus. Bonnie bumped her knee under the table and when she glanced across the table, the insolent little shit winked as if she could read her mind.
    Abby felt a blush starting on the nape of her neck. She downed half a glass of sweet tea trying to cool down from the inside, but be damned if Cooper’s leg didn’t touch hers under the table. She inhaled deeply, mentally tore down her Glock and reassembled it four times before she got control. Not once in all her life had a man affected her like Cooper Wilson. Not even the blue-eyed boy who’d been her first love while she was in high school. Or any of the military guys, and she’d always been a sucker for a man in a uniform.
    “Save room for dessert,” Shiloh said. “I made iced brownies, but I didn’t know if everyone liked chocolate, so I put together an apple pie, too. Figured if we didn’t eat it for dinner, we’d have it for supper and as a bedtime snack.”
    “I like both,” Rusty said.
    “Me, too.” Cooper nodded.
    “Lord, I’m going to have to take up jogging with Abby if we keep eating like this,” Bonnie said.
    “I’m not runnin’ anymore. I figure as hard as we work, it’s as good as any workout program,” Abby said. “I’m having ice cream on both my brownie and my apple pie. I could never choose between those two desserts.”
    Shiloh smiled. “Well, thank you, Abby. There’s plenty for everyone to have both. I cut the pie into six pieces and the brownies into a dozen.”
    “You done good on these dinner rolls, Shiloh. You’ll have to teach me how to make them. Last time I tried, Abby could have used them as weapons of mass destruction,” Bonnie said.
    “It’s in the technique, not the recipe. Maybe next Sunday we’ll make up a batch for cinnamon rolls just for practice.”
    It was probably too late in the game for either of those women to be her sisters, but they could be her friends. She’d always made friends at every base she’d been assigned to. In the military a soldier needed friends to have his or her back. Sometimes when she left, she kept in touch with the people she’d known, but most of the time in the transitory world she’d occupied for twelve years, she’d simply moved on. This could be the latter. When the year was up, they might send a Christmas card occasionally or even call once in a while