Page 16 of Gabriel & Skye

“Would I do a thing like that?”

“A thing like what?” Grandpa says as he walks in with Travis. They’ve been tinkering around out in Grandpa’s shed doing god knows what.

“Talking up my granddaughter,” Gran explains, giving me a wink.

“How did your first day go?” Grandpa asks.

“Urgh, I’d rather not talk about it.”

Travis chuckles beside him. “That good, huh?”

I give him a withering look as he tries to swipe some marshmallow from the mixing bowl with his finger. I smack his hand, but I’m a little too slow.

My brother is definitely sheriff material, when he’s not being annoying. He’s got the right build; tall, wide-set shoulders, and a kind face. So they say. I just know him as my big brother who’s like a gentle giant.

We are polar opposites, though. While he has dark hair, my hair is red. He’s tall, and I’m of average height. He’s no nonsense, and I like to make people laugh. We have the same green eyes, ones that sometimes seem too green to be real. People always ask if I wear contacts, which I don’t.

“Let’s just say coffee machines are the devil,” I announce.

Everyone chuckles.

I concentrate on sandwiching the marshmallow between the home-made cookies, placing them on the decorative tray for tomorrow.

“I heard Gabe’s looking for a new nanny,” Travis announces.

I don’t want to tell my brother about my embarrassing encounter yesterday, so I decide to play it cool.

“I heard. I’ve got a meeting on Monday at ten, though. I want to keep my options open.”

Trav laughs. “In Stoney Creek? Good luck with that.”

I give him a death glare. “Pipe it. Just because you’re the new sheriff in town doesn’t mean you get to be a smart ass.”

“Language,” Grandma chastises. “Your poor Grandpa’s ears.”

“Grandpa doesn’t have his hearing aid turned up. He’ll be fine.” I smile at him.

“Well, we’re more than happy to be the guinea pigs for the Bake’ n’ Shake, aren’t we, Grandpa?” Travis slings an arm around him, grinning from ear to ear because marshmallow cream is his favorite.

“More than happy,” Gramps chimes.

Luckily, Grandma swats them away and shoos them out of the kitchen. If they’re allowed to stay, there will literally be nothing left for the bake sale.

Of course, Gabriel freaking Bassett is all I can think about. I’m nervous about meeting with him. Even if this is a summer gig, I still want to do a good job. And the Bassetts have a really good name.

“Can’t we have a sample?” Travis calls from the next room. “You don’t want people saying that the mix isn’t right. The Hendry’s have a reputation to uphold.”

I giggle as Grandma shakes her head. “I know who he takes after. Your father was exactly the same as a child.”

“Right, but Trav’s a grown man.”

“I don’t think he got the memo,” she whispers.

“Definitely not.”

Grandma and Grandpa have a beautiful cottage close to town. They’ve lived here forever. Every childhood memory has this house included in it. They renovated a few years ago, so things have changed decor wise, but the layout is exactly the same.

I used to bake with Gran as a kid when I was old enough. Every Saturday morning, it was our ritual.

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