Page 12 of Reaching Roland

“So, Kenny, what are your plans with your strawberry haul?”

Happy with the distraction, I turned in my seat and faced him. “All the strawberry shortcakes. Every day until I run out.”

He glanced from the road over to me and back again. “That's it? No pancakes with whipped cream and fresh strawberries or strawberry muffins. Maybe a nice arugula salad?” He snapped his fingers. “I know. How about strawberry crepes?”

My mouth salivated. “Oh my gosh, you have to stop. You're making me so hungry. I never thought about strawberry crepes. Although, as decent as I am in the kitchen, I've never attempted crepes before.”

“You're in luck. It just so happens that our festival tickets include a meal. I perused the menu, and those crepes happen to be an option.”

“Our tickets?” I asked, completely confused.

Roland nodded, humming softly. “Yeah, when I got home Thursday night, I pulled up the website for HoneyComb Farm. They had options to pre-purchase tickets and picking containers, so I took care of all of that so we don’t have to stand in lines. Since the selections for the buckets were only small, large, or a half-crate, I ordered a small and a large. We can split the difference later.”

Amazed, my eyes widened. When I’d arrived home Thursday night, I’d purchased a pair of sunglasses to match my outfit, but he'd been planning our day? Damn, this man was killing me. Did friends normally do this for other friends? If so, I needed to up my game. The last time I’d gone home to Little Beach Bay, my friend had purchased my movie ticket since he lived local and arrived first, but I'd immediately sent him the money he’d put out throughVenmo.

“What do I owe you?” I asked, belatedly realizing that the only reason this felt datey to me was because I’d let my mind wanderthere. Of course, Roland had prepaid for both of us or he’d have had to wait in line with me, even though he'd been on the ball and planned ahead.

He frowned. “You don't owe me anything.”

“But—”

“Kenny,” he said, cutting me off. “I'm a planner. I don't expect you to pay me back because I got ahead of myself. Hell, you're doing me a favor. The only thing I usually do on Sunday is tinker around until it’s time to prepare Sunday dinner for Cameron, Indie, and Miss Georgina. It feels good to be out doing something different. Please, do me this favor, and let me treat you today.”

Those damn butterflies exploded in my stomach and slammed around, beating into each other with excitement. I needed to get myself under control. He was simply being a nice guy.

“Thank you,” I said. Although, that felt totally inadequate in expressing my gratitude.

His lips curled up into a bright smile, which didn't do my fluttery nerves any good. “You're welcome. I'm hoping you’ll join us for dinner after this, too.”

“What?” I squeaked.

Roland shrugged his large shoulders. “If you don’t have other plans after this, I thought it would be a fun idea if you come over. We can clean the strawberries and split them up between us. Yesterday, I ran out and bought us a bunch of glass storage jars to put them in. That should keep them nice and fresh and give us enough time to use them.”

Be still my thumping heart.“I don't want to intrude.”

“You won’t be. Every now and then, Miss Georgina brings one of her neighbors, and it’s not uncommon for Cameron and Indie to bring one of their friends.” He chuckled. “Sometimes, several of their friends.”

“Oh.” I gnawed on the inside of my lip with indecision. Truthfully, I wanted to go, but would Cameron or Indie think it was weird? More than that, we hadn’t even reached the farm yet, and my heart was confusing what today was about.

Roland’s gaze darted to me quickly. “You don't have to decide now, but think about it, okay?”

“Sure.” As nice as it would be to have plans later, I’d kindly decline his offer. It was his family time, and no matter what he said, I wouldn’t push my presence on them.

We got lucky with parking, and because of Roland’s smart thinking, we bypassed the longer lines to purchase tickets and buckets and got our stuff straight away. “Here you go,” he said, handing me the smaller bucket as we made our way to the flatbed truck that would transport us to the berry fields.

Needing to break out of my own head, I resorted back to teasing. “Why do you get the big one, Daddy?”

He bopped me on the tip of my nose. “Don’t whine at me. I was trying to be a gentleman and carry that larger one, which will be heavier once we fill it up, but if you want to trade.” He held the larger bucket out toward me.

Making a little bit of a spectacle of myself in front of the other people in line, I spun away from him and put my smaller container behind my back. “Nope.”

He smirked. “That’s what I thought. We can split them in half after this, though. If you decide not to come over for dinner, you can take the bigger one or I’ll run in and grab another bowl and take some out of mine.”

I rolled my eyes behind the cover of my sunglasses. “As if… You have way more company than me. Besides, you paid for this whole little outing.”

He frowned. “You can share them with your landlady, then.”

Stepping back next to him, I bumped his arm with mine. “You’re a little bossy, Daddy.”

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