Page 19 of Mountain Gift

I open my mouth to politely decline. But before I can form a single word, I hear Boone say, "Sure, that sounds like a lot of fun."

Turning to look at him again, I watch all the old women swoon and giggle.

I didn't even know he'd been listening.

His eyes meet mine, and he gives me a playful smirk.

My heart warms again at the sight of him. And it's that expression that makes me say, "Alright. Sure. Let's do it."

Chapter Six

BOONE

I step outsideand make a quick call to my contractor to tell him that I need to reschedule our meeting. When I head back into the nursing home, I see the class is already set up and ready to go.

The seniors are seated at a series of little folding tables, all kinds of frostings and candies and sprinkles laid out where they can easily reach. Doris and Eileen sit at a table, with Caroline sitting across from them.

As they catch sight of me, the two elderly women wave me over excitedly. They point at the empty seat across the table from them.

The one right next to Caroline.

"Saved you a spot with us," Eileen says. "Come on, Boone. The class is just about to start."

They pick up the bare cookies from the plate in the middle of the table and start piping frosting without a care in the world. Green and red frosting are smeared across the cookies in their hands, and sprinkles are thrown almost haphazardly.

Caroline grabs one of the cookies shaped like a snowflake and reaches for the white frosting. I grab a cookie, too, one of the bell-shaped ones. But I feel almost dazed. Like the hands holding the cookie in front of me aren't even mine.

After a moment, Caroline taps me on the shoulder.

"You okay, Boone?" she asks sweetly.

I set the cookie down on my plate. "Of course," I say. "I'm just… thinking about what I want to do."

"A real thinker, isn't he?" Doris says. She and Eileen giggle again as they look me up and down. "Real quiet, too. What a catch."

Even though she blushes furiously, Caroline turns to me again. "I can help you if you want," she says. "Just let me know if you need anything."

"I could definitely use a lesson from a pro like you. Mind showing me how to use this frosting?" I say with a grin.

Her cheeks turn even redder, but there's a playful sparkle in her eyes that tells me she's up for the challenge.

"Sure," she says, reaching across the table to grab the piping bag for me.

As the two of us start to work on our cookies, Doris and Eileen gossip to each other. They talk about all kinds of things I don't know anything about. Other people living at the home, the delivery man that comes by every once in a while, and even the pool boy they had last summer.

And while they talk, Caroline sits next to me, focused on her work.

Finally, without pulling her eyes away from what she's doing, Caroline says, "So, I've been thinking about our conversation in the car this morning. About your shop." She says this quietly, like she doesn't want to interrupt the two elderly women across from us. Or like she doesn't want them to overhear.

I reach over for the piping bag of red frosting and start to pipe some details with it, my hands shaking slightly. I'm not built for this kind of work. Not like she is.

"Oh yeah? What have you been thinking about?"

"I guess I just wanted to know more about…." She pauses like she's struggling to find the right words. "You talked about how you can tell I'm passionate about my art. And I realized that you haven't really talked about your passions."

I swallow hard. "My passion?"

When I ask the question, Caroline blushes furiously. "For cars. What made you decide to be a mechanic?"

---