Page 39 of Where Sea Meets Sky

She bit her lip, feeling nervous. She’d decided that her hiking boots weren’t going to work, since they were still so stiff they were starting to give her blisters, and no one in her family had been remotely convinced that she could pull them off. She’d finally abandoned the baseball cap as well, since it was starting to make her scalp itchy to have her head covered all the time.

She still felt desperate to come up with some other kind of plan, some way of showing Cooper’s family that she could fit in with them. She’d been trying like a fiend to figure out something else that would make sure they approved of her.

She’d finally decided that if she couldn’t do their outdoorsy activities with them, the least she could do was make them feel at home. She’d bought a slab of venison from the supermarket, determined to cook it the way hunters usually liked it—although she wasn’t quite sure what that was—so that Cooper’s parents would feel as though they’d just gone hunting.

She’d gotten some odd glances from the staff at the supermarket that afternoon when she’d purchased the venison, since it wasn’t the kind of thing she usually purchased. She was more of a chia seeds and kombucha kind of a girl. She’d just smiled cheerfully as if nothing unusual was happening, however, and she kept reminding herself that Cooper’s parents would never know that she’d never come into personal contact with venison before in her life. As long as she did a good job of cooking it, it should all turn out great.

She ran her tongue across her teeth as she stared at the intimidating slab of meat. Even though she was only cooking it for a test run, she felt nervous. She didn’t know how it was supposed to taste when it was done, so it was imperative she followed the online instructions perfectly.

Does Mom know how venison is supposed to taste?she wondered.Maybe she can tell me if it’s right.

She bit her lip and pulled out her phone. She’d found several different recipes, and all of them suggested that she prepared the venison in a different way. She wondered if it mattered that what she’d bought had been frozen. Would Cooper’s parents be able to taste the difference, and be disappointed? What if they only liked to eat fresh venison?

“Ugh,” she groaned as she scrolled through even more recipes. Most of the instructions she saw stated that she needed to trim the excess fat off the meat. But was that something she needed to do herself, or had it already been done because the meat was store-bought?

She stepped up to the slab of venison, wrinkling her nose as she scanned it for signs of fat. She didn’t think it looked fatty, but she supposed she would have to handle it to know for sure. She dreaded picking it up and feeling it all over, but she dreaded the idea of Cooper’s parents not liking her cooking even more.

“Julia, what on earth are you doing?”

She whirled around, startled, with her hand on her heart. Cooper was standing in the doorway of her mother’s kitchen, blinking at her in surprise.

“Cooper!” she gasped. “You scared me. I had no idea you came inside.”

“I called to you when I came in the front door,” he said, grinning apologetically as he gave her a hug.

“I didn’t hear you.” She shook her head. “I guess I’m just overly distracted here.” She was happy to see him, but the unexpected surprise had made her stress levels rise even more.

“What are you doing?” He wrinkled his nose as he looked at the slab of meat.

She immediately became worried that she’d bought bad meat. Did Cooper know something she didn’t know, and he was wondering why she’d purchased such a low-quality piece of venison? “Oh, you know, just making a mess of half a deer,” she said, throwing her hands up in frustration.

“Well, you haven’t made a mess yet,” he teased gently. “You haven’t started cooking it.”

“You mean you think that’s an okay piece of meat?” she asked in a small voice.

“I mean, it’s huge, but it looks okay to me. I’m just surprised—I know you said once that you didn’t like gamey meats, and you never wanted to try venison. What gave you the idea to cook it now?”

“It’s for your parents,” she said, her words spilling out of her in a somewhat chaotic chatter. “I—I wanted to show them that I was going to be—well, I didn’t want them to think I was too prissy or anything like that. I tried to look more outdoorsy, and I was planning on going on at least a little hike with them around town, so I bought this pair of hiking boots, but they were too new and it was obvious and then they hurt my feet. And besides, Alexis and then even Faith didn’t think the baseball cap suitedme. So that whole plan totally backfired and now this is my last resort. I’m trying to cook venison so that they’ll feel like they just went hunting.”

Cooper blinked and then shook his head as if there was water in his ears. “Whoa,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. “Slow down, sweetheart. I got about half of that and I’m totally confused. What about hiking boots? How is that related to cooking an exorbitant amount of venison?”

Julia inhaled and then let out a long sigh. “I’m afraid your family will think that I have too little in common with them—and with you. I was trying to—well, I want to show them that I can fit in. First, I bought a pair of hiking boots and a baseball cap so that I would look more outdoorsy, and now I’ve decided to learn how to cook venison properly. But I have no idea what I’m doing, and I’m worried I’m going to mess it all up.”

“Oh, Julia.” He gave her a big kiss and then wrapped her into a hug and rocked her back and forth. “Thank you for caring so much. It’s really sweet. But I can tell that you’re stressed about this, and there’s no reason to be. I wish you’d said something to me sooner instead of getting worried. It’s all going to be okay, I promise.”

She pressed her lips together, grateful for his support, but also unable to keep from fretting that his parents were going to think she was a bad match for him. “I know it’ll be okay, but I want it to be better than okay. I want it to be great. I want them to like me.”

He smiled at her and kissed her forehead. “I think it will be great. But you don’t need to try to be something you’re not, okay? My parents are not the King and Queen of England.” He chuckled. “Far from it. Don’t worry. I know they’re going to love you.”

She offered him a watery smile. “Okay. Do you want to help me cook this venison?”

“Sure.” He grinned at her. “I love venison. How about I prepare it and you just watch me and relax?”

“I’m not good at relaxing.”

“I’ve noticed.” He laughed and kissed her again. “You sit in that chair, young lady. Watch and learn.”

She sighed, grateful for the way he was able to soothe her jittery nerves time and time again. She sat down at the kitchen table and watched him go to work.

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