Page 60 of Peach Tree Family

Chapter 15

Next day at the inn, Theo asked again about possible job openings, but there was nothing. He had already asked only a few days before, but he was getting anxious. The longer Seth went without finding a job, the more Theo worried. What would be his next step? To go somewhere else to find work?

Theo didn't want that, and not because he was hot for him. He hated to think of Seth out there alone with no friends or family.

Despite that, Seth might have moved on already if the work around the house hadn't kept him busy. Now that the porch was fixed, Seth didn't have as much to do and Theo was afraid that he might decide to leave.

That afternoon, before going to Mitch and Rico's barbeque, Theo helped Seth make the fried apple pies. As Seth was setting them aside to let them cool, Theo told him. "You know you can stay with us as long as you need to, and you don't need to spend your money on so many things."

Seth frowned at that. "Our deal is..."

"Things are different now. Once you have a job..."

Theo was cut off by Ace running in. The kitchen was filled with a delicious smell of fried apple pies, so he couldn't stay away. He got to have one that came apart, but after he finished it, he told Seth, "You have to mess up more."

Seth laughed as he arranged the rest on a big plate. "I thought I'd put some cinnamon sugar over them. Never did that before, but they use it at the café."

"Yes. Do it!" That was Ace's vote.

"Yeah, they need more sugar," Theo said and Seth stared at him like he was trying to figure out if he was serious. He wasn't but he still told him, "It's a good idea."

Theo didn't like how they left their conversation unfinished, but they had to get going. The whole way Ace tried to convince him that he should be holding the plate with the dessert they were bringing.

When they arrived in front of an older, two story house, Rico met them in front and welcomed them. Ace told him what they had on the plate and vouched for how good they were.

"I bet they are going to be a hit," Rico said as he took the plate. "Now come around to the back, meet the cats."

They went into a sizable, fenced yard shaded by trees. A grill was set up, but no one else was there yet.

"Are we early?" Theo asked.

"Or everyone else is late. Mitch and Sammy are still busy in the kitchen, I guess," Rico said and he went inside through a back door. He came back out with two orange cats, one cat draped over each shoulder. "You get a cat, and you get a cat." He handed out the cats to Theo and Seth just as Sammy ran out and introduced the cats as Natalie and Veronica.

Instead of trying to climb him like a tree the way Butter did most of the time, Veronica curled up in Theo's arms.

"You're holding her like a baby," Sammy said approvingly.

Ace reached up for the cat. "Me now."

"Remember what Sammy showed you," Theo told him.

"Oh yeah." Ace got close to the cat and just looked at her, reminding Theo of how he and Butter met. This cat sniffed at him but didn't go over to him even as he petted her.

Sammy looked up at Theo. "She likes you."

"How can she resist that sweet face?" Rico said and Theo heard echoes of his grandmother, Mrs. Del Rio.

"Theo, is he hitting on you?" Ace asked as he moved on to the cat Seth was holding.

"What? I'm a married guy," Rico told him.

"Really?" Ace said looking at him like he didn't believe it.

"I guess you don't look like a married guy," Seth said.

"He doesn't," Ace agreed.

"He's married to my dad," Sammy informed them. "We had a Valentine's wedding. That's the best kind."

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