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A Tale of Two Kitchens
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Collide Southern Manners
After her goodbyes to her family, Dani decided she’d better head to the store to at least get some staples to avoid getting herself into more problems just because she needed to eat. The HEB parking lot was relatively empty. She’d forgotten what a great time Sunday afternoon was to shop. Sunday after church was spent at home with family and then watching whatever game was on that afternoon, not shopping.“Great! I can get in and get out,” she thought as Pearl beeped when she hit the black fob.Once in the store, however, she realized she had no idea what she wanted to buy. Salad stuff, maybe? Lettuce, tomatoes and cheese could live in the fridge and didn’t need actual cooking. Salad fixings went in the cart. Packaged tuna? Oh look, flavors!As she was digging through the little boxes on the shelves that held the myriad of Charlie the Tuna’s selections, she heard a now familiar, deep voice behind her.“Well don’t you look pretty enough to break hearts today,” the voice said.She brief
Collide A Dinner to Remember
She followed Levi into the bunkhouse and immediately saw the kitchen to the right of the large one room building. She’d never been to the bunkhouse before. When she and Levi had been together, the bunkhouse was empty of hands. Levi’s dad wouldn’t employ any, preferring the free labor he got from his son. She thought it may have been used for storage. It was a large space with four bunk beds lining two walls to the left. One bed appeared to be in use with pillows and a beautiful old quilt folded on top. Next to the bunk space was an open space with some ratty recliners, chairs and side tables. She could see where a TV had probably stood at one time on a TV table at the back. On the other side was a large, open kitchen area and a long wooden table. The appliances looked new and stood out amid the tones of avocado green of the counters and the dark pine cabinets. She assumed a bathroom was behind the only other door next to the kitchen.Everything looked like it had seen better days but
Collide Emergency
Dani’s knees buckled and Levi had to hold her up as she heard her Uncle’s voice on the line and sirens loud in her ear. “Something’s happened to Lu. We’re in the ambulance. I need you baby girl.” “I’m on my way right now. I’ll meet you in the ER,” Dani told her uncle even as her feet were moving toward the door.“I’ve got to get to the hospital,” Dani told Levi, throwing open the door and digging for her keys. Tears started running down her face as she searched for the key ring without success.Levi grabbed her hands and held them still in his until she looked at him.“Come on, we’ll take my truck. I’m not letting you drive like this.” She just nodded as he towed her toward his Tundra and beeped open the cab. She threw herself into the passenger seat and Levi backed down the driveway taking off down the road as fast as possible.“Jesus, Dani, put on your seatbelt,” Levi commanded as she nearly hit her head on the roof after he hit one of the larger potholes he hadn’t gotten patched y
Collide Marking Territory
Levi sat in the Tundra for several long moments staring through the window to the ER waiting room. He watched Dani sit down with Zane and her uncle and take both their hands. Who the hell was this Zane character? Had he and Dani been together before that Brandon guy? They seemed way too comfortable together for Levi’s liking. He ground his jaw thinking about it and watching through the glass. Shit, Cooper, you’re acting like some fucking stalker. Get your shit together. He gave the steering wheel a punch then started the truck. As he drove toward his place, he rolled down his window and took in deep breaths of the heavy night air. He knew he had no right to be jealous. A few stolen kisses didn’t make a relationship no matter how badly he wished they did. He’d just have to keep being there for her. This Zane dude would be gone shortly anyway, he told himself. And I’ll still be here. For as long as it takes.He pulled up to the bunkhouse in the pitch black. He’d forgotten to turn the p
Collide Two Against One
On the way back to the farm with Dani at his side, Levi couldn’t control his curiosity. He knew it was a bad idea to go there but he couldn’t seem to help himself. “So, how long have you known this Zane?” He threw his arm across the back of Dani’s seat and tried to appear casual.She gave him a side eye and smirked. “Oh, I’ve known this Zane for about five years. Why?”Levi squirmed in his seat. “No reason. Just making conversation.” He let a few breaths pass then asked, “He must be a really good friend to run all the way from Dallas to check on Lu just because you called.”“He is,” she agreed, trying to gauge his expression, “and a brilliant neurological diagnostician. I don’t know how I would have gotten through Aunt Lu’s illness without him.”Levi ground his molars until the muscle popped in his jaw. He knew he was being unreasonable about her friendship with the doctor but couldn’t seem to help himself. “Were y’all ever a thing?”“A thing?” Dani didn’t know whether to be irritate
Collide My Heart Says Yes
After gorging on the airy sopapillas covered in chocolate sauce, Zane declared that he really had to be getting back to Dallas. He was on call at the hospital that evening. As they got to the door, Levi put his arm around Dani’s shoulders possessively and held his hand out to Zane. “Have a good trip,” he said as the other man shook his outstretched one. Dani tried to take a step away but he held tight.“Good to meet you, Levi. Look me up if you ever get back to Dallas to visit. Dani has my number,” Zane offered. Levi’s arm tightened around Dani a bit more when Zane mentioned her having his number, but with some effort, he maintained the easy smile on his face.Zane leaned down and kissed Dani on the cheek. “We’ll talk soon,” he whispered before straightening and shooting Levi a breezy grin. He couldn’t help poking the bear just a little.“Call me later, Mags,” Dani said, moving Levi out the door so Zane and Maggie could say their goodbyes with a little privacy.On the sidewalk, she p
Collide Maggie to the Rescue
That evening, Levi had just gotten back to the bunkhouse from repairing a pasture fence that one of the bulls had broken through when his phone rang. A smile lit his tired face when he saw the name on the caller ID, Dani. “Hey, darlin’, whatcha doin’?” he asked cheerily as he answered.“I’ve been fighting with contractors all afternoon. How about you?”“Fixin’ fences. Damn bulls broke down another length of fence. I’m gonna need to build brick walls around the pastures if they keep this up.”Dani chuckled and sounded like she was drinking something before she spoke again. “I was thinking…How about I make you dinner? You know, to repay you for teaching me spaghetti. They just finished the electrical in the kitchen today and the new plumbing’s all in.”“I’d like that a lot, but…I thought spaghetti was all you could make now?” Levi hated to question her, and he would never turn down the invitation, but figured he’d better find out if he should eat before he got there, just in case.“You
Collide Just a Kiss
Right on time. As she walked down the hall to let Levi in, she took in his image through the screen. He was striking in his black button down and black hat and was holding a pink box in his hand. “Hi there,” she said as she opened the door for him.Levi ducked down and kissed her cheek then presented the box to her. “These are for you. I figured you’d like them more than flowers.”“Uh, thanks,” she said, suddenly a bit nervous. She took the small box and pulled off the white ribbon. Opening it she found four perfect truffles sitting in branded tissue from Gaston’s Chocolates in Tyler. Her mouth watered just at the sight. She’d forgotten Gaston’s. She gave him a big grin.“I remembered how much you used to like them so I ran over earlier today. I hope you still like them,” Levi said when she didn’t immediately say anything.“I love them,” she assured him. “I can’t believe you remembered Gaston’s.”“I remember everything when it comes to you, Dani Lynn,” he said huskily.She cleared he
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Collide Epilogue
Three months later, Maggie was back in Dani and Levi’s barn, standing under the million twinkle lights. This time, however, it was for her own wedding. It wasn’t the large Texas wedding she’d had in her little girl dreams with the fairy princess dress, a crystal tiara holding a chapel length train to her head that would billow for a mile behind her, the minimum six bridesmaids – all in blush pink, of course, the ride to the chapel in a horse drawn carriage, and the sit down dinner afterwards for at least 300, but it was so much more. Maggie’s dress was a simple, Empire waist gown à la Pride and Prejudice, with lace panels in front and back and a few sparkling crystals surrounding the low-scooped n
Collide Fight for Her
Maggie reclined on her chaise in her room looking out her window at the hummingbirds flying around their feeder, zooming in for quick sips and zooming back out, their tiny wings nothing but a blur. She felt like her life had been like that for the last week, blurry around the edges. She resented the headaches that were her constant companions and would not allow her to sleep through the pain in her heart. Per doctor’s orders, she had not been allowed to come into the cafe even for a little while this week. She’d tried to read but that made the pain in her head worse. There wasn’t one TV program she could find that held her interest. She didn’t know how she was going to live through another week of this enforced rest. A quiet knock came from her bedroom door. “Come in,” she replied. She hoped desperately someone needed her for something. With nothing to distract her, she was slowly losing her mind. Her attention had nowhere to go except back to Zane and the events of last weekend.“He
Collide The Sound of a Heart Breaking
Maggie came back to herself in pieces. She smelled bleach and some other antiseptic and wrinkled her nose. Sun was beating onto her closed eyelids and her head was throbbing. She moaned and reached a hand up to her head finding a bandage at her forehead. It slowly came back to her. She was in the hospital. Someone had attacked her at the Mama Tried. “Zane?” she asked without opening her eyes yet. “Can we shut the blinds? My head is pounding.”He didn’t answer her, but she felt a shadow fall over her face and the brightness dimmed. She carefully cracked open her eyes. She blinked a few times to bring everything into focus and saw Dani and Levi standing over her bed.“Hey, Mags, how’re you feeling? Do you need some water?” Dani said softly to her.She started to nod but then stopped abruptly when pain shot through her skull with the movement. She raised her hand to her head again. “Ow. Yes please.”Levi poured her water from a plastic pitcher next to her bed and handed a cup to Dani. S
Collide Testosterone Poisoning
Zane sat for a long time, holding Maggie’s hand and watching her sleep. He wanted to memorize every detail of her, her beautiful rosy skin, those plush pink lips that drove him to distraction, the way her silky chestnut locks spread out across the pillow. Her eyes were closed but he could visualize the chocolate brown orbs that changed to dark expresso when she wanted him. The unfathomable look in them when she told him she loved him. And her hands, the wonderfully small hands that were so soft but competent and graceful. Those hands that had the power to drive all his worries away and make him feel whole. He wished he could see her smile at him one more time. His eyes shone with unshed tears. He wondered if you could truly die from a broken heart. When he was sure she was sleeping soundly, he let go of her hand carefully placing it under the starched white blanket on her bed. He leaned over and let his lips brush her cheek, careful not to wake her. He took a deep breath filling his
Collide Concussive Forces
"Get security!" he yelled, turning to the woman he had pushed past to get into the ladies' room. She started to argue with him but then took in the sight before her. "I'm on it," she said and quickly moved through the crowd. “Maggie!” he yelled, falling to his knees next to her. She was on her hands and knees on the floor near the sink. Blood was pouring down her face and her eyes weren’t focusing. He could tell she was trying to stand but couldn’t get her feet under her.“Don’t try to get up, baby,” Zane told her. He eased her back down to sit on the floor and took her face in his hands trying to see where all the blood was coming from. He knew logically that head wounds bled copiously even from a tiny cut but, his heart stuttered in his chest at the sight of her beautiful face and gentle hands covered in red.“Zane?” she asked in a confused whisper. “How did you get here? Are we in the ladies’ room?”She tried to raise her bloody hands to her head, but he caught them. “It’s ok, swe
Collide Mama Tried
Saturday came before she knew it and Maggie found herself rushing to pack for the weekend before she was late. Her thoughts were unusually scattered and she couldn't seem to get her things together. Her current dilemma included her boots taking up too much room in her weekender bag causing her to not be able to get the zipper closed. “Aren’t you coming back tomorrow night?” JT asked, leaning on the door frame to her bedroom and watching her attempt to get her bag closed with amusement.Maggie glared at him over her shoulder. “Yes, I am, but we’re going to Mama Tried to see Morgan Wallen and I have to get.these.boots.to.fit,” she said punctuating her last words with the effort to get the teeth of the zipper close enough to catch.JT chuckled and went to her side, pushing her away from the bag with a hip. “Here let me fix it.” He reached in the bag, removed the boots and easily zipped up the case. “There, fixed.”Maggie stared at him, hands fisted on her hips. “I could have done that,”
Collide The Hall Pass
The last few months had flown by in a happy haze for Maggie with the wedding planning, her business going great guns and her nightly marathon Facetime sessions with Zane between visits, but with only two weeks left until Dani and Levi’s wedding, she was exhausted. There seemed to be a never-ending list of things to do and not nearly enough hours in the day to get them all done. I’ll just lay my head down for a minute.Sofia started to knock on the door jamb but then stopped abruptly at the sight in front of her. Maggie was at her desk with her head pillowed on her arms, fast asleep. She was really burning the candle at both ends. Sofia was worried about her. She’d never caught her sleeping at her desk before. She rarely even took a coffee break during the day. Maggie could do more things in a day than most people did in a week but even she apparently had her limits.She saw JT coming down the hall and put a finger to her lips. “Shhhh,” she whispered, closing the door softly. “She’s as
Collide Small Town Moves
Zane sat in his club chair, Jameson in hand, staring at the city lights from his window. He had picked up a book to read but couldn’t focus. He'd hated to have to leave her after her weekend together. The Shawna situation made him want to wrap Maggie in bubble wrap and lock her in his apartment where nothing could get to her, but maybe she was right. He had always been the one Shawna followed and harassed. He'd casually dated a couple of other women after her and nothing had happened. Maybe all these new and intense feelings he had for Maggie were just making all his protective instincts go into overdrive. Hell, he hadn't even really been aware he had protective instincts before Maggie. He sipped the smooth scotch and tried to convince himself that Maggie was right. She would be fine. He had to make himself believe it. It was the only way he could get anything else done. He glanced at his watch and saw he had two hours before Maggie would be done with her catering event and he could
Collide Charmed X Two
JT was just finishing up cleaning up after his prep work in the Common Grounds' kitchen when Sofia popped her head in. “Hey, boss. I finally got the final numbers from Jim at the bank if you have a few minutes to go over the menu with me,” she said brightly.“Sure, give me five minutes,” JT said. Sofia shot him a grin and nodded. With a flip of her dark, shiny ponytail, she was gone.JT smiled and shook his head as he wiped down his workstation. He’d never seen Sofia in a bad mood. No matter how onery the customer or how crazy the day got, she always had a smile on her face and a bounce in her step. And she was good at everything she did. He’d never tell Maggie, but he thought Sofia could give her a run for her money in the organization and customer service departments. The best decision they’d ever made was recently promoting her to manager of the cafe and assistant event coordinator for Common Grounds Catering.When he met her at the table a few minutes later, he moved over some pa
