Lay Low

13: Puppy Parents

"Oh we'll see about that." He let go of me and went to go check on Sawyer, who was sniffing around the back end of the yard.

I knew how to get Eric, and the fact that I had ingredients in his fridge to make him homemade lasagna would have probably done it.

"I'm going to go in and start dinner," I called out as he got closer to Sawyer. I was still a little bummed about my pit bull. I wanted to call him Sparky. He looked like a Sparky.

"Okay. Sawyer and I will stay here out of your way."

"Good call," I chuckled.

I turned to go into the house. Once I got into the kitchen I pulled my cardigan off to hang over the back of the chair before I started to pull ingredients out. I usually made enough for two pans of lasagna, I didn't know how to scale it down to an 8×8, but I didn't think Eric would mind. I had the bell peppers and onions diced fine and simmering on the stove, just about ready for sauce, and the ground hot Italian sausage browning on the stove when my phone rang. From the song, Imagine, I could tell it was either my Aunt Linda, or Hadley calling from her place, which was more likely.

"Hello?" I answered, immediately putting my phone on speaker and on the counter so I could work.

"Holler." It was Hadley.

"Hey," I smiled even though she couldn't see it. "Long time, no talk." I wasn't even sure if she knew about my job unless Aunt Linda told her. I'd talked to her right after I got it.

"What's up? Where are you? I went by your place and you're not there."

"I'm at my boyfriend's house." Ooooh, that felt good to say. "I'm making dinner right now."

"Say what? Who? When? How?"

I laughed and said, "His name is Eric. We met at work, and it's been a few weeks. He's adorable, and sweet, and gives me someone to cook for." She knew I cooked for an Army regardless. It was nice having someone around to eat most of it. I wiped my hands off and picked up my phone to start looking for a picture to send to her.

"Oooh I want pics!"

"I know. Check your cell phone." I took mine off speaker so Eric couldn't hear her. She could be... he didn't need to hear her opinion of him.

"Schwiiiinnnng," she said loudly. "Holy hotcakes, he's sexy, Sook."

"I know. He's also funny, and outside playing with the puppy he just rescued." He was pretty much the full package. I grabbed the spoon to stir the sauce. The strainer was already in the sink, ready the drain the meat.

"How have your ovaries not exploded?"

"It's a daily struggle to keep them in check," I laughed. I picked up the pan and managed to pour the meat into the strainer without needing a second hand.

"So is he a mechanic or something? Because mechanics are sexy."

"He's the service writer, but he knows what he's doing under the hood," I told her. She was going to turn it into something dirty.

"That's what she said," she snickered.

"Oh, he knows what he's doing under that hood too," I chuckled. I shook the strainer one last time and then moved to pour it into the sauce. "I'm going to put my phone on speaker, so be good in case he walks into the room."

"You know I can't make any promises."

"I know." He was going to have to get used to her if we stayed together anyway. I put the phone on speaker. It was time to drain the noodles, and that was definitely a two handed job. "What have you been up to?" I asked.