We drove towards the downtown area and pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant with the big sign with Mama Mary's on it. It wasn't a chain restaurant, but looked like a well established place. Walking inside, I saw that there was decent sized lunch crowd and the smell of garlic and tomatoes permeated the air. It made my mouth water. The friendly hostess seated us right away and handed us our menus before leaving. I sat next to Preston and Brady sat across from me. His long legs ensured that his feet were touching mine. Brady playfully nudged my foot with his and gave me a wink. I smiled at him while taking my coat off.
A woman approached the table. "Hi my name is Jessie and I'll be your server today. Can I start you off with any drinks? Would you be interested in a list of our wines?"
"The wine list won't be necessary. I'll have water. Delphine, what would you like to drink?" Preston asked me.
"I'll just have water for now." I told Jessie.
Jessie's gaze turned toward Brady and she blushed slightly. "And what can I get for you? We have an excellent beer on tap."
"Oh, no beer. I'll have a Coke please." he answered pleasantly and turned his attention back to his menu.
"Alright, I'll be back with those drinks." she said sweetly to him and walked away.
Brady looked at me over his menu with a slightly chagrined expression on his face. I gave him a sympathetic look and slipped my foot out of my shoe to rub the top of his foot. Brady grinned and Preston chuckled. Putting my shoe back on I perused the menu. Everything sounded so good that I had a hard time choosing.
"What's your favorite my dear?" Preston asked me.
"Usually it's linguine with red clam sauce but today I can't decided between the ravioli and spaghetti."
Brady pointed something out of the menu. "Look buttercup, they have a half and half where you some of both spaghetti and ravioli."
"Perfect! That's what I'm having then."
Jessie our server came back to our table with glasses for me and Preston. She carefully set Brady's Coke in front of him. She also set down a tray of antipasto in the middle of the table. "Have you had a chance to look over the menu and decide what you would like to order?"
She kept her eyes on Brady with her cheeks still slightly pink. He ordered the Veal Parmesan and the half and half for me. Preston ordered the stuffed cannelloni and Jessie left the table to place our orders with the kitchen but not before giving Brady a smile over her shoulder. He groaned and slumped in his seat.
"Cheer up Brady, you might get a free dessert out of this." I teased him. He gave me a mock glare and Preston laughed. "She's right Brady." he said as he picked up a slice of salami.
"I don't want a free dessert!" he groused. "What did I do to deserve this?"
"It's your own fault." I told him as I reached over for an olive and popped it into my mouth.
"What? How was this my fault?" he exclaimed. Even Preston looked at me confused.
"Well, you are just too cute for your own good! Stop being so cute and then the unwanted attention will stop." I explained and speared a little ball of fresh mozzarella. That made them laugh and Brady relaxed and helped himself to an olive. We started discussing our Halloween plans since it was only a couple days away. Lexine was so excited by it and played with that mini village every day.
Our plates of food arrived and they smelled heavenly. I savored the flavor of their sauce as I ate the food. Soon there was just a few bites left on my plate and I was full. Preston and Brady were done eating also and Jessie appeared to take away our plates. "Can I interest you in any desserts?" she asked Brady. "If you aren't sure which one you would like, I can sneak you some samples."
It took everything that I had not to laugh. I'm sure that the trembling of my lips were a dead giveaway but I just kept my eyes on the table. "Um, no thank you." mumbled poor Brady. Preston decided to save him and cleared his throat getting Jessie's attention and handed her his card. "I'd like to pay our check." he said crisply to her. She nodded and left with his card.
"Delphine would you walk to the car with Brady to keep him safe?" Preston asked me wryly. "I will stay behind to sign the receipt and meet you at the car.
I giggled and nodded standing up. "Come on Brady, I'll be your personal bodyguard." Brady got up from his seat and helped me with my coat before walking behind me towards the front door. Halfway there, Jessie rounded a corner and spied us leaving and headed our way. "I'll run interference," I said to Brady. "Go to the car, I'll see you there."
I stepped out of the way and Brady quickly made his way to the front door. Jessie's focus turned to the front door and I blocked her way to it. "Thank you so much for your excellent service today!" I said to her brightly. "The food was fantastic."
"Oh, you're welcome. Where did your friend go? The tall one with the dimples? I wanted to give him my phone number." Jessie said to me.
"I'm sorry but giving your phone number to him is not a good idea. He has a fiancé."
Jessie's face fell. "He has a fiancé?" She sighed, "Oh, well. It was worth a shot. He's really handsome."
I nodded in agreement. "That he is. His fiancé is a lucky woman."
She gave me a small smile and turned to go back to the table and have Preston sign the receipt. I continued on my way out and saw Brady leaning against the car door on my side. I walked over to him and he swept me up in a hug. "What happened?" he asked eagerly. "Oh, I just explained to her that you had a fiancé, so she shouldn't give you her phone number. She did say that you are very handsome and I had to agree with that." Brady's cheeks actually turned slightly pink! I gave him a kiss on one of his dimples and he smiled bigger.
"Ok, buttercup. Into the car with you." he said, set me down and opened the door. I climbed in and just as I sat down, Preston joined us and got into the car. "So what did you tell our persistent server?" he asked me.
"I told her the truth. That she shouldn't give Brady her phone number because he has a fiancé."
"That was done very diplomatically. You weren't even jealous at all?" Preston asked with a questioning look.
"If Brady had been flirting with her or shown an interest then yes I would have gotten jealous and hurt but he wasn't so there was no need for me to feel bad about it. Besides I can't blame her for having good taste." I answered truthfully.
Brady poked his head forward between the front seats. "No worries there. I only have eyes for you."
"I know." I said with a smile. "I'm lucky to have the best looking men in world." They both looked pleased with that statement and Preston started the car and drove us back to the house. Once we were there, inside the house, I washed my hands and went to the kitchen. They followed me in there wondering what I was doing. "We are having pork chops for dinner and I needed to brine them before cooking them tonight."
"Sound interesting." said Preston with a curious look on his face. Brady looked equally intrigued. I had them pull up a couple of stools to the kitchen island so that they could watch while I worked. It was nice to have some company while I made the brine and put the pork chops into plastic baggies and put them in the fridge. They seemed loath to leave the kitchen however.
"Is there anything else that you were going to cook?" Preston asked hopefully.
"Oh, yes, I almost forgot." I exclaimed while getting a couple of frozen bread dough loafs out of the freezer. I oiled a couple of loaf pans and set the dough in there to defrost and rise. I had Brady set them on top of the fridge where it was slightly warmer than the counter. "Is there anything else buttercup?" he asked me.
That was the second time that one of them had asked me about cooking something else. I looked at them confused. "What is it that I'm supposed to cook?" I stood there with my hands on my hips and head tilted to the side. "I don't know... maybe something that everyone in the family would enjoy? I did see that we bought that huge jar of peanut butter." Brady volunteered. Preston nodded too.
A light bulb went off in my head. "Are you two wanting me to bake cookies?" I asked them. "Only if you want to." Preston said. I shook my head in disbelief. They wanted me to not be afraid to ask them for things but they couldn't outright ask me for what they wanted? "If you want me to make you something then all you have to do is ask me. I doubt that I'll every say no unless it's something like, like... I don't know.... um, haggis."
Brady sighed, "You are right buttercup. We expect you to be straightforward with us and we should do the same with you. I guess we were just hesitant in asking because we didn't want you to work if you were tired."
Preston got up from his stool and walked over to me. "I'm sorry my dear." and with that said, he leaned down and kissed my forehead. Brady hugged me next and I had them sit down again and pulled out all the ingredients for peanut butter cookies. I decided to make them into cookie bars and started pouring ingredients into the hands free mixer bowl. They both watched with fascination. "You aren't using a cookbook?" Preston asked me. "No, after making them for so many years, the recipe is stuck in my head." I replied.
When the dough was finished mixing, I had them help with spoons in spreading the dough out in the pan. While I was popping that in the oven, the guys cleaned the utensils that were used. While I was putting the peanut butter away, I noticed that there was a large box of rice crispies cereal in the pantry. Looking at a different shelf I found a bag of marshmallows too. I pulled those out and set them on the counter along with the peanut butter. "What's that for?" Brady asked.
"I'm thinking that I want to make some rice crispie treats too. Peanut butter flavored." I answered him.
"That sounds good! I have never had that before." said Preston.
With their help, it was quickly made before the cookie bars were done baking. They took great joy in eating the leftover treats that stuck to the spoon and pot. We snacked on the peanut butter cookie bars and treats with glasses of milk out in the living room while we watched a little television. I needed to do some laundry so I told them that. "Where is the laundry room?" I asked them. "Oh, we have two of them. One upstairs and one downstairs. C'mon and I'll show you, buttercup." Brady said. Preston said that he was going to be doing some work in his office if we needed him.
Upstairs, Brady showed me that the laundry room was at the end of the hallway where my bedroom was. He lounged on my bed as I sorted my and Lexine's laundry into different piles. He got up to help me carry one load to the laundry room. I was impressed with the washing machine and dryer. They were very nice front loaders. I poured in the soap and started the washer. We left the laundry room and went back to my room. Brady asked me if I wanted to go for a short walk in the backyard. I said yes and we got our coats and went into the backyard.
I slipped my hand into his and he tugged me towards the right. "I have something that I'd like you to see." he told me. "What is it?" I asked eagerly. "Well, come with me and see. I hope you like it." he said with a mysterious smile.