Page 12 of Luke: The Bears

Valley grinned. “I told you. He clearly knows you’re a soft touch.”

Luke lifted the top piece of bread from his sandwich and gave Kevin a slice of turkey.

Kevin chomped it happily, then leaned against Luke’s leg before sliding down to rest his head on his boot.

“Thank you for lunch,” Valley said as she opened the wrapper on her sandwich.

“I thought you might be too busy to eat.”

“I had breakfast earlier with my parents at their house, but I was definitely getting hungry.”

They ate and talked about the farm. Last night she’d mentioned she’d grown up on the outskirts of Mill Creek on her parents’ farm and seeing it in the daylight he found it very impressive.

“So, is it just you three in your bear group?” she asked.

“We call it a den, and no. There are two more – Maggie and Tyler. Maggie handles the office stuff for the construction company, and she’s mated to Tyler.”

“Do you like doing construction?”

“I do. I like working with my hands. And being a bear means I’ve got extra strength at my disposal, too. How about you and cake baking?”

“Cake baking is boring! It’s the decorating I love. Although I do really enjoy making other things besides cakes, like breads and muffins, and making up new cookies and treats. I had a cookie at a bakery once that had all kinds of stuff in it – pretzel pieces and walnuts and big chunks of chocolate – and it took me a while but I replicated it. Margie sold it as the Kitchen Sink Cookie, and it was a hit. Eisley asked me to make a batch for her birthday last year.”

“Sounds delicious.”

“It was. I might be biased, but it really was good.” She fiddled with her napkin. “I like figuring out what works with flavors and textures, finding the right balance. And I always get to eat the experiments, too.”

Kevin lifted his head from Luke’s boot and his tail thumped.

Luke heard footsteps and looked over Valley’s shoulder to see a woman in a long, flowy skirt walking toward them with a tall man in faded jeans and a t-shirt that looked like it was covered with paint stains.

Valley looked over her shoulder. “They must have noticed your truck.”

“Is that bad?” he asked.

“No, they’re just curious.”

“About me?”

“Yeah, about the truck they don’t recognize parked in front of their daughter’s place after she came home late last night and then acted weird at breakfast.”

He put his trash in the bag and smiled. “You acted weird?”

“What? I didn’t.”

“You just said you did.”

She pursed her lips, her gaze narrowing, and then she gave him the sweetest smile. “Okay, I did. Because I couldn’t stop thinking about you. And I might have dropped a banana and hit Kevin in the head with it.”

“Hello,” the woman called. “Hope we’re not interrupting.”

“Not at all,” Valley said. “Mom, Dad, this is Luke. These are my parents, Sage and Bodhi.”

They shook Luke’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you,” Sage said.

“Kevin looks comfortable,” Bodhi said.

“Weak link,” Valley said.