Page 10 of The Great Maple Mistake (Love in Maplewood #8)

Alex

“Luke!” I stare at myself in the full-length mirror. “Hey, Luke!”

“Hold your horses, I’m coming!” I hear heavy pounding on the stairs, and my door swings open, almost knocking me on my ass. “What?” He glances around the room, eyes widening as he realizes how close he came to taking me out with the door. “Oh, shit. Sorry. What’s up?”

I take in the Timberlands, khaki shorts, pink T-shirt, and the rainbow apron with “Proud of my cooking” on the chest. I can’t believe I’m about to ask this when he’s wearing that .

“Outfit check, please?” I slowly turn in place, arms out.

“Dinner at Red’s. Walk after. Maybe drinks at the tavern.

” His curious expression turns serious, and he gives my outfit a thorough once-over.

After almost an hour of trying on and rejecting things, my confidence in my own ability to judge my outfit is nil, and I need his endorsement.

I’ve opted for a long-sleeved, pewter-green button-front shirt, rolled at the sleeves, over off-white skinny jeans and my chestnut-colored suede loafers.

“I don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard, but I don’t want him to think I didn’t try at all. ”

Luke takes another minute to consider and then nods. “You look great. That’s a good color on you.” My brother is no fashionista, but he does usually have decent taste in clothing, and I trust him to tell me when I could do better. “So, who’s the ‘him’ you’re going out with?”

I haven’t mentioned Cody to my brother or dad.

Or to anyone but Finn, really. Not that they wouldn’t approve, but I wasn’t exactly sure Cody was interested.

There hadn’t been much contact between us after my visit to the station.

In fact, the Saplings meeting was the first time we’d talked since then.

So to say I was surprised when he asked me out would be an understatement.

But I wasn’t about to say anything but yes. “Cody Sheppard.”

“The new firefighter?” Luke whistles appreciatively. “Nice! He’s all kinds of yes, please. But I’m not surprised he asked you out.”

“Really? Why?” I hadn’t meant to sound so surprised, but I suppose I am.

Luke rolls his eyes. “C’mon, Alex. You’re a catch. Of course he wants to go out with you.”

“Aww, Luke.” I close the distance between us and wrap him in a hug. “Thanks.”

He hugs me fiercely for a few seconds, then lets me go.

“Okay, gotta go check on my Apple Charlotte. I’m gonna get it right if it kills me, and I don’t want it to burn.

Again.” He hurries out of my room, yelling over his shoulder.

“This weekend! You, me, and The Great British Baking Show!” I hear him pound down the stairs and hurry back into the kitchen.

A few weeks ago, he announced to Dad and me that he’s entering the dessert division of The Great Maple Cook-Off and has been working on his recipe for weeks.

Luckily, I’m not judging the contests, so I can sample his different attempts without guilt.

With huge amounts of regret for past me’s clothing panic, I begin picking up the discarded items, putting them on hangers or folding them neatly then putting them away.

I make it through half the mess when the doorbell rings.

My stomach clenches, and I toss the shirt in my hand back onto the chair and hurry downstairs.

By the time I get to the door, Luke’s ushered Cody into the house, hands still covered with potholders. “C’mon in. Alex is”—he turns and sees me descending the stairs—“right here.”

“Hi.” Cody gives a small wave. “You look amazing.”

I look amazing? No, he looks amazing in his tobacco-colored chinos that cling to his thighs.

And his dark brown, short-sleeved knit polo puts his muscular biceps on full display and hugs his shoulders and chest like I want to.

“Um, thanks. You look amazing too.” I drag my eyes away from his oh, so delicious body, meet his gaze, and blush profusely.

His smirk would be cocky on just about anyone else, but there’s also so much pure joy in his expression that it comes off as endearing.

Luke smacks his potholders together, and Cody’s head snaps around to look at him. “Sorry, I’m being really rude. I’m Cody Sheppard.” He holds out his hand to Luke, who grins and tucks an oven mitt under his arm, extracts his hand, and shakes Cody’s.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Alex’s brother, Luke.”

A clearing of his throat and the creak on the stairs is my dad’s way of announcing his presence. He descends the last step and extends his hand to Cody. “Graham MacDougall. I’m Alex’s dad. It’s nice to meet you.”

Cody’s grin is wide and genuine. God, he has perfect teeth.

And a perfect jawline. And I’m definitely staring at his bicep again as he shakes my dad’s hand because, yeah, perfect arms. In fact, almost everything about Cody is perfect.

At least what I’ve seen so far. “Sir, it’s very nice to meet you. ”

Dad gestures to Luke’s oven mitts. “You baking something?”

“Shit!” Luke turns and darts into the kitchen but shouts from the other room.

“Yeah! I’m making Apple Charlotte.” We can hear the beeps from the oven as the timer goes off, followed by Luke opening the oven door.

“Oh man, this smells soooo good. And it’s not burnt this time!

” Dad and I grin at each other. Luke’s head pops through the kitchen doorway. “You guys want to try it?”

I do, because it smells delicious, and I want to be supportive of Luke, but I also don’t want to ruin my appetite. “No thanks.”

Cody considers, and then I remember there’s maple in the recipe. I shake my head at him, eyes wide, and mouth ‘maple’ at him. He winces and mouths ‘thanks’ before answering Luke. “I think I’ll pass, too. We’re heading out to eat. Maybe next time?”

Luke shrugs, unbothered by our refusal. “Your loss.”

Dad snorts. “And my gain. I’d love to try some.”

“Okay, but come in here because I still need to brush it with more glaze.” He waves a potholder at us. “Hey, it was great to meet you, Cody.”

“Good to meet you, too.”

Dad hugs me. “Have a great time tonight.” He holds out his hand again to Cody. “It was nice to meet you. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again.” Then he pats his belly. “Excuse me, gentlemen, but there’s a dessert calling my name.”

Dad disappears into the kitchen, and Cody points in the general direction of outside. “Ready to go?”

I nod, and he steps back, letting me go first. “I figured I’d leave my car at home and we can walk the few blocks to Red’s. Then maybe we can take a stroll through the park on our way to the tavern. I think that’s what you had in mind. Right?”

Why does it sound incredibly romantic when Cody says it, but when anyone else proposes walking to town, it sounds exhausting and time consuming? “That sounds perfect.”

It’s still sunny, which is one of my favorite things about summer.

Even at 7:00 p.m. there’s plenty of daylight left.

And it’s a beautiful evening. The humidity is low, and there’s a light breeze.

We stroll side by side, and I’d love to take his hand, but we’re not there yet, and I don’t want to rush things.

“So, have you eaten at Red’s or Sparky’s yet? ”

Cody nods. “I had a burger at Sparky’s Pride festival booth the first day I was in town.”

“The day we first met.”

His smile is instantaneous, and it makes my insides swoop.

“Yeah. It was. That was a great day.” I’m too busy trying to control the butterflies in my stomach to do anything more than grin back and nod.

“Anyway, the guys at the firehouse said something about needing to go to Red’s before I ate at Sparky’s again.

And I have to alternate so I don’t show a preference.

” His expression becomes incredibly earnest. “Were they pulling my leg? Or is that really a thing?”

I snort. “Oh, it’s a thing. Trust me. Most of the town has taken sides and are either Team Red’s or Team Sparky’s.”

Cody nods like I’m imparting vital information. “And which are you?”

I snort. “Neither. Both? Both. I support each diner because I cover town events and run the town’s web page, so I have to be neutral.

There are a few instances where that’s the case, like with the firefighters and the police.

If there’s an emergency, there can’t be any question of favoritism, so the neutral people alternate where we eat. ”

“So do we still go to Red’s? I don’t want to get you into trouble. I ate at Sparky’s last, but I’m still relatively new to town so I think I can claim ignorance if you’d rather go there.” Cody sounds very concerned for me, and it’s sweet. But I don’t want him stressing about it.

“It just so happens that I also ate at Sparky’s last, so let’s go to Red’s. Maybe I can introduce you to my friend Mickey too. Unless you’ve already met him. His dad owns Red’s.”

“I haven’t met Mickey yet.” A small smile pulls at the corner of Cody’s mouth, like the idea makes him happy. “I’d like to meet one of your friends.”

I gently bump his arm with mine. “You already have. You met my best friend Finn at Frozen Fest.”

“He was the one in the cartoon animal print scrubs. Right?”

“Yeah. Finn’s been my best friend since elementary school. We bonded over Lord of the Rings.”

Cody’s sexy brows draw down, but he’s smiling. That probably means he doesn’t hate LOTR. “Didn’t those movies come out like twenty years ago? I mean, I know they were based on the books, but you’d have been too young to read those in kindergarten.”

“Well—” I grin at him, happy to share how Finn and I discovered our mutual love of Aragorn.

“Finn’s dad rented the animated movie from Blockbuster, and my dad read the books to Luke and me.

Every night, we’d lie in bed, and he’d read us a chapter.

He’d do the voices and everything. Anyway, on the first day of kindergarten, we’re on the playground, and I see Finn playing with an action figure and making it slash and hack at invisible bad guys.

Well, I was wholly on board with that, so I asked if I could play too.

He told me he got to be Aragorn since he had the action figure.

He started to tell me all about the story, but when I got excited and filled in parts he glossed over, Finn got excited too.

I’d never met any other kid who knew the story, other than Luke.

He let me be Aragorn for the rest of recess, and we’ve been best friends ever since.

” In kindergarten, we both wanted to be Aragorn.

By fourth grade, I knew I wanted to date Aragorn.

Or Eomer. It depended on the day of the week, really.

But yeah, people who say kids don’t know who they are at a young age are full of shit.

I bump Cody’s arm again. “So what about you?”

Cody laughs. “What’s my childhood best friend story?”

I shrug. “Sure. Or who’s your best friend now? Or both.” I don’t really care which story he tells, as long as I can learn more about him.

“It just so happens that, like you, my current bestie is also my childhood bestie. And we also met on the playground. Only we didn’t bond over a book. Our story is much cooler.” The exaggeration in his tone has me grinning already. “Josh and I became best friends over our fascination with worms.”

Laughing, I grab his wrist. “Worms?”

“Hey, they were gross and wiggly.” He shrugs. “I thought they were cool. And so did Josh.”

“And you’re still friends? Where does he live?”

Cody slowly twists his wrist, and I realize I’m still grasping onto him. I let go, but before I can apologize or pull back, he grabs my hand and holds it, letting them drop between us. “This okay?”

I realize he wasn’t trying to get out of my grasp; he was trying to turn his hand over to hold mine.

“Yeah.” Excitement bubbles up in my chest, along with a heavy dose of disbelief because oh my god, Cody is freaking gorgeous, and I’m on a date with him, and he’s holding my hand.

“It’s definitely alright.” I give his hand a small squeeze, and he ducks his head before looking back at me, grin huge.

And is that a bit of pink on his cheeks?

Oh my god, he’s so freaking adorable. “So anyway, you were going to tell me about Josh.”

“Well, he’s been my best friend since kindergarten, and he’s married to a very lovely lady named Alicia. They have a beautiful one-year-old baby girl named Mia, and they currently live in Frederick, Maryland. That’s where Alicia’s parents live, but Josh and I grew up in Baltimore.”

Lost in Cody’s company, I barely pay attention to the actual walk, so it’s a bit of a shock when we’re standing in front of Red’s as if we magically appeared.

I make a sweeping gesture to the building.

“Ta-daaaa.” Red’s is one of those old railcar-style diners with a long, narrow body.

It’s painted white with red trim, has a barrel roof, and is totally charming.

The door to the diner swings open, and two girls in their teens rush out, giggling and looking over their shoulders at something or someone inside.

One of them walks right into Cody. He grabs her shoulders, keeping her upright as she snaps her head around, eyes wide.

When she sees who has her, her eyes practically bug out, and another giggle escapes her.

“Sorry, Cody.” She knows him? How does she know him? And why isn’t she moving away from him?

I seriously consider saying something, but I can’t figure out what would be acceptable, since I have no claim on him, and technically she didn’t do anything.

Before I can get too worked up about it, Cody gently pushes her back, pats her arms, and grabs my hand again, giving it a squeeze.

Was I that obvious? Shit. “No problem. Eyes front when walking, though. Okay?”

The comment is accompanied by his gentle smile, which makes the girl giggle again. “Okay.” She glances at her friend, and they both burst into laughter and then run off toward the square. Thank god. Because that was annoying.

Cody squeezes my hand one more time as he opens the door and waves me in.