“I’m driving!” Amanda declared, pulling back with a grin before Dunc was ready to let her go. She bounced off the couch and twirled her keys around one finger.
“Why? I have a truck. It’ll hold more stuff.” Dunc finished tying his laces, hoping he could catch her before she got out the door for another kiss and hug.
“You drove me around for our date. I’m driving you around. It’ll be fine. I laid down the back seats for more room.” Amanda walked to the door and held it open, waiting for Dunc to join her.
“Will I fit? That’s the more important question.” Dunc headed for Amanda, hands up in preparation for grabbing her. He was smiling now and had a mischievous glint in his eyes. He jumped toward her, intending to catch her. Amanda laughed and darted out the door. She parked her car in front of his house, with the seats already laid down. She had also made sure that the passenger seat was moved back as far as it would go. Dunc should have plenty of room in her little crossover on the passenger side.
***
They got on the road without any hiccups. Dunc settled into the passenger seat with plenty of room and enjoyed the ride. It wasn’t often that he didn’t drive. “Your mother gave me a recipe and told me you might like it if I baked you a pie.”
“You can cook?” Dunc gave her a skeptical look. From his understanding of things in Amanda’s house, Dew and Sallie did all the cooking.
“I can follow a recipe,” Amanda grumbled.
“Following a recipe isn’t the same thing as cooking.” Dunc leaned back in his chair and gave her a skeptical look. “Make me something from the heart, and then we can talk.”
“Oh, wow, Dunc, are you that full of yourself?” Amanda shot him the weirdest face. It was a mix between a dirty look and a smirk. “I’ll have you know I can cook you under a table.”
“Oh, really?” Dunc grinned. “I’d like to see you try.” He had gotten a rise out of her over something as silly as cooking! He continued poking, amused by how feisty she looked. Wow, this was a new look on her, and he liked it. This could be a bad thing. She looked so fierce yet cute at the same time, glimpsing her playful side.
“For Thanksgiving. We’re going to have a cook-off!” Amanda almost clipped another car and yelped.
“Watch the road!” Dunc cringed in his seat. Maybe picking a playful fight with her in the car while driving was not a good idea. He took a deep breath and smiled. “That sounds like fun.”
“Fun! Are you kidding me! I’m going to win!” Amanda took cooking seriously.
“Hey!” The car in front of them had slowed down suddenly. Dunc was thrown forward against his seatbelt as Amanda slammed on the brakes. The car behind them did the same with a screech. “Hey, calm down. I’m sorry I said it that way. Don’t get us into a wreck!”
Amanda took a deep breath. Here she was worried about Dunc throwing a tantrum, and what had she done? He was managing her! Not the other way around. She took another big breath. Dunc leaned over and kissed her to let her know it was all okay. “Eyes on the road, please.” He leaned back and smiled.
“Sorry about that.” Amanda smiled back. “But yeah, let’s do that for Thanksgiving!”
“You’re not going to try to kill me to win, are you?” Dunc teased.
“All’s fair in love and competition!” Amanda smirked and kept her eyes on the road.
“That’s comforting.” Dunc smiled and went back to watching the scenery going by. Lesson learned. Don’t tease Amanda while she’s driving.
***
Amanda could not keep up with Dunc. He grabbed two large baskets for apples and a wagon and ran off into the orchard. The baskets bounced around and almost fell out. They managed to get to the trees without anything disastrous happening. Dunc walked a little further, then immediately began going through apples.
“We’re looking for firm, unblemished apples.” Dunc began picking as fast as he could, carefully setting the apples into the basket. “Be nice to them. These are Pink Lady apples. My favorite. Try one.” He tossed an apple to Amanda, who was standing next to the wagon, looking at him in bewilderment. She caught it, and after rolling it around in her hands, took a bite. Dunc walked around the closest tree filling his arms with apples. Then he would move them into a basket.
Amanda munched on her apple, staring at Dunc. She knew exactly what he was doing. He was trying to get the baskets full as quickly as possible. She was going to have to figure out a way to slow him down. Amanda grinned, and while Dunc’s back was turned, walked off into the orchard. He was going to be annoyed, but it looked like an excellent place to get lost in.
There was only one problem. Dunc found Amanda half an hour later. He proclaimed that he had finished filling the two baskets, so they could get them weighed and paid for. Then they could pick out pumpkins. Amanda thought she had done an excellent job of wandering far away. She had to have covered at least a mile in her walk. Yet, he had found her in less than five minutes.
Dunc brought her back to where he left the baskets in another ten simply because she refused to run with him. The apple picking by itself should have taken an hour.
Dunc didn’t seem to notice that Amanda was stalling. He thought she had wanted to go for a walk. He paid for the
