California's Calling (Hunt Family Book 3) by Brooke St. James Page B

too," I said.
    Cub smiled and winked at me. "By help I mean I'm gonna see if Mary can put more of her casserole on my plate. She spoils Tess and me."
    I looked around. "I was wondering where Tess took off to."
    He nodded. "Mary."
    "I guess we'll see you later, then," I said. I was trying not to make a big deal out of saying goodbye to him, but I had no idea what to expect. For all I knew, Cub would be working on one project while I was working on another. Maybe we wouldn't even see each other for the rest of the day. Maybe we'd meet up again when it was time to go his house that evening. I shook my head again, reminding myself that I was there to work and to go to my brother's wedding and that it really didn't matter whether or not I saw Cub or his dog.
    The dining hall had rows and rows of tables with bench seats. Evan, Mia, and I sat across from my parents and Dee-dee. Rachel, Logan, and her parents were close by as well.
    "How'd you sleep?" was the first question that was asked as we took a seat.
    I glanced up to see that it was Rachel who was talking.
    "I slept well," I said. "Cub slept on the couch and gave me his bed."
    Rachel pointed at Mia. "You had the second bedroom." She pointed at Evan. "And you had the other couch."
    They both nodded at her.
    "Were you comfortable?"
    They continued to nod.
    "Tess kept me company," I said.
    "Tess slept with you ?" Rachel asked, looking dumbfounded.
    I nodded. "She's used to sleeping in Cub's room so she stayed in there with me."
    "Yeah, but she usually stays with him," Rachel said. She shrugged, still looking a little surprised.
    "You can bet she's with him right now," Ben said, overhearing our conversation.
    "She ran back there before Cub," Laura said, laughing.
    Ben shook his head. "If I was a betting man, I'd wager any amount of money that Mary's back there feeding them both bacon as we speak."
    "How about a thousand," Logan said.
    "A thousand what?" Ben asked.
    "Dollars."
    Ben laughed. "Oh, the bet?" he asked.
    Logan shrugged a shoulder. "I win, you don't owe me anything. You win, I donate a thousand dollars to the center."
    "That's not a bet," Ben said.
    "You said you weren't a betting man."
    "I can almost promise they're back there eating bacon right now," Ben warned.
    Logan threw up a hand like lets do it anyway . "It'll be a funny way to donate if you're right."
    "Who's gonna go spy on them?" Ben asked.
    "I'll go," Rachel said.
    "I'll go with you," I said. I hadn't planned on volunteering; the words just came out of my mouth before I could stop them.
    "Come on!" Rachel said, grabbing my hand.
    We walked along the walls of the dining hall toward the doors that led to the kitchen. "We can't walk straight over there because they'll see us coming," she said. "There's a window on each door, and we need to sneak up to them."
    "I'm nervous!" I whispered.
    "Me too," she said giggling with her fist over her mouth.
    "I don't know what I got myself into," I said. "I never volunteer for stuff like this. That's Mia's job."
    "You got this. It's just a little spy mission for the sake of the center."
    She stopped walking and pointed to the set of swinging double doors in front of us. "It's those doors right there. They obviously both have windows. I'll go to one, and you can go to the other. We'll stoop down, and at the count of three, we can both stand up and look through our window."
    It sounded like as good a plan as any, so I nodded nervously as we approached.

 
    Chapter 8
     
     
    Rachel went to the far door, and I took the one closest to us. We were both squatting down under the windows to avoid being seen.
    "Okay, so when I count to three, stand up and look through your window. You'll see into the kitchen. Remember, you're looking for Cub and Tess, and any sign of bacon."
    "Bacon. Got it."
    Rachel smiled and reached out to give my hand a squeeze. "Okay," she said. "One, tw—"
    I don't even think she had the chance to finish the word two before I got slammed in the forehead with a