Constant Surprises (Wrong Numbers Series) by Jamallah Bergman, Molly Waters

some Gatorade. Handing his
brother a bottle they both sat down on the porch, taking big gulps. Both were
exhausted. “We sure did get a lot of work done today didn’t we?” asked Steven.
    “That we did. I
appreciate you helping me out with today. Lord, knows I couldn’t have done all
this myself in one day. I plan to hire more guys to work the fields and help
with the horses once things are squared away.”
    “Have you talked to
Amie at all today?”
    “Nope, but she’ll be
here for dinner tonight. We’ll talk because I want to know what the hell
happened last night.” Roy yawned and scratched his head. “That is, if I don’t
fall asleep first.”
    “Well don’t fall
asleep, dude, wake your ass up because you have a seriously gorgeous woman bringing
you dinner tonight,” Steven said taking another gulp of Gatorade.
    “Gorgeous woman?   What do you mean by that?” Roy asked with a
smirk.
    “I had already told
Sandy this before, if you didn’t have a crush on Amie since grade school, I
would have asked her out myself. But I am with Sandy and I’m happy. If you
don’t get with Amie now, someone else is going to snatch that fine woman off
the market.”
    “Can
you do me a favor?” asked Roy.          
    He went into his pocket
pulling out his keys. Slowly he started taking off the key to his house handing
it to him. “Can you go by Amie’s and give that to her. Tell her whenever she’s
ready to come over for dinner she can. I think once I take me a shower I’m
going to take a nap. She can just come on in and start on dinner while I’m
asleep.”
    “Will do, see you
later,” Steven said with a pat on his brother’s back. He walked to his truck
and headed on up the road.
    Roy just sat back on
the steps for a moment before deciding to go inside. He was completely
exhausted and knew a long hot shower was in order.

 
    * * * *

 
    Amie was in the middle
of seasoning the fish and putting them in a plastic bag for when she got to
Roy’s. She made all the sides for the tacos, including guacamole, Baja cream,
and tomatillo salsa Verde. Plus extras like lemonade as well as the lime sorbet
for dessert. She made extra of everything for her parents.
    “I just have to fry the
fish up, right?” Abby asked.
    “Either way, some
prefer not to fry it for a lighter dish. But yes, you can just fry it up and
put it in the tacos like you would beef and add the toppings. I’d try the Baja
cream, it’s so delish.” Amie smiled, then headed upstairs to take a shower and
change. But before she placed a foot on the first step, she heard the doorbell
ring. Turning around to the door, she opened it and found Steven.
    “Hello there, young
lady, is your father home?” he asked jokingly. “I’m sorry my daddy isn’t home,
sir,” Amie said playfully with a smirk.
    “Well, a pretty young
lady such as yourself shouldn’t be home alone like this, you know, some crazy
psychopath could come and get you while you’re home alone.” They both erupted
in laughter.
      Amie hugged him. “You are insane, sir.”
    “Oh I couldn’t help it.
Something smells good.”
    “Well, I was getting
things ready for my dinner with Roy, and of course, I made extra for Mom and
Dad…fish tacos.”
    “Oh speaking of Roy,
here is his key.” Going into his pocket, he handed her the key. “He wanted me
to tell you that you can come right on in because he was tired after all the
work we did. That way you can cook and wake him up proper,” Steven said and
winked at her.
    Amie laughed at his
antics. “Thanks. I appreciate you coming over. By the way,” she stepped closer
to him and whispered, “Sandy has a surprise for you tonight.”
    “Goodnight, you little
minx you.”
    “Goodnight,
psychopath.” She closed the door still laughing and went to get ready.

 
    * * * *

 
    Amie pulled drove along
the familiar dirt road and slowly up to Roy’s house, some of the lights were
on. She got out and used the key to open the