High C

14. Tough Cookies (Part 1)

"So what's the deal with these cookies?" Bob asked, seated next to Natasha in the front of their rented car.

"They're only the best cookies in the world," DeeDee said, bundled up in the backseat.

Again, Bob couldn't help notice how cute she was with just two sets of eyelashes sticking up over a soft-looking blanket scarf. To think she was cute was at his own peril, but as long as he kept the thought to himself it wouldn't be a problem. The scarf was not enough to muffle the cloud of breath when she spoke as they waited for the car's heat to kick in. Natasha had warned that she didn't want it on full blast as they were dressed for a formal dinner at the Wurtzes underneath their winter things, and she didn't want to get too sweaty before they got there with the running around they had to do first.

"The Grannies are a group of women who get together once of year to make all their families' hand-me-down cookie recipes for Christmas," Natasha explained. "There's a whole system to ordering cookies and picking them up."

"It's like picking study courses," DeeDee added. "You've got to have back-up choices."

"But you just said you pre-order," Bob said, curious.

"You do," Natasha said, "but you never know what they'll have on the day. Sometimes a Granny can't make it and apparently they don't share their recipes."

"They don't give you long to get in, get them and get out either, so there's no mulling it over in line."

"I'm guessing this is a line of all women," Bob said, unable to think of any man he knew with the necessary patience or attention to cookie detail.

"And if they do have what you want you can't get more than what you ordered."

"Not even as a back up?" Bob asked.

"If you selected it as a back-up online you can," Natasha said.

"What if you're back-ups are gone?"

"Sometimes there are scalpers in the parking lot."

"Ahh, that's where the men are!" he said.

"My list is all French Creams," DeeDee purred. "They're like a glazed sugar cookie topped with dried currants. I've tried to make them. I can never get the icing right."

"They're so sweet," Natasha said sliding her teeth against her tongue.

"They're just crackers if they're not sweet," Bob said.

"Don't forget, Deeds, Aunt Phil wants the vegan shortbreads, Steve wants the nougats and Gene wants the wafers."

"On the list," DeeDee confirmed, then leaned forward to tap Bob's shoulder. "The French Creams are great for dunking too because the cookie dissolves and currents stay chewy,"

Natasha went one further. "Wait'll you see Steve's brother Gene eat a wafer. He eats all the icing a layer at a time and then stacks all the wafer-bits like a house of cards."

Bob tried and failed at a little mental engineering. "Aren't they wet from licking?"

"Did I say licking?" Natasha's voice rose playfully. "He scrapes off the icing with his teeth!"

"You should see him eat a carrot," DeeDee said. "He has to excavate the root first. He calls it the 'inside carrot'."

"Not gonna lie, I've done it," Bob admitted.

"Yeah but do you save them all in a pile on your dinner plate and eat them separately?"

"Dinner plate? You mean he can do it when they're cooked?"