CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY FIVE – A TERRIBLE COOK

Over sandwiches and lemonade, they all traded good-natured jabs about her disastrous home-cooking attempt and pontified on why exactly jello had been included in the basket of sadness. Even Jessie seemed to regain her typically bubbly sense of humor once she stopped trying quite so hard to impress her boss. "You should have seen the look on his face when I pulled that crispy disc out of the pan!" She hooted, fanning herself dramatically. "I thought for sure Mr. Studly over here was going to call the hazmat team on me for a minute there." "Oh please, like my kitchen skills are any better," Kayla retorted with an impish grin. "I can barely operate a microwave half the time." "Is that why you have me get take-out so often?" Lance needled back playfully. "Here I thought you just enjoyed torturing me with temptation." The silly banter and laughter flowed easily as they enjoyed their impromptu lunch date. If nothing else, Jessie's hopeless crush was certainly becoming a reliable source