Bluegrass Undercover (Bluegrass Brothers)

spread across his face as his last student left the room. He had a free period until his senior anatomy class started. He needed to go see Annie and invite her for dinner at his parents for tomorrow night.
    He had gone to his parents’ house for the weekly family dinner and been cornered by both his mother and Paige. He was ordered to bring Annie to dinner or else all homemade food would be cut off. Not that he couldn’t cook, but his mother made a peanut butter fudge pie that was to die for. On top of that, the only person she had shared the recipe with was Paige, and they were sticking together on this.
    “Hiya. How is our winning coach doing today?”
    “Hi, Steph. How are you?” Cade looked up and saw Stephanie in her usual black pencil skirt and matching sweater set. Her hair was pulled back into a little bun at the base of her neck. She was holding a covered plate and Cade wanted to groan.
    One of the reasons he had asked her out was because she had been so kind. She had brought him homemade treats and had talked with him about his students. But, after that first date, it became weird. She was sweet, but she was always there. Now she was standing in front of him with a plate of home cooked food and a smile on her face.
    “Really good. I made brownies yesterday and had these left over. I thought you would like some.” She placed the plate on his desk and he tried to smile sincerely.
    “These sm ell great. Thanks, Stephanie. I’m just getting ready to go see Annie. My mother has pronounced that it was time she meet the whole family properly in the form of a dinner.”
    “Really? It’s that serious?” she said, just a little too seriously. “I mean, that’s great. I just didn’t think you’d ever get serious about someone.”
    “Kinda took me by surprise, too. Well, thanks for the brownies. I’m sure they’re as delicious as always. I better give Annie the bad news!” Cade stood and walked out into the hallway with Stephanie.
    “Good luck at the dinner. I better get back to making up the pop quiz my junior chemistry class is going to get this afternoon.” Stephanie walked back into the classroom and shut her door. God, he hoped he had misread those signals. He liked Stephanie. She was sweet but not right for him.
     
    Annie smiled at Samantha and reached out for her hand as she led her toward her office door. “Sam, I promise, you’ll do great on your SAT’s. You have been studying for a year with a tutor. You’re a 4.0 student. Just relax and have confidence in yourself.”
    “Thanks, Miss H. I’ll let you know how I do on my next practice test. Oh, hello, Coach Davies. Do you have the test scores back from our genetics test?”
    “Yes, you’ll get them in class today. But, Sam, Miss Hill is right. You need to have some faith in yourself. You put in the time to do your homework and study and as a result you did very well.”
    “How….”
    “You’ll see in class.”
    “Oh, okay. Bye, Miss H, Coach Davies.” Annie watched as the young girl hefted her backpack on her small frame and headed off towards her next class.
    “Good afternoon. How was your weekend?” Cade asked her.
    “It was good. Got my reports done and even was able to meet with Romero on Sunday. How about you?” Annie went back to her desk. She needed some distance from him or she might just beg him to love her.
    “Well, that’s why I’m here. I am here to deliver a royal proclamation from my mother. You are invited to family dinner at the farm tomorrow at six.”
    “Me?”
    “Who else but the woman I have been spending all my time with?”
    She watched as Cade walked around the desk. She dug her nails into the arms of her chair. She just didn’t know what to do with all these emotions. Emotions were something fairly new to her. “Tomorrow?”
    “Yes, and if you know my mother, she won’t take no for an answer. We’ll talk about it more tonight when I come over with dinner. Sound good to you?” He smiled and she felt herself melting. Little devil, he knew what he was doing.
    “Okay, tell your mom I will be there. How about some meatloaf from the Blossom Café? I had never had meatloaf before, but I find myself quite addicted.” She smiled up at him. No woman could say no to him when he looked at her like that.
    “Looking forward to it. I missed you this weekend.”
    Annie’s mind was whirling at that proclamation. She wanted to ask him more about it, but he turned around, winked and sauntered out of