She sets another pie on the rack to cool and checks the time again. In a few minutes she'll take him a glass of iced tea. She sets the oven back to 350 and turns the fan to a higher setting. She keeps imagining the mercury spewing out of the thermometer as she taps it again. "It can't be that hot in here," she mumbles to herself, wiping the sweat from her brow.
She pours the tea into a tall glass, drops four cubes of ice into it, and returns the tray to the freezer. The ice cubes crackle and clink together against the glass as she makes her way outside.
He's covered in sweat and grease, and she can smell it as soon as she opens the garage door.
"Thought you could use this," she says, planting a kiss on the back of his neck, and he turns with a smile.
"Thank you, Baby." He returns the kiss, but doesn't touch her; he can tell from the flour on her cut off jean shorts that she's started baking the pies.
"Remind me again why I joined the PTA?"
He laughs the laugh that she loves.
She kisses him on the cheek and goes back inside.
She's kneading the dough for yet another pie when he creeps into the kitchen. He stands in the doorway watching her. She opens the refrigerator for another stick of butter and stands there a moment, her eyes closed and head tilted back, enjoying the cool air, and his eyes trace the curves of her sweaty body as she moves.