“They’re just pb and j, hope that’s okay. Made some chips, too.” Xander held a brown paper bag out to me as I settled onto the log.

“Whoa, you made chips?” I smiled, impressed, as I opened the bag.

“Made the bread and jam, too. I found out when I moved here that I really like to cook.” He crunched down on a dark orange chip.

I replied jokingly, “Wow, okay, maybe you are perfect. This is insane, I’ve never heard of anyone making jam before…” I took a bite out of the sandwich and was pleasantly startled by the flavor. “Is thish bla-barry?” I mumbled around my mouthful, warping my words.

Xander chuckled as he munched on the chips. “Yeah, and these are sweet potato and carrot chips. They’re really easy to make, to be honest.”

I put on a mock serious expression to reply. “Never doubt my inability to cook literally anything, trust me.” I grimaced, recalling past attempts to master ‘basic’ recipes. “What I can do, though, is pick blackberries. They’ll be in season next month, we have them everywhere. I can show you some of the best places, the ones away from the main trails all the tourists hit.”

I paused to try the chips while Xander replied. “Oh yeah, that would be awesome. I got the ones for the jam from the store, produce is so expensive here... I’m pretty sure it would have just been cheaper to buy jam.”

He laughed again, pausing in his snacking to glance over at me. “It’s kind of weird to me how easy it is to get food from nature here. In San Lisandro the city is so developed that I never really thought about things like fishing or picking berries… if I needed fish I’d just head to the wharf and buy some.”

I thought a moment before replying. “Yeah, my Dad and I never had a whole lot of money to throw around, so using what we could fish or find for food was always a good way to save money. He did all the cooking; he’d make pies, bouillabaisse stew, fried abalone...” I realized I was heading straight towards rambling again and quickly added “You want to try the ocean next time? It’s not too different from the river here as long as we go out on a calm day.”

Xander looked surprised. “Well, I was planning on bribing you until you agreed to let me, so yeah. When’s your next day off?”

“Uhhh… Tuesday. I work tomorrow at GCS and Monday at the clinic. What about you?”

“I always have Tuesday and Thursday off, as well as the weekends.” Xander pushed his hair away from his face as it fell forward into his eyes. “I usually work at home on Tuesday, but I can just work Saturday or Sunday instead.

“From home? What does the gallery have you do from home?” I shoved the last bite of sandwich into my mouth with very little grace while he answered.

He replied simply. “Oh, I paint."

He paused, then elaborated. "You were looking right at some of my pieces when we first met, did you not read the nameplates by them?”

My chewing slowed as I realized which paintings he was talking about. “Wait, you mean the ones of the gulch, and the cliffs behind Trink’s?” I asked, surprised, once I swallowed.

“Yeah. Did you like them?” He grinned at me. I was probably blushing again.