"Ha! Double word score, that's 104 points!"

"Paige," Emily shook her head with a laugh, "Tiddlywink is not a word,"

"Sure it is! Look it up!" she cried, stopping Emily's hand as she reached to pull Paige's tiles off the board.

"What is it then?" she teased, "what exactly is a Tiddlywink?"

"I don't know," Paige argued, though she was smiling, "but it's totally real! Judge's ruling, Mrs. Fields?"

A few weeks had gone by, and Paige was making the most of her unemployment. In fact, she was quite enjoying it. For the first time since graduating culinary school she had free time to do as she wished, and though she was living off her savings and had a tight budget, having the ability to sleep in a little late in the mornings and spend time with her girlfriend was something she was grateful for.

Spending time with Courtney was a plus, too. They had been meeting up a couple times a week for lunch, trying some spots in the city Paige hadn't yet been, and their talks really helped to soothe Paige's uncertainties about leaving her job.

Courtney was putting finishing touches on her article, which Paige had yet to read, and it was due to be released the following week, after their trip to the food festival in upstate New York. Paige had convinced Emily to take the weekend off of work and tag along, and so on Friday night they found themselves at the Fields' dining room table, engaged in a heated game of Scrabble with Pam while the dinner Paige insisted on making the three of them roasted in the oven. Their bags were packed by the door, as they'd be leaving early the next morning, and though Emily was excited for their trip, she couldn't have been happier watching her girlfriend, so comfortably herself in front of her mother.

"Looks like she's right, Em. According to the Scrabble dictionary, base value of 'Tiddlywinks' is 52 points," Pam replied, her reading glasses perched low on her nose as she read the information aloud.

"Ha! That's right," Paige teased, "thought you could cheat by hogging all those vowels, Em. You force me to show off,"

"You are such a dork. Mom, your turn. Open up this board so this brat stops winning," Emily laughed, watching as Paige dug into the bag of tiles, replacing the ones she had just lay down while Pam verified and scribbled down her score.

"You're a force to be reckoned with, Paige. Usually Emily is unbeatable at Scrabble," Pam told her between sips of her wine, "she makes her father and I look like amateurs, and we played this constantly when we were dating. It could get pretty competitive,"

"That's cool," Paige smiled, "kind of like a family tradition, I like that. Growing up with four brothers I'm pretty competitive with everything. I mean seriously, there's not much that Owen and I don't turn into a game,"

"It's true," Emily laughed, "when we were there last weekend to help them move, Brittany and I went out to get something to bring back for lunch. And Paige and Owen decided to see who could chug their milkshake faster,"

"Hey, I won didn't I?" Paige replied, Pam swirling the wine in her glass around as she chuckled, amused at both the story, and the banter between Paige and her daughter.

"Yeah how'd that work out for you?" Emily teased.

"I...got brain freeze," she admitted sheepishly, hiding behind her wine glass as she took a sip, "whatever, a win's a win. Hope you have a plan for all those vowels, Em, cause I'm sitting on a gold mine over here,"

"Don't you worry about my vowels. Mom you got something?"

"I'm working on it, honey. So, Paige, how is Owen feeling? Is his leg healing alright?" Pam asked as she shuffled around her tiles, looking for where she wanted to make her play.

"He's doing pretty good," Paige replied, "anxious to get his cast off but it'll be a few weeks yet. It came at the worst possible time but they're making the best out of it I guess. I'm just excited to have him back in the same state,"

"I bet. Emily told me the new house is beautiful. Are they getting all settled in?" she wondered.

"For the most part. A little bit of painting and last touches to do, but my other brother Ryan is supposed to finish that up this weekend," Paige explained.

"That's good. He's a contractor?"

"Yes. He's great at all that house stuff, and with Owen laid up he's kind of taken on the whole project. It was a lot of work but he did a really nice job," she told her.

"That's great," Pam smiled, "when Wayne and I bought this place, it needed a lot of work. We couldn't afford to hire someone so we just bought a bunch of home improvement books and rolled up our sleeves. He always loves stuff like that. I swear every time he comes home for a visit, he needs a project," she recalled with a laugh.

"My dad's the same way. Always trying to build something or fix something up. My mom jokes that his only buddies since retirement are the guys down at the hardware store," she explained and Pam nodded with a knowing chuckle.

"Your mom sure must've had her hands full with so many boys in the house. I bet you were her saving grace,"

"I don't know about that," Paige laughed, "I was quite a handful myself. Always getting into some kind of trouble trying to keep up with the boys,"

"Still, I'm sure it helped not feeling quite so outnumbered," Pam replied, "okay, here we go. Martini, on a triple word score for 36 points. Nothing compared to Tiddlywinks, but I will take it," she smiled as she lay her tiles down.

"Very nice. Your move, Em. I'll go check on dinner so you can concentrate," she teased, dropping a kiss onto her pouting lips as she got up to make her way into the kitchen.

"She's such a brat when she's good at something," Emily sighed, though she was smiling as she fidgeted with her letter tiles.

"I think she's a doll," Pam commented, "definitely my favorite of your girlfriends,"

"Well I sure hope so," Emily barked a laugh, "considering she's the first girl I've dated since 11th grade, I think my standards have changed quite a bit,"

"I'm just saying, Emmy. At first I was nervous about the age difference between you two, but Paige is wonderful. Charming and sweet and hardworking. Exactly the kind of person I'm happy to see you with. And it's nice to see the light in your eyes when you're around her," she explained, reaching up to touch her daughter's cheek, "I sure have missed that,"

"Me too, mom," she smiled, "I promise, Paige is the best thing in the world for me. I've never ever been this happy,"

"I'm glad. What about when you go back to school? Will things be alright?"

"I think so. We'll make it work. Oh, by the way, she wants to come down on move in day with us. See the campus and everything. Plus then we'll get an extra few hours together. And you'll need two cars anyway, so I can keep mine with me on campus. Is that okay?"

"It's fine...doesn't it cost money to park your car on campus?" she wondered.

"Yeah, $150 a semester...with all the money I made this summer I don't mind. I need to have my car so I can come home to visit when I want to," she shrugged.

"I guess that's fine, but don't be coming up here every weekend," Pam warned, "as much as I will miss you, you need to focus on your studies and your training. I'm sure Paige will understand that,"

"Of course she will, mom," Emily replied, "but having my car with me is important. I want to be able to do things farther away than just a few blocks from campus. Maybe I can even find a better paying job if I can venture farther into the city. I promise, I won't let it be a distraction,"

"Alright. I guess you and Paige can drive your car down and I will follow in mine with Hanna. If she's still joining us that is?"

"As far as I know," Emily shrugged, "she wants to see the campus too and her classes don't start until two weeks later. Plus she swears she's going to snag a country boy," she rolled her eyes.

"Well then," Pam chuckled, "sounds like we'll have a fun day,"

At that, Paige re-entered the room, dish towel tossed over her shoulder as she shuffled her way back into her seat.

"The roast is done. Just needs about a half hour or so to rest and then I will finish up the potatoes and we can eat. Hope everybody's hungry," she explained, rubbing her hands together excitedly.

"I sure am. It smells wonderful, Paige," Pam commented, "it's nice to sit and relax with a glass of wine while someone else makes me dinner for a change,"

"My pleasure," Paige smiled, "besides, gotta make sure I'm not getting rusty. I'm cooking for upwards of fifty thousand people this weekend," she laughed, sipping at her own wine.

"Paige, you've been unemployed fifteen days," Emily rolled her eyes playfully, "you're not getting rusty. Those people aren't going to know what hit them,"

"I hope you're right. This could be a big deal for me career wise. There's going to be lots of restauranteurs there. But I'm going in open minded. Just going to make some good food and eat some good food and have fun. I've always wanted to check this festival out anyhow,"

"There you go, stay positive," Pam replied, "there's something good in every experience, even if it isn't what you're expecting or hoping for,"

"Wow, I love that," Paige smiled, and raised her glass, "cheers. To finding the good,"

"To finding the good," Pam replied, clinking her glass against Paige's and they both drank.

"Well if you like that, try this on for size," Emily teased, and began to lay her tiles down, "Quench, on a triple word score with a double letter score on the H...makes that worth 76 points. And look who is catching up! Better step up your game, chef. I thought you were going to leave me in the dust?"

"Damn, Em, you were sitting on a Q? Nice freakin move. You totally opened up the board for me, though. And I mentioned my goldmine didn't I?" she played back, sticking her tongue out for good measure.

"Yeah, yeah. Talk is cheap, Tiddlywinks. Lay some tiles,"

"Man it is gorgeous up here!" Paige exclaimed. After a few hours in the car the following day, they had finally made it to their destination in beautiful Albany, New York for the famous New York State Food and Wine Festival. There were tents and vendors as far as the eye could see, the delicious smells of everything from tacos to barbecue filling the air, Paige's mouth all but watering on the spot. Emily couldn't help but smile, her girlfriend looking like a little kid in a candy store as her eyes bounced around the festival grounds.

"How about it? Our hotel is just a little down the road, so we'll just leave everything in the car," Courtney insisted, "I have a quick meeting before my seminar so why don't you two walk around and get something to eat? Then after I'm done we'll hit the bulk store and get some ingredients for tomorrow,"

"Sounds good," Paige agreed, "I'll make sure nobody's got anything on our menu. We gotta stand out,"

"I wouldn't worry about that. I got Paige McCullers and her black cherry Kobe beef sliders with me. We're going to be the talk of the festival, you mark my words. Emily, you make sure she doesn't start getting nervous alright? Make sure she has fun?"

"You know her pretty well already huh?" Emily chuckled.

"I can read her like a book. This weekend is gonna be a blast. No pressure, kid, so just have fun,"

"Yeah. I'm good, don't worry," Paige smiled, "I'm starving, babe, are you starving? I think I smell barbecued chicken," she licked her lips.

"Only you could pick that specific thing out of all these smells," Emily laughed, and laced her fingers together with Paige, "but yes, I am starving too. Let's eat,"

"I'll catch up with you guys in a few hours. Have fun," Courtney winked, and like that, she was off to tend to business, leaving Paige and Emily to their own devices.

They walked, hand in hand, through the festival, Paige pointing excitedly every time she saw someone eating something she thought looked particularly delicious, and making mental note of stands she thought Courtney might enjoy. They even stumbled upon the tent reserved for them, full of empty tables and a sparkling clean grill, along with propane tanks, refrigerators and some other random kitchen equipment. Emily grinned as she noticed the gleam in Paige's eye as she saw the sign taped to the side of the tent, "Reserved for chefs C. Calloway and P. McCullers", seeming to cement in her mind that in twenty- four hours, she would be cooking for the masses with a Philadelphia culinary legend. Paige knew if she had stayed at Dontana's, this opportunity may not have presented itself, and she in that moment couldn't have been more grateful, and Emily couldn't have been happier for her.

After a full round through the festival, seeing everything they had to offer, they had accumulated an armful of food each, including not only the barbecued chicken Paige had sniffed out, smothered in a spicy sauce, but also a couple fire-roasted, seasoned corn cobs, cheesy baked potatoes and two dishes of hand spun, fresh vanilla ice cream with a scratch made blueberry sauce topping that Paige had every intention on finishing before their actual meal.

They took their food to a seating area, a group of picnic tables set near a quaint pond, ducks waddling and swimming nearby, a few paddle boats gliding across the glassy water, creating the perfect view. Emily looked on with a smile as Paige separated the food into two equal portions, laughing as she dug into her ice cream as soon as everything was laid out as she wanted it.

"Good?" she asked and Paige nodded happily.

"So good. I could eat this sauce on anything. Try it,"

"No, no," Emily shook her head with a grin, "my mom never let me have desert unless I finish my dinner," she commented, taking a bite of her chicken.

"Em, it's ice cream in August. You can't wait all day," she laughed.

"Don't you worry. Just focus on not getting brain freeze this time," she teased.

"Oh I won't. This is too good to race through. This place is so awesome, huh? Everyone's just so happy. This is why I love food, you know? It really brings people together,"

"Yeah I get it. I can't wait to see what you guys cook up tomorrow," she smiled.

"A lot of stuff I cooked for Courtney before. The sliders and the pierogis. The key lime squares for desert. Plus she makes these sweet and sour meatball skewers that are unreal. Pulled pork nachos, and dirty wings," she rattled off.

"Dirty wings?"

"Wings with the works. Hot sauce, barbecue sauce, garlic. They're crazy good, you'll love em," Paige explained.

"I'm sure I will. That's a lot of work, you guys can get all that done at once?"

"We'll be getting up majorly early. And a lot of prep we can get done tonight. Fill those fridges up as much as we can before we head back to the hotel, throw the pork shoulders and chicken wings on the smoker overnight and we'll be way ahead of schedule,"

"I love how much you love this," Emily told her, "I have no idea how much help I will be, but I'm glad I'm here with you,"

"You're gonna be tons of help, babe. If we've learned anything this summer, it's that people buy more food when you're around," Paige laughed and Emily rolled her eyes.

"We'll see. Do you get to keep any of the money, or are you just along for the ride?"

"Once we cover the food cost, we're splitting everything down the middle. Which, I'll split my half with you of course," she offered, and Emily shook her head.

"No. I'm not here as your employee, Paige. I'm here as your girlfriend. Seeing you enjoying yourself is plenty enough for me," she argued.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. Whatever money you guys make is yours. You're the chefs, the artists. I don't want any money. Just for you to have fun,"

"Okay," Paige smiled, and polished off the last bite of her ice cream, "alright, let me at this chicken,"

"They look great," Courtney commented from over Paige's shoulder as she watched her forming the crab pierogis to sell the next day. Paige had already made about five hundred of the things, piling them into a bus bin to chill overnight, along with the marinade for their pork and chicken wings, and a few buckets of the black cherry relish for their sliders. It was getting late, the crowd for the festival dying down drastically, and mostly only other vendors still there, doing their prep work as well.

Paige was tired, her feet aching and her eyelids getting heavy, and though she was happy, she couldn't wait to get back to the hotel, get a shower and get a few hours of sleep before their big day.

"Thanks," Paige yawned, "I have like twenty more to go, then I just have to whip up the horseradish aioli for them and I think I may call it a night,"

"Oh for sure, we're in great shape. When we run out, we run out. And girl, we're gonna run out, cause this menu is phenomenal. Where'd Emily get to?"

"She went to find the bathroom and grab us a few drinks. I'm parched," Paige explained, finishing crimping the edges of another pierogi, tossing it into the bin with the rest.

"Gotcha. Did you two have a good time this afternoon? She's not bored out of her mind, is she?" Courtney wondered.

"No, not at all. We had a blast. You gotta find the ice cream lady. She makes all her ice cream from scratch, all the stuff comes from her own farm. The blueberry sauce is insane. And that chicken? So good," Paige told her, "damn now I'm hungry again," she laughed.

"Sounds great. I'm glad you brought Emily along. She's a hell of a girl. Big help, too. Nice to have the extra set of hands,"

"Yeah she's great. I honestly don't know if I'd be taking this whole not having a job thing well without her, you know? But she really believes in me. She's the best thing that ever happened to me," Paige explained with a dreamy sigh.

"It's easy to see," Courtney replied, "you two have a lot of chemistry. And you're gonna have a job in no time Paige, trust me,"

Emily made her way back into the tent, three plastic cups in her hands, and placed them all down on the table next to Paige.

"Only people still selling just had lemonade left. Hope that's okay," she explained, holding one up to Paige so she could take a sip while her hands stayed busy. She took a few gulps, sighing contently after swallowing.

"That's perfect, baby, thank you,"

"You're welcome. Are you almost done? Can I help you?" she offered.

"I'll be done in a jiff. Take a load off and we'll be at the hotel before you know it,"

"Okay," she took her own drink and took a seat across from Paige, on top of one of the coolers they had brought along. It had been a long day, and she was dying for a shower and bed, but there wasn't much better than sipping an ice cold glass of lemonade on a summer night, watching Paige cook her heart out.

Emily showered first when they got to the hotel, and once her hair was dried and she was finally comfortable in her pajamas, she crawled into the surprisingly comfortable bed and waited for Paige. She scrolled through the channels on the television while she waited for Paige to shower, but after not finding anything entertaining, settled on a baseball game, figuring Paige would at least enjoy it as background noise until they got sleepy.

She was checking her messages, letting her mother know the first day at the festival had gone well, and that they were safe and sound in the hotel, about to go to sleep, when Paige emerged from the bathroom, her damp hair wrapped in a towel, sporting a hockey jersey and shorts as pajamas. Emily smiled ear to ear at the sight.

"What?" Paige asked, looking down at herself curiously at Emily's glance.

"Nothing. You're just the cutest thing that ever lived," she replied, and set her phone down on the nightstand, "will you get in this bed please?"

"Fine," Paige sighed, though she was smiling. She clicked off the light switch on the wall and removing the towel from her hair before climbing into the empty side of the bed, the only light now illuminating from the television.

"Baseball?" Paige questioned.

"You like it," Emily shrugged, "nothing else is on anyway,"

"Hmm..." she snuggled close to Emily, and pressed a kiss to her cheek, followed by one to her shoulder, "you know we don't have to watch TV,"

"Oh no?" Emily replied, her eyes fluttering closed at the sensation, "do you just want to go to sleep?"

"Nope. I want to make out with my girlfriend," she teased, and Emily could feel the grin against her cheek as Paige peppered kisses across her face.

"Mmm..."

She continued teasing for a moment, and Emily, finally having enough of it, took the reins and connected their lips passionately, tangling her fingers into Paige's hair, still damp from her shower. Paige moaned, wrapping an arm around Emily's back as their tongues met.

They lay like that a few moments, kissing, caressing each other's soft, freshly showered skin, before Paige, albeit untimely, pulled back with a yawn she was unable to hold in. Emily, for as startled as she was when Paige pulled away so suddenly, couldn't help but break into a fit of laughter.

"I'm sorry," she chuckled, "am I boring you?"

"No! I swear, gosh Em I'm so sorry! I'm just so tired..." she defended and Emily grabbed her face in her hands, pulling her in for another kiss. She pulled away only enough to rest their foreheads together, her thumb caressing Paige's cheek gently as she looked into her eyes. Even in pajamas, her eyes tired from a long day of work, Emily found Paige breathtaking. There wasn't another place on the planet she would've rather been. She took a deep breath and sighed happily, feeling herself getting lost in Paige's eyes.

"I love you," she whispered, not even really sure how the words ended up coming out of her mouth, but not regretting one bit that they did. She could hear Paige gulp in response, though the smile that appeared right after told her everything she needed to know.

"I love you too, Em," she replied, and pressed their lips together once more.