I shrugged. “Couldn’t resist.”
“Yes, well.” She adjusted the hem of her shirt. “I guess I’ll see you up at the house for breakfast.”
I sighed at her retreating back. Must be tiresome and lonely keeping that wall up all the time.
I quickly changed and trudged my way to the main house. Sweet smells of maple syrup and cinnamon welcomed me like long-lost friends as I opened the door, my dream the night before coming true. I envisioned a stack of French toast with sticky syrup running like waterfalls down the smothered bread’s sides. So worth a lecture from Nicole if she ever found out I’d cheated on my cleanse.
Voices pulled me toward the dining room, but I bypassed the bass and baritone and entered the kitchen where two out of the three other women on the premises were busily preparing the meal. “Can I help you with anything, Mrs. Thomas? Everything smells so good.”
Gran Thomas wiped her hands on a solid red apron as she turned from mixing a large pot on the stove. Her eyes were kind, flanked by the deepest laugh lines I’d ever seen, attesting to a life of joy and hinting at not a few secrets. “That’s very sweet of you, but my grandchildren plan to put you to work soon enough.”
I turned to Miriam, who was bent over a thick book at the dinette table. “What about you, Miriam? Need any help?”
She looked over at me, cheek resting on a fist. “Know anything about quadratic equations?”
“Does a parabola curve like a horseshoe?”
Her eyelids lowered over glazed eyes.
I laughed. “The answer is yes. Scoot over.” She moved to the next chair, and I took the vacated spot, pulling her textbook toward me. “Homeschool?”
“Yeah. I can usually get all my schoolwork done in time to help my brothers with the ranch or guests, but math has never been my strong suit.”
I leaned closer to her. “I’ll let you in on a little secret: mine neither.”
Her nose scrunched. “But I thought you worked in finance. Isn’t that, like, numbers all day long?”
I shrugged. “Hard work can overcome any obstacle.”
“You sound like Malachi.”
I think you’re right fine, ma’am.Her brother’s soft-spoken words from the evening before came rushing back, along with a tide of warmth. My skin tingled at the remembrance, which was silly. He hadn’t meant anything by the statement. In fact, the way he’d averted his eyes after the words left his lips led me to believe he’d been embarrassed by speaking up at all. Tonya’s deliberate set-down had simply stirred up the good manners Gran Thomas had no doubt instilled in him—a cowboy’s code of chivalry when he thought me a damsel in distress. Nothing more.
I focused on the first equation. Not too hard. Grabbing her paper, I wrote out the problem. “To solve this equation, we first have to determine the coefficients:a =1,b= 5 andc= 4. Now all you have to do is insert coefficients into the formula”—I jotted it down on her paper a few lines below—“and voila. You can also solve quadratic equations by factoring or solving the square, but I think for this page they’re wanting you to use the formula.”
Miriam squinted at my writing. “I think I get it.”
I pushed the paper and pencil toward her. “You try the next one and I’ll check it.”
A large frame filled the entryway. “Gran, you need help carrying—”
Malachi blinked at seeing me seated next to his sister, surprise freezing his question in his throat.
I groaned inwardly. Maybe I should have stopped at the dining room instead of barging my way into the kitchen. This was their home as well as their business, and common sense should have seen the invisible “employees only” sign flashing above the door frame.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, standing. “I only meant to help, not intrude.”
Gran grunted. “No one said you were intruding, isn’t that right, Malachi?” Her silver brows lifted in unspoken censure.
His stilled expression melted under Gran’s look, one side of his lips pulling into his cheek. “No, ma’am.” He turned his steady gaze to me. “We want our guests to feel at home here, so of course you all are welcome.”
Gran snorted from the stove. “Now, don’t be extending that invitation farther than I intended. I don’t want a bunch of strangers underfoot in my kitchen.” She winked at me. “But you’re welcome anytime, dear.”
My shoulders relaxed. “Thank you, Mrs. Thomas.”
She waved a hand at me. “Now, that won’t do at all. I’m Gran to you, same as these other trouble-makers here.”
“Done.” Miriam slammed her book shut and held her paper out to me.
