His face softens. His brows ease the tension and raise a smidge.
Success!
I smile, finally forking my own bite.
“Wow,” he says ever so quietly.
“Yeah?” I ask, already knowing he loves it.
“Strawberry?” he asks.
“And cream, yes. My grandmother’s recipe my Momma taught us when we were little. Though Raven, bless her, can’t bake for shit,” I chuckle, then sober up.
“Still haven’t heard from her?” he asks.
I shake my head. “No. And I thought my last threat was menacing enough to at least warrant a proof of life text.” I grumble into the next bite.
“Threat?” he says with a hint of humor.
I sip the English breakfast tea. “Yup. We have this creepy creek behind the property. We used to dare each other to visit alone when we were little. I told her I’d hogtie her to that tree.” I glance up at Ellis’s perplexed expression.
“I promised to leave Bernie, our old faithful Bernese, to watch over her. Like I told her, I’m not a monster. And I’d make sure she got water every couple of hours.”
Ellis stares with a forkful hovering over his plate before he does the most unexpected thing. His expression breaks, and he starts…laughing.
And wow.
Those firm lips I felt pressed to mine earlier part to reveal a stunning, boyish smile. Even behind that bushy beard, his features relax in a way I haven’t seen since I met him, and those dark green eyes? They spark with flecks of gold.
He sets the fork down and pushes back his disheveled thick hair that, damn it, he makes look really good.
“That might be your problem there, Wildflower,” he says with a deep, raspy chuckle. “I doubt you’d get anyone to confess with a half-ass threat like that.”
My brain is short-circuiting. I’m processing too many things at once. I’m still reeling from the laugh and now…
“Wildflower?”
His face drops. Clearing his throat, he continues eating but shrugs. “Just came to mind. Might be your perfume or something.”
He’s uncomfortable, and I worry that if I push, we’ll lose the small progress made.
“What would you suggest then?” I pivot. When he looks up, confused, I clarify. “For a more effective threat when I leave my Houdini sister another voicemail?”
The corner of his lip twitches upward. “I don’t know. Let me think…”
I smile, watching his shoulders loosen and drop.
“How about you tell her you’ve called the cops and put out a missing persons report, but you told them she might be attempting to carry drugs across the border?”
My eyes widen, already picturing Raven’s face.
I cough up my bite when I start laughing. I tap my fist against my chest, catching my breath.
“Shit, you okay?” Ellis’s chair scrapes against the hardwood floor as he swiftly gets up and runs to the kitchen.
“I’m okay,” I laugh, still clearing the lodged strawberry and cream pie.
“Here, drink slowly,” he says, giving me a cup of water. Warmth hits my back as he rubs circles.
