Page 24

He’d sent emails to his clients assuring them he was set up in his new place and that there wouldn’t be any interruptions in service. They’d all replied at various points throughout the afternoon, thanking him for keeping them on and asking after Joel.

Amber had texted him, asking Burke to ensure Rissa came for the evening meal. His sister took care of everyone around her, but he figured she was also helping him repair the relationship he’d destroyed.

Burke held the chair for Rissa and then sat beside her. They passed around plates of noodles, dumplings, chicken, rice, vegetables, and steamed buns. The meal’s scents reminded him of a Nepalese restaurant he loved near his Boston office.

After his first bite, he nearly moaned aloud. Beside him, Rissa closed her eyes and smiled as she savored. Of course, that went straight to his groin, and he imagined a dozen ways he could bring that look of satisfaction to her face.

When she opened her eyes, she smiled at him and then at Seth. “This is incredible. Thank you for inviting me.”

Seth nodded while Knox spoke. “You’re part of the family, Rissa. We expect you at every meal and we’ll be disappointed if you don’t show up. You wouldn’t want to hurt our feelings, would you?”

She flushed and laughed as Jolie picked up the thread. “We all have such great memories of you from Burlington. You and Burke made up the best scavenger hunts for us to play.”

Charlie piped up. “We did photo scavenger hunts for Halloween. They were fun. What kinds did you create?”

Burke shared a grin with Rissa, and she gestured for him to speak. “We didn’t have phones, so it was always lists on notepaper.”

Amber smiled. “Sometimes they’d have us find a leaf with five points or a flat needle.”

Lawson laughed. “Feathers, acorns, rocks with spots. Looking back, I’m not surprised you teach science, Rissa. Nothing was ever just an object. You taught us words like deciduous, coniferous, invertebrate, and arachnid. Then you taught us to look for the similarities and differences between rock structures, animals, and flowers.”

Amber nodded. “And we had to return everything to where we’d found it.”

Knox piped in. “You made it a fun challenge so that we never thought of it as learning or taking care of the environment. I bet you’re an amazing teacher.”

Beside him, Rissa’s face flushed deeply, and her eyes widened. “I’m not a real teacher.”

Charlie laughed. “You’re one of the best teachers I’ve had.”

Esme chimed in. “Wyatt and I checked out your website. It’s so well organized. Your free lessons are fun and informative.”

Wyatt nodded. “I loved your classification lesson for identifying leaves and needles. And the one where the kids toss a hula hoop into an area and identify as many plant and animal species they find within it is brilliant.”

Burke knew Wyatt was a botanist who specialized in improving plant species’ ability to adapt to climate change and pollution. His words and tone were genuine.

Rissa drew in a deep breath. “Thank you. All of you. You’re very kind.”

Which was true, but wasn’t the reason for their words. They meant every one of them.

Charlie looked from Rissa to Dani. “You two should work together to do a unit on bees. I bet there are a ton of cool ideas there. Seeing the bees and the apiaries up close is super cool. You could show them all the stages of building a hive and then how to collect the honey. That would be fun.”

Dani grinned. “It sounds fantastic. I’d love to help you with that.”

Rissa flushed again, but her eyes sparkled with excitement. “As soon as I heard you had apiaries, I started thinking of how to showcase them.”

From beside Charlie, little Ella Mae leaned closer to her plate and then stuck her fingers into her food. She yanked out a carrot slice and glared at Seth. “Yuck.” With great ceremony, she held it up and then dropped it. If Charlie hadn’t been quick enough, it would have dropped to the floor. Laughing, Charlie added it to his own plate.

Seth sighed, obviously trying to suppress a grin. “I’m going to convince you to like carrots, Ella Mae. They’re delicious.”

“Yuck.”

This time, Seth’s grin popped out. He pointed at Ella Mae. “One day, I’m going to figure it out. Then you’ll be a regular Bugs Bunny and won’t be able to get enough of them.”

Ella’s eyes widened. “Bunny?”

Nash laughed and ruffled his daughter’s hair. “That’s what you got out of that. Bunny?”

“Bunny.”