AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jason’s began to laugh. “Oh, wow, so maybe my predictions were right. You did grow up to be someone’s trophy wife.”
Rolling her eyes, Maggie slid behind the wheel of the car and sped off, leaving the two brothers cackling. “Maybe next time you should check your Twitter account,” one of them yelled.
Well, isn’t that the icing on the cake, she thought.
* * *
Caden didn’t get a chance to follow Maggie, because EJ and Ebony walked through the doors. What caught him off guard, besides the matching light blue tourist shirts stating they’d visited Savannah’s Tybee Island, was the two of them holding hands. He was aware of EJ’s slow-moving pace on making things official with the chef. It was about time.
“Whoa,” he joked as they sat down at the kitchen table on the same side like an old married couple would.
“Boy, don’t you ever wear clothes?” EJ frowned at the sight of him.
In retaliation, Caden flexed his biceps and posed like a bodybuilder. “I know you’re jealous.” EJ raised his free hand to answer his brother with a flip of his middle finger, but Ebony anticipated the gesture and pushed his hand down. Laughing, Caden moved over to the fridge and grabbed a few bottles of water from the door. “When did this become official?”
“At the crab boil last weekend. You know how Mom likes to invite us and the whole neighborhood so we can listen to the cannons being fired over at Fort Jackson, but then gets mad when she can’t hear because she invited so many people.”
“Yeah.” Caden remembered some of the few good times the family had out there.
“Where were you?”
“I told Ebony I was going to Canada to meet with a client,” Caden said, glancing over at Ebony.
Ebony shrugged her shoulders. “It’s not my job to relay those messages to everyone. When you hired me to cook for you, I had to sign an NDA.”
It was a good thing all around for Caden’s staff to sign nondisclosure agreements. The things that used to go on in this household didn’t need to get out. He sighed and leaned back against the counter and stroked his chin. Those days were behind him. “I have nothing to hide.”
“Anymore,” Ebony added.
“Speaking of hiding things,” EJ began with an ominous tone.
Before giving EJ a chance to say anything, Ebony tightened her grip on his fingers. “Honey,” she said through gritted teeth, “I thought we weren’t going to bring that up.”
Caden watched in amusement as the two of them stretched their eyes and smiled at each other in this nonverbal argument. He thought about the little disagreement he and Maggie had a few minutes ago. It was the first one where he knew she was truly upset; he just couldn’t understand what the big deal was.
“While you two have this...whatever,” Caden interrupted them, “Ebony, let me ask you a question about cooking.”
“Uh-oh,” EJ moaned. “You’re cooking now?”
Nodding, Ebony whipped out her cell phone and began scrolling. It was something Maggie never did. Maggie gave him and everyone they met her undivided attention. “Go on,” Ebony said, not making eye contact. “I’m listening.”
“Maggie just tore out of here upset because the bakery ran unto some trouble.”
“Oh no.” Ebony briefly looked up. “The one at the market that got hit by lightning?”
“That’s the one,” he confirmed.
“Here, babe.” Ebony passed her phone to EJ. “Watch these.”
Caden could only assume Ebony had caught the vlog where he and Maggie had cooked together a budget-friendly meal this summer. “Is it reasonable for her to get upset?”
Not even needing a moment to think about it, Ebony bobbed her head up and down. “I’d be upset, especially if I’d been planning on it being part of the menu.”
“It was one of the first things we secured,” said Caden.
“Damn. I assure you it’s frustrating. Maggie has a lot on her plate,” Ebony tried to explain. “I know when I have a party planned out and my most reliable source for the freshest fish doesn’t come through, I’m pissed off for days.”
“Months,” mumbled EJ.
