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“We got three days.”
“We usually start early in the morning and prep a ton of food, but...” A sudden flush of emotion made my heart hurt.
We don’t need to prep much anymore. There are only a few of us left.
I took a deep breath and sighed.
“I’ll help,” Seff said as he pressed a kiss to my temple. He reached for the cookhouse door and opened it. “I used to help my mom in the kitchen pretty regularly.”
“Up here in the winter, we tend to burn off a lot of calories just keeping warm, so our full moon menu may look quite a bit different from what you’re used to eating.”
“I’ve never been a picky eater, so...” He paused and looked down the walkway toward the row of now empty yurts just past my parents’ place. “Hold on a sec.”
I glanced around to see Einar walking along the bridge toward the cookhouse.
He smiled, his face brightening in a way that surprised me. “Your father suggested I take a shower and supplied me with clean clothing and boots.”
Decker’s clothes.My smile faded a little. The shirt hung loosely on his leaner frame, but Einar’s muscular legs filled in the jeans. His long, thick hair curled into soft silvery-gray ringlets near his biceps. Like my dad, he also wore a beard and mustache. Unlike my dad, who looked more like a biker with his braided ponytail and beard down to his belt buckle, Einar kept his facial hair neat and trimmed to about four inches long. Einar was a handsome male, even with all his wrinkles.
His bright smile grew wider as his feet moved faster along the wooden walkway. “I’m eager to officially meet my great-granddaughters.”
Seff opened the door and invited the male inside with a sweeping motion of his hand.
“Go on and sit,” Seff said. “I’ll get you some tea.”
I glanced around the room and found the twins sitting in their usual spot. Both had mugs of hot chocolate and bowls of steamy oatmeal topped with cream, brown sugar, and butter.
Arteisma waved me over. “Come sit next to us, Desarae.”
I couldn’t get across the dining room fast enough. Hugging them both from behind, I kissed their still-damp hair and inhaled their sweet scents.
“I missed you so much.”
“You’re squashing me, Des,” Nereida giggled.
“Sorry.” Blinking back my happy tears, I released them and scooted a chair in between them.
Einar took the chair across the table from us and greeted his great-granddaughters.
“Do you understand who I am?” The old male’s smile was warm. His voice was deep and oddly comforting.
The twins nodded simultaneously.
“I’m pleased to finally meet you, Arteisma.” He held his hand out to her, and she put her small one inside his much larger one. He patted her hand as though it were as fragile as crystal. Then, he turned to Nereida and did the same. “I’m pleased to finally meet you as well, Nereida.”
His wrinkled, long-fingered hand stayed suspended in the air while Nereida stared at it, seemingly trying to decide whether to take it. Einar tilted his head. His expression seemed to say,It’s okay, I understand. When he began to withdraw his hand, Nereida reached out and grabbed it with both of hers. A smile lit his face, causing more wrinkles to form, but in all the right places.
“Are you going to take us away?” The words burst from her mouth as a single tear slid down her cheek.
My heart cracked because of her fear and because of my own.
“No, dear one.” He shook his head. “That is not why I’m here.”
Arteisma asked, “How did you know I’m not Nereida?”
Another smile brightened his craggy face, showing the hint of dimples he must’ve had as a young male. “I’ve been close by. Though you didn’t see me, I’ve seen you.”
“Oh.” Her eyebrows scrunched together for only a second, then she grinned and pointed to her sister. “Nereida cut her braid off, and then we went to the salon, and Cari cut her hair like Desarae’s and said Nereida rocks the kick-ass pixie cut. Do you like it?”
