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“Okay, I am officially impressed, and the red sauce will be fine.”
I slapped my hands onto my thighs. “Red sauce it is then. Do you mind if I head into the kitchen and get started?”
“By all means, mi casa es su casa.”
I winked at her. “Gracias,” I replied as I stood. “You sit there and rest, and I’ll have dinner ready in about thirty minutes.”
“You sure you don’t want me to help?”
“Nope, I got this. You relax, and I’ll get the water on.”
“Okay.” She grinned as I headed into the kitchen. “And the pots and pans are in the cabinets to the left of the stove.”
“Found them!” I called back to her. As I began to get situated in the kitchen, I was aware that she was watching me over the back of the couch. I was filling a large pot with water when I heard a noise and turned to find her pulling out a chair in the kitchen. “What are you doing?”
She pulled out another chair and put her feet up on top of it. “I’m watching. I can’t remember the last time I saw a man in my kitchen, much less had one cook for me.” She cocked her head. “Actually, other than my father and brother, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a man cook before unless it was a restaurant.”
Her words shouldn’t have made me so happy, but they did. “Well, I hope you enjoy it, but if you get off that chair and try to help, I’m going to put you back on the couch and tie you down.”
“Kinky.” She grinned. “I promise I’ll behave.”
I snickered. “You do that. How are you feeling?” I started to unpack the groceries and put a few in the fridge.
“I’m doing alright. My nose hurts worse than my leg right now, even though my leg has eleven stitches.”
“Broken noses hurt,” I replied. “Give it a few days, and it will start to feel much better.”
“Had your nose broken many times?” she joked back.
“Actually,” I grinned at her, “quite a few times as a kid. My siblings and I were pretty rough.”
“How many siblings do you have?”
“Five, two sisters and three brothers.”
“Wow! Did you guys not get along? Is that why you were so rough on each other?”
“Oh, no, we get along really well, even now. We were very competitive as kids and very physical. My youngest brother, Huntley, liked to wrestle. Wesley played soccer—he’s a little older than me—and my younger sister, Riley, was into martial arts. I think she broke my nose twice.”
“Oh, my god!” She looked appalled, even though she laughed and then winced.
“Sorry, I know you said no laughing. Hard not to if I’m talking about my family.”
She cocked her head to the side. “It’s nice that you are all close. Do they all live here in town?”
“No, sadly, we are all kind of scattered a bit, but we get together often. My parents live in Millerstown, about two hours away.”
“I know where it is. A girl I went to school with lived there. I went home with her for Thanksgiving one year. It’s a nice town.”
“It is nice. My oldest and youngest brothers live in town so they can watch out for my parents. Wes lives about an hour away from there; Riley isn’t too far out of town, and my older sister, Kayley, lives in New York, but it’s only about four hours away.”
“Wow, and you guys see each other often?”
“As often as we can. I’ll see them all this weekend. It’s my mother’s birthday, so we have a big party. She’s turning sixty-two.”
I glanced at Roxy; she had a faraway look in her eye, and her hands were fidgeting in her lap. “You’re lucky that your mother is still alive, and you get to see her. I miss my mother every day.”
I paused and gave her my attention. “I’m very sorry that she’s not. How long has she been dead?”
