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Ouch. Guilt filled her body and her heartbeat increased painfully. She wasn’t dedicated. She felt like a trapped animal, unable to leave here and unable to survive anywhere else.
She nodded at Theresa. “Of course. This is my home.”
Theresa nodded, apparently happy with her response, then turned and ambled back to her cabin.
Elena slipped her gloves off and laid them away from her food, then lifted the towel and found smoked venison and fresh biscuits. She ate her food slowly, enjoying the flavor. She’d never mastered biscuits for some reason. Her mom had tried many times to teach her and so did the other women up here, but it wasn’t something that came naturally to her.
Lara could probably make the best biscuits, if her cookies were anything to gauge from. Then she wondered if Aidyn liked biscuits and figured he did. Didn’t everyone? She couldn’t make him fresh biscuits either, in exchange for the cookies. But she could make him a bracelet. She had some tanned leather in her trunk. It was from her father when he was alive. He was so good at tanning hides, and she kept scraps from his many projects. He’d made her the leather apron she wore with all the pockets in it. He told her she could put plants and herbs in the pockets when she foraged. She rarely wore it when she foraged though. She wanted to keep it clean and safe from damage.
“What are you lost in thought about?”
Her head jerked up to see Craig watching her from across the brewing area and her stomach knotted.
ChapterThirteen
He’d slept most of the day. After the night he’d had he’d dropped off into a deep sleep and didn’t hear a single noise in the house. Though, it could be the house. The old factory was well built and had been insulated during the remodel for energy efficiency and quiet.
He stood from his bed and looked across the new wood floors to the trail of dust he’d left after getting home this morning. It led from his doorway to his bathroom.
He stumbled to the bathroom and pulled his used towel off the hook where he hung it to dry, then wiped up his mess. They still didn’t have a housekeeper, so they were on their own. Even so, he’d been taught better than to live like a pig, so he cleaned.
He dressed and entered the kitchen to a lively discussion from his teammates about what they wanted to call the house. They’d all been calling it the sewing factory, but it wasn’t that anymore.
Maya turned as he entered the room. “Here, Aidyn, you need to write a few names on pieces of paper and we’re going to look at them all and decide.”
“Can I have coffee first?”
Adelaide laughed. “If you make it. It’s two in the afternoon. The coffee stopped brewing hours ago.”
He glanced at the clock on the wall and frowned. “Okay, I’ll get a cola instead.”
His teammates were quiet as they wrote their suggestions on pieces of paper, he wasn’t awake enough yet to partake in this bit of creative energy.
He sat on a stool at the counter and watched Adelaide scribble away. She had a list. The last name on the list was, “Hemmed In.”
Aidyn chuckled. “You’re all getting too creative for me.”
He stood and opened the refrigerator. He found some leftover ham his mom and Sophie had made yesterday and pulled it out. Carrying it to the other counter, he pulled a plate from the cupboard and stabbed three slices with a fork and dropped them on his plate.
Tate sauntered into the kitchen with a grin on his face. “I found someone to cook and clean for us. She starts tomorrow. Her name is Helissa. She’s in her fifties, not that it matters, and she’s a widow. She’s looking for a job and feels this will give her plenty to do. She’s off on the weekends but will have meals in the fridge for us. And Lara has known her for a few years and says she’s reliable and even-tempered. Let’s keep her that way.”
Aidyn chuckled. “That’s fantastic. I was just wondering what we’d do when the ham was gone.”
Addy shook her head and wrote down another name idea on her sheet of paper. Tate grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. “Also, Myles will be joining us in a couple of weeks. It appears we need someone here who understands explosives better than most folks.”
Maya grinned. “He won’t say it, but he’s excited about getting here. Since Tate and Lara got married, he thinks we’re all having the time of our lives here.”
Tate shook his head. “Why would he think that? We’re looking for an explosive’s expert.”
She nodded. “I know and I told him it isn’t all fun and games here, but he said you managed rather well for yourself.”
Tate laughed. “If he’s looking for a wife, Lara can likely find someone for him. Shianne is available.”
Maya held her hands up as if staving off a slap. “Oh, no, no, no. That girl talks too much. She’ll drive me crazy.”
Aidyn chuckled. “I thought we were talking about Myles.”
Maya glared at him from across the counter. “Anyone Myles marries will be my sister-in-law. It matters a lot.”
