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However, the delay brought another level of thinking.
“It’s probably for the better,” Dove said quietly. “There’s a reason we’re not supposed to go today. There are too many issues cropping up. Remember that one case you and Harv handled back in the FBI?” She raised both eyebrows at Quaide.
He searched her face for a moment before nodding. “I remember it well. And you’re right.”
“Okay, your private communication isn’t helping the rest of us out,” Rain popped off. “But I’ll take that tiny sewing room and eighties clothes patterns over smelling manure any day. I’ll be upstairs if anyone’s looking for me.”
With that, Rain flounced off, leaving Dove to handle the next steps of plan B.
Was there a plan B?
“Oh god. We’ll have to do this all over again. The makeovers. Lark’s wig.” She moaned. She was not up for that a second time, even if it had been relatively painless.
“Since I’m not driving to Colorado today, I’m going to bash some stuff in the study.”
She inched closer to him, linking their hands and raising her fingers to his jaw. “That sounds like a good way for you to relieve stress.”
“Will you join me?”
“Actually, it’s getting close to dinnertime. We all need to eat. Did I see chicken in the refrigerator?”
He nodded. “I’ve never eaten your cooking before.”
She shrugged. “I had to learn fast. When you’re suddenly in charge of your little sister, you figure things out.” She released his hand and backed up a step. “Go fight some demons in that study, Quaide.”
He chuckled. “If by demons you mean that sofa with the covered bridges pattern…”
She wrinkled her nose. “Exactly.”
He turned away from her as if reluctant to do so, and Dove drifted into the kitchen. Cooking was far from her favorite pastime, but she could use the mindless task right now. After the blow that they weren’t going to the ranch, and all the preparation it took to go in the first place, she was mentally exhausted.
But she had cute hair.
And Quaide called it sexy.
She opened the refrigerator door first and rummaged through the stocked fridge. When she located a package of fresh chicken breasts, she started planning the non-protein portion of their meal.
After digging through the cupboards, she located long grain rice and set to work putting together a meal for… She counted. Five people.
The kitchen had a lot of old pots and pans, which made it easy to cook in. As she worked, butterflying the chicken and seasoning both sides, it was easy to imagine Quaide’s grandmother standing at this very counter, preparing food for people she cared about.
A loud crash carried across the house from the study. Wow. Clearly Quaide was beingveryenthusiastic about relieving his stress.
She smiled to herself and even began to hum. The sound startled her until she realized it was coming from her. How long had it been since she felt so much like herself?
On the electric stove, she preheated some oil in the bottom of a well-loved skillet. She was just placing the breasts into the pan when the lights flickered off.
Immediately, they came back on. Then they dimmed for a moment and then went off entirely again.
“Goddammit!” Quaide’s bellow resonated through the house just as feet thudded down the stairs.
Lark walked into the kitchen. The room had a lot of natural light, but Dove couldn’t exactly cook on an electric top without electricity.
“What happened?” Lark asked her.
She shrugged. “Lost power.”
“Maybe somebody hit a telephone pole.”
