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“Hey, old man. Lemon’s taking great care of me.”
“We’re just going to put this stuff down in the kitchen,” Selena calls over her shoulder, as she heads for the back of the house. “Come on, Nugget.”
Jacks grumbles something, but he follows after her. He’s crazy about Selena. He’d do anything for her. Even come home to Western Springs. Even live here six months out of the year. And if she’s a fan of Lily and me together, that can only be a good thing.
“What is all that, Selly?” Lily asks as we all follow them into the kitchen.
“Selena made food. A lot of food,” Jacks mutters, as he starts putting down the various trays and containers in his arms.
“Perfect. Because Lily’s not letting me cook. And we both know she sure as hell can’t.”
“Lily has other talents,” Selena says, beaming at Lily.
Then she and Lily both go bright red.
“That is not what I meant. At all. But you two seem very happy, so I’m sure that’s also very true.”
Lily looks like she’s about to crawl into the basement and hide. “Okay, change of topic. Immediately. Thanks so much for all this stuff. Someone’s been complaining about all the ramen and boxed mac and cheese.”
Jacks glares at me. “Then maybe someone should go home to his own place.”
“Jacks. That’s enough,” Dad says from the doorway.
The man is always hanging back, hoping my brothers and I find our own way to figuring out our shit and being there to help nudge us in the right direction. Usually, it seems to work. But this situation might need a more direct approach.
“Does anyone want lemonade? I made lemonade.”
“Yes, please!” Selena says, giving Lily a huge smile. “Since when do you make lemonade?”
“The hardest part is boiling sugar and water. Which I do all the time for my syrups. It’s just larger scale cooking that I never quite mastered. There are just so many different moving parts.”
“The lemonade’s great. She’s testing out some new syrups for the shop. There’s basil blackberry and rhubarb lemon verbena and strawberry mint. What can I get you?” I ask, heading over to get some glasses down.
“I’ll get it, kid. You stay over there.”
“You really need to start letting me do some stuff, babe. I feel completely useless.”
“You’re not useless. But you’re still healing. Why don’t you all go into the living room? I’ll stash this stuff in the fridge and be right out with lemonade.”
“And bring the birds’ nest cookies, I made.”
“You made birds’ nest cookies?” Lily’s eyes are wide.
Selena grins. “I found Mrs. Waters’ recipe and veganized it. They’ve been insisting that you can’t tell the difference. But I want your opinions, too. I’ll keep working on it until they’re perfect. I want to get them right. We might start selling them at the bakery. But I’ve been sworn never to reveal the secret family recipe.”
“I haven’t thought about Mom’s birds’ nest cookies in ages. Thanks for making them for us.”
“I’m happy to. But I want honest feedback.” Selena frowns at me until I nod back at her. Then she’s flashing me a huge smile again.
“Come on, Nugget. Let’s go sit down.”
Jacks follows Selena out into the living room, and then it’s just my dad, Lily, and me in the kitchen.
“I like seeing the two of you happy,” he says with a smile before walking into the living room.
“You sure you don’t want a hand, babe?”
“It’s cookies and lemonade. I think even I can handle that. But with all this food, I can keep you here forever. I might never let you go back to work.”
