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Judging by how the woman rushed off, Iris guessed Mira would probably burst into tears as soon as the door closed behind her. Iris caught up with Eli in the kitchen, where he was chopping potatoes into fine cubes. Intrigued, she watched him mince up the onions and tomatoes in the same way.
“What’re you making?” she asked.
“Picadillo. My mom’s recipe, or at least that’s what Gamma says. She wrote it down before Mom passed away.”
She glanced over at him, locked on to the fact that he hadn’t mentioned his family much at all before. Actually, she knew more about Sally and Henry Dale than she did about Eli. “You don’t remember her making it for you?”
“Idorecall eating it, and I have faint memories of her singing and cooking. She liked Shakira.” He paused, staring downat the ingredients sizzling in the skillet. “I was six when she passed away.”
“I’m sorry,” Iris said.
Eli lifted a shoulder. “It’s okay. I don’t talk about her a lot. My dad died seven years later, and I moved to St. Claire to live with Gamma.”
“Ah, so that’s what you meant when you said were sort of from here.”Crap, I should be more sensitive when he’s opening up.“Sorry for your loss.”
Eli didn’t look at her, busy sautéing the garlic, potatoes, and onions in olive oil. He added the tomatoes next. “It was a long time ago. Can you defrost some peas and carrots?”
It seemed pretty clear that he was done talking about his sad past, so she took the hint. “Sure. How much?”
“About a cup. There’s an open bag in the freezer… A minute or two in the microwave should do it.” With a little flourish, Eli crumbled the ground beef into the hot pan, where it made a satisfying hiss. “Can you make some tomato broth?”
Iris hadn’t even known theyhadthis in the kitchen, but in the cupboard, she found four jars of stock powder—chicken, beef, vegetable, and tomato. While he browned the beef, she dutifully mixed a cup, and he added it to the pan. In that moment, she realized howmuchshe enjoyed watching him cook. Part of why this house felt like home? It was Eli.
And that was aterrifyingrealization.
He shot her a concerned look, now that everything was coming together for the meal. “You okay? I noticed that you seemed down earlier.”
Wow, he reads me that well?
Iris decided to tell him part of the truth. “Honestly? I was thinking that at least Mira had someone who loved her enough to move in with her. As a partner, I mean. I’ve never even gotten there.” She sighed softly. “Hell, the last person I dated decided my sister Lily was the better option. Wait, should I still call her that?”
“That’s up to you,” Eli said, carefully tending to the food in the skillet, which was starting to look sort of like corned beef hash.
She’d never tasted picadillo, but it smelled amazing, and the aroma only became richer when he added peas, carrots, and various spices to it. “What is?”
“Whether you still consider them family. Apart from Gamma, I’m not close to anyone in my family. On my mother’s side, I have relatives in Veracruz.” Eli turned off the burner, moved the skillet to a cool burner, and then started setting out sour cream, hot sauce, and the like, along with a bag of tostadas. “But that’s not the point. Don’t waste a second on some asshole who picked her over you.”
Why did it feel so good hearing that, especially from him? He’d seen Lily and Rose too, which meant he had some basis for comparison. She forced herself to stay on the far side of the table, not to hug him like she wanted to.
“I’ve warned you, right? About being so nice to me.”
He smiled, and her heart turned over. “I guess I’m a slow learner.”
The look built between them, becoming powerful enough that Iris almost, almost closed the distance. What she would’ve done, she had no idea. Just as well that he ended the moment byturning away. Eli knocked on Henry Dale’s door while Iris called Mira down.
“We’re having hash?” Henry Dale asked with a dubious look.
“Picadillo,” Eli corrected. “We have tortillas if you’d rather eat it that way. I didn’t make rice. I usually put it on tostadas.”
“This looks delicious,” Mira said.
Iris bit her lip as a worrisome thought occurred to her. “Youdoeat meat? Sorry, we should have asked.”
“Yep, I’m an omnivore. I don’t know if it’s related to the type of magic vivimancers use, but they’re more likely to be vegan,” Mira said, taking her seat.
“Interesting,” Eli said.
Henry Dale eyed the food, but he followed Eli’s example and put a spoon of picadillo on the tostada, then topped it with a drizzle of cream and a swirl of hot sauce. He took his first bite and smiled. “This is darn tasty.”
