AutoChef in the bedroom—one with coffee on the menu? Or a screen so she could scan the international crime news to see what was happening at home.
Adapt, she ordered herself as she dressed while some species of bird went cuckoo—literally—over and over again outside the window. This wasn’t New York, or even a close facsimile. And surely she was racking up good wife points every minute.
She raked her fingers through her damp hair—no drying tube in the facilities—and considered herself as ready for the day as she was going to get.
Halfway down the steps she heard more singing, a pretty and bright human voice lilting away about love. And on the turn for the kitchen, she swore she caught the siren’s scent of coffee.
Hope shimmered even as she told herself it was likely just sense memory. But the scent snagged her and drew her like a fishhook the rest of the way.
“Oh, thank God.” She hadn’t realized she’d spoken out loud until Sinead turned from the stove and smiled at her.
“Good morning to you. I hope you slept well.”
“Great, thanks. Is that really coffee?”
“It is, yes. Roarke had it sent, special, the sort you like particularly. I remembered you’ve a fondness for it.”
“It’s more a desperate need.”
“I need a strong cup of tea in the morning before I’m human.” Sinead handed Eve a thick brown mug. She wore trim oatmeal-colored pants and a bright blue shirt with the sleeves cuffed at the elbows. Some sort of hinged pin scooped her hair back from her face and fastened it at the back of her head.
“Have a seat, get the gears moving.”
“Thanks. Really.”
“The men are off looking at machinery, so you can have a peaceful breakfast. Roarke said you’d go for a full Irish.”
“Ah . . .”
“What we’ll call a civilized portion,” Sinead said with a quick grin. “Not the heaps the men manage to consume.”
“I’m really fine with coffee. You don’t have to bother.”
“I’d like to bother. It pleases me. Meats already done so I’ve got it warming. It won’t take but a minute or two to cook up the rest. It’s nice to have company in the kitchen,” she added as she turned back to the stove.
Odd, Eve thought, very odd to sit down and actually watch somebody cook. She imagined Summerset, Roarke’s majordomo, did a lot of it as he stocked the AutoChefs.
But hanging out in the kitchen, especially with Summerset, was on her list of top-ten nightmares.
“I hear the cock woke you up.”
Eve choked on her coffee. “What?”
“Not that kind of cock.” Sinead sent a sparkling look over her shoulder. “Though if that’s true as well, good for you. I meant the rooster.”
“Oh, right. Yeah. It does that every morning?”
“Fair or foul, though I’m too used to it to hear him go off most days.” She broke eggs into the skillet. “It would be like traffic noises to you, I suppose. Just part of the world you live in.”
She glanced back again as food sizzled. “I’m so glad you’re staying another night, and we’ve got such a fine, bright day shining on your gift to Roarke. I thought I’d take you over there a bit early, so you could have a look before Seamus brings him.”
“The pictures you sent gave me the gist, but it’d be good to see it first-hand. I appreciate all you did there, Sinead.”
“It means the world to me and mine. It’s more than a grand anniversary gift, Eve. Much, much more.”
She took a plate out of the oven, added the eggs, fried potatoes, a small half tomato. “And here’s brown bread fresh this morning,” she said, putting the plate and a crock of butter in front of Eve, then taking a cloth off a half round of bread.
“Smells great.”
With a smile, Sinead topped off Eve’s coffee, then brought a mug of tea to the table. Waited while Eve sampled.
“Tastes even better, and I’ve gotten spoiled when it comes to breakfast.”
“That’s grand then. I like feeding people, tending to them. I like thinking I’ve a talent for it.”
“I’d say you do.”
“We should all be lucky enough to do what we like, and what we’ve a talent for. Your work gives you that.”
“Yeah.”
“I can’t imagine doing what you do any more than I think you can imagine my life here. Yet here we are, sitting together at the kitchen table sharing the morning. Fate’s an odd thing, and in this case a generous one. I have to thank you for coming this way, spending these