be doing right now is also the one thing that’d help, but I don’t have access to a goddamn studio.” I shoved past him, too irritated by that bit of info to bother being horny.
I still was halfway back to the point of needing more attention—four hours off, my ass—but choosing to ignore it when I planted my ass in a chair at the table. The place had a formal dining room on the other side of the kitchen, but the guys had set the kitchen table again. Dinner rolls were already in a basket in the middle, and I grabbed one, sinking my teeth in and spite-eating while I watched them finish up dinner. A salad appeared in the middle of the table, set there by Eddie, who gave me a flirty wink. Then a pitcher of fresh strawberry lemonade. An enormous baking dish that bubbled with cheesy goodness and, finally, a platter covered in roasted meat.
“Will food be enough for you for the moment?” Gray asked, slipping into the seat beside me and taking my plate to start serving me.
“This is…unexpected? I figured we’d be stuck with pot pie or stew the whole time. Where the hell did you find lettuce?”
“Eddie found the remains of a garden in back, and enough of the plants self-seeded to have a salad. And there’s a lemon tree back there too. That was quite a score.”
“Not as big a score as the chickens,” Chayton said.
My eyebrows shot up. “There are still chickens here? I remember them from when I was little but that was ages ago. I ought to give the caretakers a raise, I guess.”
The others sat, and we all dug into the food, which was delicious. My mood vastly improved after devouring the first serving and continued to get better the more I ate. I was ravenous, and it wasn’t until the room went dead silent and I felt the six pairs of eyes on me that I realized they’d all finished while I was reaching for another dinner roll and cleaning out the pan of potatoes.
“There’s pie,” Murdoc said. “That is, if you left room for it.”
“There’s always room for pie.”
We collectively cleared the table and cleaned up. Working beside them felt natural, like finding perfect glassblowing assistants who knew their way around a hot shop and could easily anticipate my needs. These six were a well-oiled machine. Everything was done within a span of ten minutes and the pie on the table ready to be cut. It felt amazing to be part of such synchronized purpose.
The pie turned out to be lemon meringue and was every bit as delicious as the meal had been. I took a huge bite and savored the tanginess on my tongue.
“Christ, I wish I could take you guys back to my studio and have you all assist me with my project. Since that’s not an option, I need whoever baked this piece of heaven to give me cooking lessons. I love the sex, don’t get me wrong, but at least pie would kill two birds with one stone, right?”
Gray made an excited noise around his fork and swallowed. “I forgot! I found something this morning that you need to see. I think it’ll answer all your prayers.”
20
Gray
April gaped into the interior of the barn when I rolled the door open and turned on the lights. She took a hesitant step in, then looked up at me in wonder. “This was here? How long has it been here?”
“Judging from the dust and the age of the equipment, a little more than five years. And judging from the magic lingering all over the place, your mother was who built it.”
Her eyes flickered as she shifted her vision to look for the telltale signatures people left behind wherever they went. Depending on how much time and emotional energy was expended in a place, the signature would be stronger, occasionally as strong as an aura.
Tears sprang to her eyes, and she gravitated to Tate’s side, seeking comfort against his sturdy frame. Hope for a stronger connection between them warmed my chest, and my throat tightened.
“I thought she just left. And she came back and did this? I’ve had the deed to this place for the past five years. Why wouldn’t she come see me in person? Is she still alive?”
I thought of the photo I’d examined in the library and bit my tongue. I wasn’t prepared to speculate out loud what her mother’s motivations were. I wanted