Bonus Kisses - Freya Barker Page 0,34

not entirely sure where that came from.

“Are you sure?”

I don’t need to think about it. I want to. “Positive. Can you let her know? I need to pick up a few more things.”

The soft chuckle on the other side instantly warms me. “Sure thing. I’ll do it before we go. We shouldn’t be too long. See you in a bit.”

“Okay. See you,” I mumble distractedly before ending the call. My mind is already planning tomorrow’s dinner.

I’m not sure what suddenly drives my need to cook for my family, but it seems important to make a good impression. Maybe it’s because it’s the one thing in which I take after Mom, my skills in the kitchen.

Growing up there was never room in the kitchen for anyone other than Mom, so neither Nicky nor I ever felt the need to learn. In college I mostly ate out, but there aren’t any restaurants in the unpopulated areas of central Africa where I worked. If you wanted a decent meal, more often than not you had to prepare it yourself. Cooking was both a necessity and a hobby.

For some reason, I’m eager to show my mother that contrary to popular opinion, perhaps the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree in that respect.

Maybe I’ll introduce them to Moambe Chicken, a Congolese national dish. If I don’t make it too spicy, the kids will probably like it too. The biggest challenge will be to find the proper ingredients in the single grocery store in Eminence, Missouri.

“Excuse me,” I approach a woman wearing a store smock with Manager embroidered on her chest.

She looks up and smiles. “Can I help you?”

“I hope so. By any chance do you carry palm butter?”

“I don’t even know what that is,” she says apologetically. “In aisle three you’ll find peanut butter, almond butter, and even sunflower seed butter, but I doubt you’ll find palm butter.”

“I could probably use peanut butter,” I mutter, more to myself than to her. “What about cassava leaves?”

She seems to study me, putting her hands on her hips and tilting her head to the side. “You’re not from here, are you?”

I can’t help it; I burst out laughing. “Actually, I am. Originally. Born and raised.”

“You’re shitting me.” She leans a little closer and whispers conspiratorially, “I’ve lived here for four years and was convinced there weren’t any interesting people living in Eminence. I can’t tell you how happy I am to be wrong.”

“Well, I guess…thank you?” I grin at her, sticking my hand out. “Natasha, but most people call me Taz.”

“Meredith,” she says, taking my hand. “Now tell me, what on earth are you cooking?”

When I walk out of the store half an hour later, with enough groceries to last us a month, I do it with a giant smile on my face.

It looks like I made a new friend. One who seems satisfied taking me at face value instead of judging me based on an old reputation or a different appearance.

It gives me hope that perhaps I will be able to make a life here.

Rafe

It’s a lot later than I anticipated when I pull the truck in the spot beside the CRV.

A quick glance at the kids in the back seat puts a smile on my face, despite the niggling concern I may have jumped the gun.

It’s not like me to make spontaneous decisions, but there’d been something about the way the kids had buried their unguarded smiling faces in the soft fur of the wiggling pups in their arms. The words had flown from my mouth before I realized perhaps I should’ve included Taz.

Too late now.

As usual, Spencer is first through the door, this time with Sofie close on his heels. My hands full of bags, I kick the door shut behind me and freeze at the sight of Taz on her back on the living room floor, giggling like a loon with the two puppies crawling all over her face and biting at her hair.

Any concern I had flies out the window.

“You’re a pushover,” she teases me when I drop the bags and sit down on the coffee table.

“I’m not the one on the floor covered in puppy spit.”

She grins at my retort and the light in her eyes feels warm on my skin. I was concerned over nothing.

“Do they have names?” she asks the kids.

“Lilo and Stitch.” Of course it’s Spencer who’s the first to answer, even though Sofie was the one to come up with the names. Given that was the