Bonus Kisses - Freya Barker Page 0,56

and be refrigerated.”

He tags me behind the neck and kisses me hard on the mouth before disappearing into the laundry room where I hear him fill a bucket with water. I blink away tears. I don’t have time for those.

At ten to six, with the table set, the food staying warm in the oven, appetizers on the counter so the dogs can’t get at them, and wine chilling in the fridge, I run upstairs to change. By the time I get back down, Rafe is opening the door to Meredith, her husband, Andrew—a dark, brawny giant who dwarfs her—and Kathleen.

It soon becomes clear the two women know each other as they chat away, keeping me company in the kitchen, while Rafe keeps Andrew engaged with beer, conversation, and the dogs, in the backyard.

I’m actually starting to relax a little by the time we sit down for dinner. The dogs are safely tucked in their crate, gnawing on the bones Rafe brought home for them.

“I didn’t know you could cook like this,” Kathleen shares, already halfway through the food on her plate.

“This is great,” Andrew agrees, helping himself to a second serving.

“You learn fast in the field.” I smile at Kathleen but it’s Meredith who responds.

“The field?”

“Taz was a nurse for Doctors Without Borders until earlier this year. She worked in Central Africa for years,” Rafe answers for me.

Meredith looks a little confused from Rafe to me and back again. “Oh. I thought…” She shakes her head before continuing, “I must’ve gotten my wires crossed.”

“What did you think?” Kathleen prompts, and a feeling of dread grows in the pit of my stomach. Meredith shifts a little uncomfortably in her seat.

“She thought you were married,” Andrew fills in, pointing his fork at Rafe and then me, before pinning his wife with a glare. “What are you kicking me for?”

At the same time I feel Kathleen’s eyes on me, and I do my best to keep a poker face. “Not married, but probably should’ve been,” she declares, her eyes never wavering, before calmly turning to Meredith. “I’m pretty sure they’ve secretly been in love for almost a decade, but Rafe had already committed to Taz’s sister.”

I sit in stunned silence as Rafe’s hand finds mine under the table, linking our fingers.

Meredith’s eyes grow larger as my friend explains my return to Eminence and Nicky’s passing.

“That’s so sad—and beautiful—at the same time,” Meredith says, her eyes suspiciously shiny as she turns to us.

“It’s…confusing,” I’m finally able to respond. “It’s also complicated.”

“We’ll get it sorted out,” Rafe says in a confident tone, giving my hand a squeeze. “We’re trying to be discreet out of consideration for everyone it impacts. Especially the children.” In a few words he manages to clearly get the message across we’re trying to keep a low profile for now.

“So noted,” Andrew acknowledges, reaching over the table to fill his plate for the third time. “You guys are done eating, right?”

“Andrew!” Meredith admonishes him, but he seems unfazed.

“What? You know heavy subjects make me hungry.”

Rafe starts chuckling beside me, and pretty soon the whole table is laughing, as Kathleen gets up to grab the next bottle of wine.

Chapter Twenty

Rafe

“I rode a horse today!”

I have to hold the phone away from my ear at Spencer’s spirited volume. He’s loud enough Taz, who just comes walking into the living room, smiles at hearing his enthusiastic declaration.

“That’s great, Son.” I wave her over to come sit next to me on the couch, but she opts for one of the chairs. “Does the horse have a name?” I ask, a little distracted as I try to gauge Taz’s mood.

She seems a little distant today, but that may be the aftermath of an evening filled with good food, good company, and way too much alcohol. She’d stumbled upstairs right after our guests left and was passed out by the time I got there, after taking care of the dogs and locking down the house.

“Coco!” Spencer yells. “And Sofie’s horse is Moonbeam. Mine was brown, but hers was black with white spots on its back. Grandpa says we can go again tomorrow, but first we have to help feed the aminals.”

“Animals,” I correct him with a smile. It’s one of those words he’s always struggled with. Cinnamon is another he can’t seem to wrap his mouth around.

“That’s what I said—aminals—and Sofie made lots and lots of pictures to show you. Daddy? Did you know that fish eat worms? Grandpa stuck one on my hook and I catched a