him when he looked down, so he jerked his head a little and lifted his brows.
Liam got the hint, and he smiled like Preston and he were conspiring together behind Athena’s back. Conspiring for good, as they shared a grin and Liam said, “Thanks, Miss Athena. I’m hungry. Am I allowed to eat it?”
She looked over her shoulder, her hand stilling.
“Hello to you, too.” Then she grinned a little. “I guess I should have known that the food on the table would be the first thing you guys would notice. And, Liam, you can have as much of it as your dad will allow you, but although I won’t be here, supper should be ready at six. Did you have a good day at school?”
“I guess,” Liam said, walking forward and dumping his book bag on the chair. He reached for a cracker, and Preston said, “Better wash your hands first, kid.”
He almost thought Liam was going to ignore him, because it took another second for his hand to stop. But it did, and Liam turned and went to the sink.
Preston had done a lot of thinking today while he had been out at Loyal’s ranch helping him install a computer-controlled monitoring system for the maternity stalls in his horse barn.
That was the type of business his father was in, and he’d helped and worked in his dad’s business until the accident.
His parents called him periodically. His mom wanted to know how he was, and although he knew she did it out of love, he felt like she tried to micromanage his life as well.
He avoided her.
But his dad had asked multiple times each year when he was coming back to the business.
His parents had enabled him long enough.
It was time he started pulling his weight.
Or, like Athena, pulling more than his weight. Maybe it was a weird thing to wonder, but he couldn’t help but think that the world would be a completely different place if everyone were like Athena, doing more than expected.
He followed Liam over to the sink and waited while Liam finished washing his hands.
The chocolate and coffee scent that he associated with Athena shimmered in the air, and he breathed it in.
“How was your day?” he asked.
Athena made three more slices with the knife before she stopped abruptly and jerked her head over to look at him.
There was not much space between them, and he could see the shock in her eyes as she said, “Are you talking to me?”
He made a show of looking around the kitchen, and then his eyes rested on her once more. “You’re the only person in here, other than Liam, and we’ve already figured out that his school day was good.”
“Well, I think you want to get a little more than ‘good’ out of him, but if that’s an acceptable answer, my day was good too. Thanks for asking.”
He supposed he never really thought about women in terms of types or kinds, but he supposed there were ladies whose personalities were like curves, circles and ovals, sweet and soft and round.
But Athena was sharp. Her wit quick. Her eyes picking out everything. Her mind processing it and making snap decisions, and she acted on them without wavering. Matter-of-factly.
He liked her sense of humor. And he liked the way her mind worked.
Her eyes crinkled, and the corners of her mouth quirked when she saw him smiling.
“So how about you show us how we get something more than ‘good’ out of you about your day.”
A little of her smile dimmed, and her eyes went to Liam who turned the water off and was drying his hands.
“I love my patient, and I got to have several nice conversations with her. I also got to read one of my favorite books aloud to my patient who had never heard it, and she enjoyed it as much as I did. And while I made you guys a snack tray, I helped myself to a little bit of it, and so I had good food today, too. Nobody died. Nobody went to the hospital. It was a good day.” She lifted her brows and gave Preston a challenging look. “How was your day?” she asked, with not a little sarcasm.
“It was good,” he said with one side of his mouth quirked up before he turned to the sink and turned the water on.
Athena snorted and went back to chopping her potatoes.
Preston grinned to himself as he finished washing his hands. Then, while he was drying