Spooning Leads to Forking (Hot in the Kitchen #2) - Kilby Blades Page 0,51
intimate about all there was to take in. Apart from said police decorations, there were family photos—lots of them. An old recliner sat in one corner positioned in front of a television that looked a little dated, far beyond the five years since Pete had passed. Random pieces of fishing tackle sat on a rolling tray at its side. Shea couldn’t help but to feast her eyes on much younger pictures of Pete and Evie with Delilah and Dev. Dev was different—not just younger, but heavier—the opposite of the uber-fit mountain man.
Next, she was led through the dining room, which had a simple but beautiful table already set for four. A family room had sofas and a television and sliding doors that opened to lake views and an enclosed porch. On the other side of the family room was Evie’s kitchen.
“Can I help with anything?” Shea wanted to know as she hovered in the side entryway.
“You can help yourself to a drink,” Evie came back jovially as she moved around the kitchen. “We drink mojitos around here, darlin’. You like rum?”
Shea was about to accept graciously when the creak of an opening door split her attention.
“She likes bourbon,” came Dev’s baritone. “And she’ll be too polite to tell you she’s lukewarm about mint.”
Shea liked that Dev knew this tiny piece of trivia; she also liked the goofiness she always felt around him.
“You ever have bourbon and pink lemonade?” Dev shifted his gaze from Evie and fixed his green eyes on Shea. “It’s real good,” he assured her. “Especially the way Evie makes it.”
He smiled at her in that way he tended to only when they were alone, and when she did, all self-deception was gone. She had jumped at the chance to come to Sunday dinner to get closer to Dev.
“Thought you didn’t cook,” Dev smirked half an hour later after Evie relented on the topic of Shea helping and let the two of them bring in the last two serving dishes to be placed on the table before they sat.
“Oh, I don’t,” Shea fibbed. “But I didn’t want to come empty-handed, so I thought I’d give greens a try.”
Evie and Delilah filed in right on their heels and everyone took their seats. Shea paused her banter with Dev long enough to thank Evie again for inviting her, then accepted the honor of saying grace. For a long minute, they negotiated the passing around of dishes to serve themselves.
“Somebody taught you right,” Evie declared appreciatively after going straight for Shea’s dish, the look on her face as she swallowed her first bite backing up her praise. “I haven’t tasted greens like this since I left the South. I can’t thank you enough for you thinking to bring me a taste of home.”
“Well, I also made them for Dev,” Shea trailed off, throwing him a bit of a wicked smile. “It was one of the only foods I could think of that fit his specifications.”
Dev smirked over at her and took the bait. “What specifications might those be?”
“The ones where you only eat things that are healthy and that are made out of the color green.”
That got a good laugh out of Evie and Delilah, the latter of who had groused more than once that Dev was a little ridiculous with his juice.
“Very kind of you,” Dev came back.
“Well, I figured I’d better not show up at any dinner where you might be without anything rich in folate, calcium and dietary fiber. What do you think?” she asked, motioning to his plate, masking her own nerves as she challenged him to take a bite. It was Shea’s turn to smirk and enjoy the moment when the expression on his face transformed into some mixture of ecstasy, surprise and delight.
“Damn, these are good,” he said a bit loudly, with an approving nod.
What came next was the most enjoyable home-cooked meal Shea could ever remember, least of all because no one put her on the spot to talk about herself.
Dev talked about how he’d gotten his crash course in policing from Pete—a byproduct of the adoption. Dev’s natural interest in problem-solving had led to an interest in crime-solving and Pete had let him shadow some investigations. Simultaneously, Delilah had bonded over cooking with Evie—it was an activity she’d also done with her mom.
“Pete might have liked if I’d followed in his footsteps,” Dev said as he passed the chicken around. Evie’s food was so good, Shea wasn’t shy about helping herself to seconds.