after her first bite.
Emily followed Faith’s movements exactly, her expression sweet. “Apples.”
“Yep.”
Rejoining their moms, I pulled the mugs from the rack and poured us coffee. I settled across from them, but both were too busy eating, their mouths full of scone. The amount of oh my and good God that came from the pair of them did wonderful things for my ego. When their plates were clean, practically licked of crumbs, Ember’s focus shifted to me. “That was amazing.”
“The secret, baking powder and cream of tartar, extra fine flour and the butter has got to be icy cold when you cut it in.”
“Delicious.” Darcy reached for her cup. “So tell us what you think of Rafe.”
I had just taken a sip of my coffee; the unexpected question had it going down the wrong pipe. After I coughed it clear, I managed to ask, “Excuse me?”
“Come on. All that hunky male beauty, you have got to have thoughts.”
Not only were they all ridiculously beautiful, they were the most outspoken people I’d ever met. “Do any of you come with a filter?”
Ember’s brown eyes widened in all innocence, but I saw the mischievousness lurking behind her expression. “Whatever do you mean?”
“When Lucien was here, he called me on a few things and not knowing me, it was a surprise.”
“What few things?” Ember asked.
Following the pattern in the quartz countertop with my finger, I muttered. “I may have been checking Rafe and Lucien out with my binoculars. He saw the binoculars and called me on it.”
“That was likely for Rafe’s benefit.” Darcy said.
Rafe’s benefit…what did she mean by that? “How so?”
“Lucien is also not a big fan of Melody’s. I knew I married a smart man.”
Ember’s head, that was nodding affirmatively, looked like a bobble head. “Yes, you did.” And then her gaze sliced back to me. “So, what do you think of Rafe?”
“He’s very nice. Extremely talented.”
“Come on, we already know that. Everyone knows that. What do you think of him?” Darcy was now leaning so far over the counter she was practically in my coffee mug.
“He makes me catch my breath, my brain disengages whenever he’s around which causes me to say the most ridiculous things and when I saw him coming from his barn with no tee, hot and sweaty, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.”
This earned me dropped jaws from both of them.
“What? You asked.”
Unlike her husband, Ember would be terrible at poker. Her thoughts were very transparent and right now she wanted to play matchmaker.
I tried to derail whatever she was plotting when I asked, “How did you all meet?”
Ember rested her head on her hand. “Let’s see. Lucien and Darcy met at an orphanage when they were younger. Trace too was there and so was Rafe. I met Trace a few years ago. I was at a bar, a drunk was being overly friendly, and Trace stepped in.”
I was beginning to better understand the dynamic between Rafe, Lucien and Trace. They were like brothers, not of blood but I’d guess just as strong. The idea that the boy Rafe had been had them to help him through what had to be a very difficult time made me happy. And it was the depth of that happy that gave me pause because it wasn’t at all in line with the fun, flirty banter I had convinced myself was all I felt for my landlord.
Rocked a bit by that revelation, I almost missed what Darcy said. “I applied for a job with Lucien a few years ago. He was the love of my life at fourteen, turns out he’s still the love of my life and luckily for me, I’m his.”
“A second chance love story, I love those.” And I did. I didn’t even have a first chance love story, but whatever.
“What about you? Are you seeing anyone?” Darcy asked.
“No.”
“Why not?” Ember asked.
“I’ve never had much luck dating and I’ve kind of been conditioned to not bother working on a relationship if it isn’t worth the effort.”
Darcy’s head cocked as she studied me.
Emily followed Faith’s movements exactly, her expression sweet. “Apples.”
“Yep.”
Rejoining their moms, I pulled the mugs from the rack and poured us coffee. I settled across from them, but both were too busy eating, their mouths full of scone. The amount of oh my and good God that came from the pair of them did wonderful things for my ego. When their plates were clean, practically licked of crumbs, Ember’s focus shifted to me. “That was amazing.”
“The secret, baking powder and cream of tartar, extra fine flour and the butter has got to be icy cold when you cut it in.”
“Delicious.” Darcy reached for her cup. “So tell us what you think of Rafe.”
I had just taken a sip of my coffee; the unexpected question had it going down the wrong pipe. After I coughed it clear, I managed to ask, “Excuse me?”
“Come on. All that hunky male beauty, you have got to have thoughts.”
Not only were they all ridiculously beautiful, they were the most outspoken people I’d ever met. “Do any of you come with a filter?”
Ember’s brown eyes widened in all innocence, but I saw the mischievousness lurking behind her expression. “Whatever do you mean?”
“When Lucien was here, he called me on a few things and not knowing me, it was a surprise.”
“What few things?” Ember asked.
Following the pattern in the quartz countertop with my finger, I muttered. “I may have been checking Rafe and Lucien out with my binoculars. He saw the binoculars and called me on it.”
“That was likely for Rafe’s benefit.” Darcy said.
Rafe’s benefit…what did she mean by that? “How so?”
“Lucien is also not a big fan of Melody’s. I knew I married a smart man.”
Ember’s head, that was nodding affirmatively, looked like a bobble head. “Yes, you did.” And then her gaze sliced back to me. “So, what do you think of Rafe?”
“He’s very nice. Extremely talented.”
“Come on, we already know that. Everyone knows that. What do you think of him?” Darcy was now leaning so far over the counter she was practically in my coffee mug.
“He makes me catch my breath, my brain disengages whenever he’s around which causes me to say the most ridiculous things and when I saw him coming from his barn with no tee, hot and sweaty, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.”
This earned me dropped jaws from both of them.
“What? You asked.”
Unlike her husband, Ember would be terrible at poker. Her thoughts were very transparent and right now she wanted to play matchmaker.
I tried to derail whatever she was plotting when I asked, “How did you all meet?”
Ember rested her head on her hand. “Let’s see. Lucien and Darcy met at an orphanage when they were younger. Trace too was there and so was Rafe. I met Trace a few years ago. I was at a bar, a drunk was being overly friendly, and Trace stepped in.”
I was beginning to better understand the dynamic between Rafe, Lucien and Trace. They were like brothers, not of blood but I’d guess just as strong. The idea that the boy Rafe had been had them to help him through what had to be a very difficult time made me happy. And it was the depth of that happy that gave me pause because it wasn’t at all in line with the fun, flirty banter I had convinced myself was all I felt for my landlord.
Rocked a bit by that revelation, I almost missed what Darcy said. “I applied for a job with Lucien a few years ago. He was the love of my life at fourteen, turns out he’s still the love of my life and luckily for me, I’m his.”
“A second chance love story, I love those.” And I did. I didn’t even have a first chance love story, but whatever.
“What about you? Are you seeing anyone?” Darcy asked.
“No.”
“Why not?” Ember asked.
“I’ve never had much luck dating and I’ve kind of been conditioned to not bother working on a relationship if it isn’t worth the effort.”
Darcy’s head cocked as she studied me.
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