“I’m happy to cook,” he said. “Believe me, I’m enjoying this as much as they are.”
“Seriously, though,” Gillian said. “If you don’t want to cook, let us know and we’ll put out the word that we’d welcome food. That’s part of being a pack—we take care of each other.”
“I’ll come with you,” Tamsin said.
He held up a staying hand. “Seriously, this is easier than breakfast. I’ll gladly accept help from you and Malyah for dinner prep, though.”
A few minutes later, Ken headed to Gillian’s to start lunch. He hadn’t exaggerated that the meal prep was easy, slicing the huge ham Gillian had earmarked for the purpose and setting out all the fixings for sandwiches. Plus, he made a large salad and cut up fruit.
He satisfied himself with a cheese sandwich, a salad, and fruit, and sat in the living room with his laptop to work while family rotated in and out for food.
When Dewi walked into the kitchen through the back door, Ken shut his laptop and joined her. “Can I make you a plate, honey?”
She handed a sleeping Lyssa over to him with a kiss. “If you’ll take a turn with her, I’ll make it myself. I just nursed and changed her.”
“Okay.” He returned to the living room and resumed his previous place on the sofa, with Lyssa cradled in his arms. Dewi joined him moments later, her plate piled high with a jumbo double-decker ham and cheese sandwich, complete with all the fixings, and sat next to him.
“I think Gillian and Tamsin feel guilty they’re not helping you,” Dewi said.
“Ah, so that’s a common theme in this family, huh?” he joked. “No wonder I fit in.”
She softly snorted. “Yeah. Hey, I never denied being a workaholic, and I’m surrounded by them. We’re all really good at giving our loved ones advice that we should be directing at the person in the mirror.” She nodded toward his laptop. “Whatcha working on today?”
“Stuff for the new houses. Researching builders.” He dropped his voice. “Do we plan for Tamsin and Aisling to have their own place?”
“I don’t know,” she said, suddenly sounding weary. “On the one hand, despite how we met, I’m glad we have Aisling here. There,” she corrected. “And I love Tam. But once we catch Faegan, that means it’ll hopefully be safe for them to return to the UK, if that’s what they want.”
“Hopefully?” He knew there were other issues, but was mindful not to let on too much, so as not to trigger her suspicions about the secrets he guarded.
“Depending on the factors Peyton told us about. About some unknown third-party.” She scowled. “Now knowing Tamsin’s relationship to you, and that Hamish is joining us, it’d be kind of nice to have them here all the time.”
“Here?” Ken tried not to get his hopes up.
“I meant in Florida. Especially with Maisie being close in age to the other babies. Tamsin’s a natural teacher. Having her run our private school would be amazing. The kids love her. And Aisling.”
“Not sure Carl does,” Ken noted. “Love Aisling, I mean. Those last few text messages of his this morning on the group thread sounded kind of…testy.”
Apparently, Aisling and Carl had vastly differing views on what to teach very young girls.
As in for PE, Aisling wanted them to start learning martial arts and had started teaching them judo, while Carl had suggested starting with Duck-Duck-Goose and Hopscotch.
“They probably grate on each other because they’re both strong Alphas.” Dewi smiled. “Although does it make me evil to kind of hope he’s holding his own with her and giving her hell to make up for how I met her?”
Ken kissed her. “I think it makes you human, babe.”
“That’s a rotten thing to say,” she teased.
Once Ken cleaned up the kitchen and Lyssa was back with Dewi, Ken spent two hours working before he started tackling the recipe. He wanted the casseroles prepped and ready to go for dinner. But as he mixed the ingredients and tasted, it felt to him like something was…missing.
He studied the recipe again and verified he’d added everything in the listed quantities.
Still…
He thought about it.
Double the paprika and add nutmeg.
He froze, contemplating, a shiver washing through him. As he tried to understand why that thought popped into his head—a thought that honestly had sounded like a woman’s voice—he still found himself reaching for the spices and measuring spoons to make the adjustment.
