"We are so sorry, sweetie."
"This is such a tragedy. Poor darling. Can we make you dinner?"
"How much do you know about this? Were you aware of threats against your parents, Evelyn?"
I forced the memories back and stalked away from the counter, abandoning my toast. "Sorry. You're right. I'm being ridiculous."
"Evie." Benjamin stopped me, his hands gentle on my arms and turning me to face him. His dark brows were tipped up with worry, and he looked me up and down. "It's fine. Stop apologizing." The toast popped up, and we both turned to look at it. Benjamin's stomach rumbled. He glanced down at it and huffed out a sigh. "Let's get some food and go over our options. I got stung to shit, took a dunk in a brook, and I think your grandma hit on me. I need protein."
A smile pulled at my lips, trembling slightly. "She did. Sorry."
"Sit down," he ordered, marching me to the small kitchen table and sitting me in a padded chair. "I'll see what I can find. Do you have eggs?"
"Yeah," I said weakly. "But Benjamin, I really don't want you to feel like you need to be involved in this. You've already given so much of your time."
"No, no," he argued blithely, clanging around in a lower cabinet before pulling out a frying pan. "I was introduced to the goats. I pissed off a hive. I'm in it, now."
I leaned my face on my hand, slumping down. "That's not a good reason to inconvenience yourself."
"You know, I once took a trip to Tokyo just so I could eat an egg salad sandwich from a convenience store," he said, starting a burner on the stove.
My forehead crinkled in confusion. "Huh?"
Frost leaned his hip against the counter, folding his arms over his bare chest. His curly hair looked delightfully ruffledafter drying haphazardly, and he still hadn't shaved this morning. He looked like a rogue. "I'm saying, I do all kinds of things for one reason and one reason alone."
"What's that?" I asked, wondering if I really wanted to know.
"Because I want to." Then he turned and got to work making breakfast without another explanation.
Benjamin made more eggs than I thought could be consumed by two people, half a loaf of cinnamon bread, instant coffee—it was all I had—and he cut up two apples he'd found in the dish I kept on my counter. He also got dressed, thank God. He returned to the kitchen in a soft heather T-shirt and jeans just in time for the cheese to melt on the mountain of scrambled eggs. When he set it all on the table, I wanted to disappear between the hardwood floorboards. I didn't even like it when Nan took my laundry off the clothesline… I definitely wasn't comfortable letting someone do something this extravagant for me.
Benjamin handed me a plate, plunked himself down, and dished me an unfathomably large portion of eggs and cheese. "Okay. We have food. And we know that we're on our own for two weeks."
"Why do you keep saying, 'we?'" I asked weakly.
"Shut up and eat your eggs," he replied, piling his plate with food and then looking up in thought. He took a bite, chewing contemplatively, and then said, "You need a security system."
I leaned my forehead on my palm. "Benjamin."
"Also, I'm not staying another night here without an A/C unit. You almost braised me last night." He buttered a piece of cinnamon raisin toast, ignoring my pleading expression. "An alert system around the perimeter should make it so you can work out there in the field without needing me right beside you all the time."
Clearly, it was pointless to argue with him. Relenting, I took a bite of eggs, and I was pleasantly surprised with the flavor. Wasthat taco seasoning? Suddenly, I was ravenous, and I inhaled most of what he'd put on my plate along with two slices of toast and a full cup of coffee. Benjamin ate, too, shooting me quietly pleased looks. When we were finished, he leaned back in his chair, sighing. "I feel better."
"Me too," I admitted, leaning my head against the wood chair. "But that doesn't change the fact that you don't need to make this whole thing your problem."
He rolled a lazy, half-lidded look my way. "I'm sorry, butyoufell dramatically into my arms last night. That ship has sailed."
I rolled my lips between my teeth, fighting a smile. "I did, didn't I?"
He put a hand to his chest. "I am a sucker for a damsel in distress, Evie, and you are the most distressed damsel I've ever met."
"Distressed is a little ungracious, don't you think?" I pouted slightly.
"I said what I said." Benjamin got to his feet with a groan, padding across the hardwood floors to his bag where he retrieved a laptop. He shoved aside the plates and bowls when he returned, set up the computer, and tapped it to life. "I can set aside two weeks. Most of my patients aren't time-sensitive cases, and the ones who are can be given to my colleagues. That said, I mean this seriously," he said, giving me a stern look as I sat up straight, "we need ground rules."
"I really am very sorry," I repeated sincerely.
"Stop apologizing." He clicked away on his computer, half his attention on the screen and the other half, somehow, on our conversation. "I'd say, for one thing, don't go anywhere outside this house without telling me."
