"Oh, yes, that makes more sense." I look away, somewhat embarrassed that I went for something much more extreme.
"But if it will make you feel better, then I can come with you." He makes his way over to the table and sets down the tray of chocolate shells.
"I can't ask you to do that."
"Technically, you already did," he points out. "But now I'm offering."
"I would appreciate being able to tell Father in more detail about the menu. He might be able to make a better decision then."
"I'll come with you," Nate says. "If you think the King won't object to that."
"I'm sure he won't. Father appreciates those who know how to do their job."
He nods. "When's the meeting?"
"The day after tomorrow," I respond. "I can get Marion to give you the exact details."
"You don't know them, do you?" His amusement comes through his voice.
"I know that's bad, but if I think too far ahead, then I'm going to start getting stressed about it, and that's not how I should feel about going to meet with my father, even if he is the King."
"True. Now the ganache should be cool enough for us to fill the moulds. I think a teaspoon should be enough, but you can try putting in a little more if you want."
"Maybe a teaspoon first. I can't believe we've never made chocolates together before," I say as I prepare to put the first teaspoon of ganache into the chocolate shell. I have to scrape it off with my finger, which isn't ideal, but it gets the job done.
Nate takes a palette knife and scrapes it over the top, which seems to do the trick of pushing it more into place. "I didn't know how to make them before," he admits. "And in truth, I only know how to make truffles now, I don't know about anything fancier than that."
"They seem fancy to me," I respond as I fill some more of the shells.
"That's because they're new to you. But I can find some recipes for other chocolates if you want."
"Do you want that?" I look at him as I ask.
"I always want to discover more."
"I'm going to need you to be clearer than that," I respond.
"Sorry. Yes, I'd like to learn some more chocolate recipes and practice. I believe they'll be good for when your family is having tea with important people."
"I think that would be nice." I can see Mama being very impressed if she gets to serve chocolates to her friends.
"Perhaps you'll even be able to close trade deals with chocolates."
"I don't think chocolates would be enough to close deals," I respond as I finish filling the chocolate shells with the ganache.
Nate chuckles. "I was joking, Evie."
"Oh." I grimace. "Sorry, I missed that."
He shrugs. "It wasn't really that funny."
"It might have been if I weren't me." I look away, not really sure how to deal with that thought.
"You are you," he replies. "And I wouldn't want to change that."
I look up, finding his gaze trained on me in an intense way that's a lot more than I expect. This is it. This is the moment I need to be brave and say the words. "Can I talk to you about something?"
He picks up the tray of chocolate shells, but then puts them down again. "Of course. What is it?"
