A strange expression crosses his face. "You'd think so. But I think he had alternative motives when he sent me away."
"Like what?"
He coughs. "It doesn't matter."
I frown. "What do you mean, it doesn't matter? You can't say something like that and then not tell me what you mean."
He lets out a sigh. "It's complicated. I think some of his feelings stem from the fact that I've got a better position than he does. He's afforded the title of chef, but he's the baker, not the pastry chef. So I think he's a little annoyed that I've come back and taken that."
"Only some of them?"
"I think a lot of the rest of it is that he hoped I'd distance myself from you while I was gone."
I blink a couple of times. "Distance yourself from me?"
"He doesn't approve of our friendship, you know that."
"You wrote to me every week for over five years."
"I know." He smiles at me in a way that softens his entire face. "Getting your letters was always the highlight of my week."
"Mine too." I look up at him, seeing so much warmth in his deep brown eyes that I almost blurt out how I'm feeling.
Someone clears their throat, cutting through the moment.
Nate lets out a sigh. "I need to unload. But if you're free after dinner, then I do have an easy recipe for us to make if there are still preserved apricots."
"There are," I respond. "The royal orchard had a really good crop this year. I even talked to the gardener and found out where they came from."
"Then I look forward to hearing all about them when we're baking later."
I nod, wishing that he didn't have to pause to deal with the cart, but I know that he has to. And none of it really matters because Nate is back. He's in the castle, and this time, he doesn't have to leave.
Chapter 3
There's no stopping the excitement rising within me as I head down to the kitchens. Baking on my own is soothing and helps me deal with the stresses of the world around me, but there's something different about being able to do it with someone.
Especially when the someone is Nate.
Ember curls her tail around my neck, digging it in a little harder than is entirely necessary. I'm trying to teach her not to do things like that, but according to the dragon training book Artie found for me, it's going to be years before she learns proper manners. Something about dragons having a childhood length similar to people. Which is unfortunate, especially when I don't have scales of my own to protect against her claws and teeth.
I enter the kitchen to find Nate already working on some pastry. He looks up when he hears me and smiles. "I thought I'd give us a headstart so you can tell me all about the history of apricots."
A laugh escapes from me as I head over to the wood-fired oven. "I don't know that much about the history of apricots," I respond. "But I do have a lot to tell you." I try to tempt Ember away from my neck so that she can settle on the dragon bed on top of the oven, but she doesn't seem keen on moving.
"I have some food if she needs luring," Nate says, appearing beside me with a bowl of off-cuts that I assume he found in the ice house now that he knows they were there. "I thought it might be wise to have some ready for her if I need to build up her trust again."
"I don't like that she doesn't trust you."
"She doesn't know me, Evie. It's reasonable. But she will." He smiles at me in a way that I admittedly do find reassuring. "Here, Ember, I've got a piece of liver with your name on it." He pulls it out of the bowl and holds it out.
"It doesn't have her name on it," I point out. "It's liver."
"Maybe it's written so small that you can't see it," he suggests.
"You know that's not true."
An amused smile crosses his face. "I do, but it could be."
