Mara smiled. “You’re welcome anytime as long as it’s okay with your folks.”
At Mara’s wording, the kid beamed. He was Nash’s biological kid, but his mom had died in childbirth. Charlie was thrilled to have Olivia as his mom, and he loved it when people treated them like a family. Smart kid.
Talk around the dinner table twisted and turned like it always did. Conversations overlapped and interrupted. Being an only child, it had taken Seth more than a few meals to get used to it. As a chef, he’d eaten on the run. This was more like an army mess hall, but better. No worries about anyone shooting you or your buddies after you’d filled your bellies.
At the end of the meal, Knox raised his voice. “That was amazing, Seth. Here’s to the No Phailed Apples Inn’s first family dinner. Amber’s guests are lucky to have you cooking for them.”
Cheers and agreements resounded through the room, and Seth nodded his thanks. Mara bumped his shoulder with hers. “Congrats.”
He smiled at her as everyone rose to carry their plates and the remains of the meal to the kitchen. Once there, Amber started scraping plates and loading the dishwasher. “We’re going to need a rolling cart to bring things back and forth.”
He shrugged. “We won’t normally serve family style, so there won’t be as many serving dishes to worry about, just the dinner plates.”
Mara filled the sink with soapy water for the items that wouldn’t go in the dishwasher. Chaos Machine never minded doing the washing. She wasn’t nearly as disorganized as he’d feared.
With the entire gang helping, it didn’t take long to pack away leftovers and clean up both rooms.
Eventually, the others wandered back to the other farmhouse, but Gray asked Seth to stay for a minute.
When they were alone, Amber smiled, “Thanks so much for agreeing to come to Vermont, Seth. We’re so happy to have you as part of our inn. The guests are going to be raving about your food.”
He hoped the flush on his face wasn’t visible to the others as he thanked them. “It’s a dream kitchen and setup.”
Gray nodded. “And we’re offering to make it a little better.”
He tilted his head, wondering how that was possible.
Gray hugged Amber to him. “With our little sprout on the way, we’ve been renovating the third floor in secret.”
His eyebrows shot up. “You’ve been sneaky about it. I’ve been here a lot, and I didn’t have a clue.”
Amber laughed. “Good. If you didn’t notice, we’ve probably snuck it past everyone.”
Gray nodded. “We didn’t want to let anyone in on it in case things didn’t work out with the pregnancy. But now that everyone knows, we’re going to rope them all into helping with some of it.”
“I’ll give you a hand whenever you like.” He’d do it for anyone, but for these people who’d given him a home and a job he loved, he’d do almost anything.
“Thanks, man. It’s going to be a bit before the third floor is our new home, but we want you to take over the owner’s suite when that happens.”
He gaped at them, mind working. It would be far easier on his leg, which was probably the reason they’d offered. “You should offer it to the baker instead. That’ll save her walking up here alone in the early morning hours.”
The two of them shared a look, and he realized they hadn’t considered that.
He shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, but let Mara take it. That’ll keep her safer.”
Amber rolled her lips, and Boomer immediately rose from where he’d been snoozing and moved to her side to nuzzle her hand. She rubbed his fur. “I’m okay, bud.” But then she turned to Seth. “Do you think she’s in danger from whatever had her coming to Vermont?”
Seth shrugged. “No idea, but I’d feel better if she weren’t wandering the property on her own in the early mornings.”
Slowly, Gray nodded. “Thanks for pointing that out. I should have thought of it. Okay, we’ll see what she has to say.”
Seth nodded and headed out. The Vermont evening was cool and crisp. Instead of heading straight to the farmhouse, Seth walked along the paths Gray had created in the gardens between the two buildings. He knew the space had been nothing but an overgrown field the previous year, but it wasn’t easy to imagine it as anything other than this peaceful, blooming space. The man had a gift.
Seth stretched his leg as he checked out the area. It ached, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle. He wouldn’t want to walk the entire farm, but he could handle walking between the two buildings for his job.
While it was nice of Claus to offer him the room, it pissed him off, not at Claus, but at the fact that his weakness was visible. They’d thought of him first. Not of a vulnerable woman.
He’d have to keep up his physical therapy exercises and work on getting stronger.
