While she was laughing, he grinned again. “Darth Layer?”
“Two more. Wait, I know. Hen Erso after Jyn in Rogue One.”
“Obi-Hen Kenobi?”
Mara wrote the names on her phone and then clicked photos of the hens. “The darkest one has to be Darth Layer.”
“And the mottled one can be Obi Hen Kenobi.”
Feeling on top of the world, Mara locked up the enclosure. Seth smiled at her. “Want to take a walk through the garden? The eggs will be fine until morning.”
“When we might have even more to use.”
He brushed his hands on his jeans to shake off the dust, then took her hand. The sun sat low in the sky, filtering through the apple trees, lighting Gray’s garden with soft, romantic light.
Seth led her slowly along a path. She brushed her free hand over the blooms and the greenery. Gray’s sister had lived with cerebral palsy, and he’d created the garden as a sensory space because Angelina had loved the experience of gardens. Sights, scents, and touches. He’d built the entire space in her honor, and Mara was sure the girl would have loved it.
Seth turned into a quiet nook surrounded by pink and purple blooms she couldn’t name. One of the benches Ford had built sat tucked into a corner, a perfect place to sneak a kiss.
Instead of settling there, Seth turned her into a dance hold. Unlike the upbeat spins they’d shared earlier in the kitchen, he moved into a waltz.
His arm banded around her waist and held her close. Gentle guidance from his hands and body had her moving into an intricate dance.
Soon, she was humming along to the rhythm his body created. “Ten Minutes Ago” from Cinderella fit his steps easily.
As she neared the end of the song, he spun them more quickly, and then paused to kiss her as the music faded away.
He really was perfect.
Chapter 20
Food, Glorious Food
A few days later, Seth decided to grill burgers, sausages, and tenderloin for the bodyguards’ final night at the inn. The men were carnivores, and it would be fun.
Seth enjoyed plating fancy dishes and creating frou-frou meals, but there was something basic about cooking on a grill that appealed to him, too.
He figured it was one thing that had elevated the human brain. The creation of fire. The realization that heat could make food better, which in turn made life better.
Who had first realized that corn left too long on the fire would pop into a delicious treat? Who had decided that cooked meat was better than the raw variations they’d been eating for generations?
Had it started with fish and evolved into game animals? Maybe it had started with potatoes or another root vegetable.
Whenever he grilled, Seth wondered and considered. Food was a necessity, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be an art as well. How far along in human evolution did food cross from basic survival needs to an art form? He imagined that point was pretty early on. At their core, humans enjoyed pleasing aesthetics. There was a lot to savor in a meal. Taste, obviously, but scents and visuals as well. In some cases, even the sounds, like corn popping or the sizzle of meat hitting the hot grill.
For his burgers, Seth had ordered high-quality Angus beef. He’d created a few sauces and relishes that would have the men sighing every time they were forced to settle for plain ketchup and mustard in the future.
The sausages would scent the air with their various spices. He’d made a batch with garlic and herbs to go along with the Brats.
His marinated tenderloin would melt in the mouth. The peppercorn sauce would top it off to perfection. He imagined his carnivore guests would sleep well, their stomachs full tonight.
Sure, it was basically man plus meat plus fire, but it was so much more.
Gray walked out onto the porch where they’d set up the grills. He held a hand to his heart. “My man, that is the scent of the gods.”
Seth grinned. “I was just thinking about how many centuries man has been having that reaction to meat cooking over fire.”
His buddy smiled, as only another cook would. “My mamma often spoke about the history of food. She used recipes passed down through generations. It’s a good connection to have to our pasts.”
