“Oh! That reminds me. The cookies should be cool by now. Laurie, can Mia eat normal cookies? With regular flour?”
“Yes, that’s fine. Thank you.”
“Thank goodness for that. You just never know these days.” She bustled out of the room in a hurry.
Laurie turned to look at Kekoa. The muscles of his back shifted beneath his t-shirt as he settled the new mattress onto the top bunk. He turned to face her, and a huge smile overtook his face when he caught her watching him.
“It’s a beautiful house,” she acknowledged.
“Thanks. I’ll miss it.”
“Why did you leave?”
“We outgrew it, I guess. ‘Io’s ready for his own room, and I was ready to get out of my mom’s back garden. It’s a bit cramped for two big guys like us.”
“It’s big enough for Mia and me,” she said with a shrug.
His expression softened. “It’s a good place for a fresh start.”
“Yeah.” Laurie nodded, looking around the cozy space. “I think it is.”
8
Oakley
Oakley rose with the sun and found her husband already in the kitchen.
He must have just gotten home from his early-morning run, because his face glowed with health and exertion. He had stripped off his t-shirt and tossed it to the floor, and Oakley paused to admire his sculpted muscles.
Trent was even more handsome now than he’d been when they met. She admired how much effort he put into caring for his health, even though he worked upwards of sixty hours a week. He still found time to read the latest research, and he was always experimenting with some biohack or another. Lately it was ice plunges and mushroom coffee.
When Trent saw her, he grinned and pulled her in for a sweaty kiss. Oakley accepted the kiss happily, but then she stepped back. The man mightlooklike an Adonis, but he tasted like roadkill.
“Whatisthat?” she asked, trying not to gag.
Trent chuckled. “Good morning to you too.”
“Seriously, though.” Oakley stepped around him and poured herself a glass of mamaki tea from the fridge.
“It’s my new protein shake! Remember that company that Brandon started?”
“The one that we invested in?” She took a swig of tea and swished it around her mouth.
“Right! This is the prototype. It’s not just protein. It has freeze-dried powdered liver for extra nutrition.”
“It tastes like death.”
“From death comes life.” He plucked the glass of tea from her hand and drained it in one long gulp.
Oakley sighed and poured herself a second glass.
Trent turned to go, but she held a hand out to stop him.
“Before the girls are up,” she began, “can we revisit the piano discussion?”
His expression shuttered. “They need to learn the fundamentals. It’s bad enough that we didn’t start when they were younger.”
She sighed and leaned back against the counter. “It’s not just piano. They’re overscheduled. When school starts up again, it’s going to be more than any of us can handle.”
