11. Nora
Chapter Eleven
NORA
“What do you need?” I called from the pantry.
I peered through the doorway of the pantry into the kitchen with a box of crackers in one hand. Daphne glanced over from where she was rinsing her hands by the sink. “Some clean dish towels, please.”
“You got it, girl,” I called as I turned around and reached for several dish towels from the stack we kept in here on the corner of one of the shelves.
Returning to the kitchen, I set the crackers down and swapped out the towels, tossing the used ones into the laundry bin we kept under one of the cabinets. “Need some help?” I asked as I leaned against the counter and opened the crackers.
I needed something to tide me over for the next few minutes until dinner. I’d meant to eat today, but it never happened because my flying schedule hadn’t left me any time. As a result, I was hungry to the point of feeling faint.
Daphne smiled over at me as she turned off a burner. “No, but thank you.”
She crossed over to the refrigerator. A moment later, she returned, handing me a tray of already sliced cheeses. “Sit down and eat before you fall over.”
I did as she instructed. Rounding the counter, I slid my hips onto a stool and watched her get dinner ready for the staff while I nibbled on the cheese and crackers.
I loved hanging out in the kitchen now. Ever since Daphne had taken over as chef here last year, the food was incredible, and she created a sense of warmth and welcoming.
Previously, we’d gone through a series of cooks.
Some were better than others, but it was more the practical matter of offering food to the guests.
Flynn’s prickly attitude and impatience had chased off a few, but he didn’t dare mess with Daphne, so she made that better too.
Now, the guests were disappointed on the evenings when Daphne didn’t serve a guest meal. She took two evenings off, and we encouraged the guests to go into town on those nights to take advantage of the local restaurants.
“How are things with Gabriel?” she asked after I finished my fourth cracker with a piece of cheese. Daphne did that often. She would strike with a targeted question just when you let down your guard.
I almost choked and held a finger up as I finished chewing. She handed me a glass of water, her eyes twinkling and her lips curled in a sly smile. I watched as she carefully shifted the seared vegetables from a pan onto a serving platter and drizzled some kind of sauce over them.
“What’s that?” I asked after I finished chewing and took a sip of water.
“Vegetables with a lemon tarragon sauce. You didn’t answer my question.”
I sighed, glancing around furtively in case anyone was coming into the kitchen.
Daphne continued, “No one’s here yet. Gabriel told Flynn he’s in love with you.”
“What?!” I sputtered.
Her eyes caught mine, her gaze somber as she nodded slowly. “Yes. I think he really means it.”
Just then, my older brother came walking into the kitchen, calm and oblivious to our conversation. He stopped by Daphne, sliding his arms around her waist from behind and dipping his head to press a lingering kiss on the side of her neck.
Daphne’s cheeks flushed pink. “Hi,” she said, a little breathlessly.
I gave her an arch look. After confronting me about Gabriel and dropping that little bomb on me, she deserved to be embarrassed by my brother.
“Hey,” Flynn said as he stepped away from Daphne. “I’m starving. Are you sharing?”
Before I could even answer, his long arm reached over to the counter where I sat opposite the stove and snagged one of my crackers with cheese.
“I guess I am,” I said with a roll of my eyes.
I was torn about whether to confront Flynn about his conversation with Gabriel.
Why was he even talking to Gabriel about me?
I hated when he was nosy and overprotective.
When Grant came walking through the back door, I decided I’d have to leave it alone.
I didn’t know if I should be furious at Flynn or Gabriel.
No matter, I didn’t appreciate them discussing me.
A few minutes later, Gabriel entered the kitchen and sat right beside me. That did it. I transferred my anger for him telling my brother about us directly and fully onto him. For fuck’s sake. I couldn’t believe he would talk to Flynn about us.
“How’s it going?” Gabriel asked, oblivious to my state of mind.
That was a perfectly expected question. Nothing unusual about it at all. Except he spoke in that melodic, gravelly voice of his. I loved his voice. He could send shivers over my skin merely by speaking.
Perhaps it was because my nerves were already on edge, but the hairs rose on the back of my neck and along my forearms. I hadn’t even looked at him yet.
Because my body was disobedient and oppositional when it came to Gabriel, my head turned automatically, my eyes whisking over to find his waiting.
The moment I collided with his gaze, I felt struck by a jolt of electricity, firing every cell in my body.
I swallowed and looked away, reaching for a cracker and stuffing it in my mouth.
I could chew my feelings away. That was always effective.
“Can I have one?” he asked, his voice low.
I was so rattled, caught between anger and desire and the acute ache of missing him.
Sliding the plate between us, I nodded and looked away. That took an effort. Because I wanted to soak him in. I’d barely been able to stop thinking about him ever since he rescued me from my stupid washer situation.
He ate a few crackers with cheese, pausing afterward to take a long pull from a beer. Conversation carried on around us, the usual banter and friendly teasing.
“Are we not talking again?” Gabriel’s words were just above a whisper, and only I could hear them.
Still, I looked around quickly, worried someone else would notice.
Daphne and Cat were currently checking on something in the oven while Daphne explained something to Cat.
Flynn was over by the table, joking around with Elias, who somehow appeared without me even noticing.
Diego, Grant, and Tucker were debating the merits of two different types of beer from the local brewery.
My eyes arced over to the archway that led into the main area, where the guests often relaxed and mingled. A family was passing through, pulling on jackets as they walked out to the main entrance.
I finally gathered up the nerve to look into Gabriel’s eyes again. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. It was more that I was afraid of how much I did want to. “We’re talking,” I said, my tone almost mulish.
His eyes searched my face, and I resisted the urge to squirm in my seat. He knew me too well, too intimately, and I didn’t like feeling so uncertain and vulnerable. And so needy, so very needy.
“That’s good,” he finally murmured.
I was beyond relieved when Elias’s girlfriend, Cammie, appeared. “Hey!” I called the moment she came through the back door.
Her honey brown hair swung around her shoulders, her blue eyes lifting to mine with a smile. She held up a paper bag. “I brought wine since it’s dinner. I’m not having any, but I figured you all might want some.”
She stopped beside me at the corner of the counter, sliding several bottles of wine out of the bag and setting them there. Daphne crossed over as she dried her hands on a towel. “Oh, perfect. We can always use more wine. How come you’re not having any?”
Cammi’s cheeks went pink just as Elias came to Cammi’s side, leaning over to give her a lingering kiss as he slid an arm around her waist. “Hey there.”
She smiled up at him. It was no more than a blink of a moment, but the look that passed between them was so intimate, I had to look away. My heart ached, and my throat was tight. I wanted that. A man who loved me the way Elias loved Cammi.
When he lifted his head, Daphne cleared her throat. “Well?”
Cammi bit her lip and took a deep breath. “I’m pregnant.”
Daphne squealed and clapped her hands.
Elias looked slightly puzzled. Cammi grinned up at him after she stepped back from a hug from Daphne. “I told you the guys wouldn’t think it was a big deal.”
“What do you mean?” Cat asked.
Cammi shrugged lightly. “Elias told Diego and Gabriel about it last week.”
Laughter rumbled around us, and there were more congratulations.
Somehow, I managed to chat casually with my friends and family.
I was really happy for Elias and Cammi. Really .
It wasn’t as if I wanted an instant family.
But it hurt to see how easily they’d fallen in love and how simple it was for them after that. It wasn’t simple for me. Not at all.
My nerves were strung tight when Gabriel sat beside me at the table. I’d had good reasons for not talking to him. It had made it easier for me to hold on to my anger and not wish for more with him.
I didn’t know what he thought he was doing, but I nearly jumped out of my chair when I felt his palm slide over my thigh in a soothing stroke. He reached for my hand and curled his around it. All of this took place under the table where no one could see.
I couldn’t bring myself to shove his touch away.
I craved it. His palm was warm around mine, and his thumb brushed in idle strokes along the sensitive skin on the inside of my wrist. Even worse, my emotions rose swiftly to the surface.
Because it made me feel like he wanted me.
It made me feel like maybe he did love me.
My righteous anger was slipping through my fingers, like sand caught in the wind and blown away.