Chapter 8 Getting To Know You #2
In the kitchen, she washed her hands at the sink after he did. Very domesticated of them.
He checked the turkey and decided it could use a few more minutes. After double-checking his decision with the thermometer, he reached for the potatoes.
Except Mara was already at the sink scrubbing them.
When he glared at her, she smiled. “We’ll have to check out the area between the inn and the property line tomorrow. That way, we can decide if it’s doable, and then rope Ford into helping.”
He nodded and grabbed some turnips. He’d roast them with cranberries and apples, adding a honey glaze.
Mara had left the stool she’d been using at the prep sink. She was now using a different one while peeling potatoes.
Feeling a bit like an idiot, he used the stool she’d left. Even the temporary break worked. He could stretch out the muscles while he sat.
Mara kept up the chatter, probably not giving him space to tell her his leg was fine. Even though it obviously wasn’t.
They talked about chickens and egg breakfast options that would be good to add to the inn’s morning menu.
About how to divvy up the chicken tasks, and whether they should add in a guardian animal, or if they should wait to see if the coop was enough to protect them.
Ford had probably learned a lot from building his duck coops and they hoped that would translate into solutions for their chicken coop.
“An IED exploded when I was working overseas.” Holy shit. He hadn’t expected to say anything. Certainly not that.
Mara kept working. “I’m so sorry.” Her quiet voice offered comfort without pressing for details.
Still, he found himself talking. “One of my teammates died, and the rest of us sustained injuries.”
“That’s horrible. I’m sorry you lost your friend.”
Seth’s heart wobbled at that. “Me too. He was a good kid, developing into a top-notch soldier. He had a good perspective on life, and never let the bad times get any of us down for long. In a few more years, he’d have made a hell of an officer.”
“Can you tell me his name?”
“Caden, but we called him Maki.” Saying it out loud had the loss running freshly through his veins again. Would he ever get used to the slam of pain at the thought of seeing Maki disintegrate in front of him?
Probably not. You likely had to be no longer be human to live with that shit easily. He’d rather remain human and deal with the pain. It meant he was alive.
Unlike Maki.
“I can’t imagine anything so awful. I’d never be able to do what you, Ford, and the others have done.”
He almost smiled at that. “You could do anything you set your mind to. But not many soldiers go around singing Broadway songs during missions.”
Her laugh held the sorrow from their conversation, but the quiet joy in it washed through him, helping him compartmentalize the grief and regrets.
She smiled softly at him, as if knowing he needed to lighten the mood. “I’ve seen movies, I know soldiers do that “left, left, left right, left” chanting thing to keep themselves in time when marching. I think “Doh A Deer” would make an excellent marching song.”
He didn’t know that one.
Before he could respond, she laughed again. “Or maybe the Darth Vader song. That might be more menacing.”
“Certainly sounds better than a song about a deer.”
She blinked at him, and then her eyes widened. “It’s not about a deer; it’s actually about learning to sing. You don’t know it?”
He shrugged, making those pretty eyes widen again.
She sang a few lines in a husky voice that had his blood thickening, and his fingers itching to touch. He stayed on his stool and fought his body’s reaction under control. “I've never heard it before.”
“It’s from “The Sound of Music,” one of my favorite musicals.”
“What’s it about?”
She blinked a few times, as if absorbing he’d never heard of her favorite show.
“A woman doesn’t have many choices, so she decides to be a nanny to a naval captain who has seven kids.”
“So, it’s a chick flick.”
She laughed. “It was written back in the sixties, I think. They do fall in love and get married, but it’s also about fighting the Nazis at the beginning of World War II, and finding ways to protect your friends and family.”
That surprised him. “A musical about fighting Nazis? Maybe it’s worth seeing.”
She laughed again. “Definitely. I’ll set it up one day for you.”
Snuggling with Mara on a couch, or a bed, to watch a musical sounded like a hell of a way to spend a few hours. And if he got to watch someone punch a few Nazis along the way, even better.
“I’ll warn you that whatever you’re expecting, it’s probably not going to be right.”
He shrugged. “I’ll go in with low expectations.”
“You’ll love it.”
He doubted it, but if it made Mara happy, he figured he’d do it anyway.
By the time they’d prepped the meal, Seth’s leg didn’t ache, although his cheeks did a little. When was the last time he’d smiled this often?
Gray grinned when he, Amber, and Boomer walked into the kitchen. “Smells like Christmas.”
Amber nodded as she looked around the kitchen. “I’ve told the gang that if they want to be fed, they have to show up here for dinner from now on. It’s ridiculous having you cart the food all the way there when there’s a dining room here.”
That would be easier. Carrying a turkey dinner with more than a half-dozen side dishes down to the other farmhouse would be a pain in the ass.
Amber smiled. “And it will give us an idea of how it works to have guests in the dining room.” She touched her stomach. “Oh. We’re going to have guests.”
Gray laughed and hugged her. “It’s going to be great. We’ll figure out whether we need to hire a server, or if we can handle it ourselves.”
Mara smiled at them. “I don’t mind helping.”
Amber shook her head. “You’re already doing enough.”
Mara laughed. “Not even close. From everything I’ve seen since moving here, everyone helps where they’re needed. I’ll tell you if it’s too much.”
Seth’s heart warmed again. There was so much to like about this woman. He needed to keep his hands off, but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to for much longer. Everything he’d learned about her had him wanting to know more.
Especially learning how she reacted to his kiss, his touch. He wouldn’t be in the least surprised if Mara were an open lover who enjoyed playing in bed.
Ford and Jolie strode into the kitchen, and Seth had to suck in a deep breath to shove those thoughts far, far down. No getting turned on by the Chaos Machine with her brother in the room.
Okay, that was impossible. He’d have to work on it not showing.