Page 148 of Hidden Nature

“Come on back. I want a beer.”

“This really won’t take long. And you don’t sound thrilled about my sister and your brother.”

“I’m fine with that,” he said as he walked back to the kitchen. “It’s the whole wedding thing. I’ve had friends do the wedding thing. It’s enough to make your eyes bleed.”

“At some point we’ll have to get in on that, but it’s not what…”

She got her first glimpse of the kitchen.

“You—” She pushed back her hat. “What? This is… You don’t even cook.”

“Technically, grilling bread and cheese is cooking. It requires heat and a pan.”

“But this is…” She ran a hand over the smooth surface of the counter on the enormous island. “This isn’t why I came either, but I’m taking a minute.

“You have a six-burner stove, double ovens, and the biggest refrigerator I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s a big space.”

“The wine rack.” A vertical series of diamond shapes stained to match the exposed beams on the lofted ceiling. “You made that?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s good. It’s all really good. Enough rustic with that, the exposed beams, the original wood floor, the open shelves to keep it from pushing into slick and sleek. It suits the house.”

“I think so.”

When she turned back to him, he held out a glass of wine.

“Oh, I really… thanks. Okay, I’d rate this kitchen as a cook’s dream, so you’d better start collecting cookbooks. Did you know Theo cooked Drea dinner?”

“Yeah.” He got out bread, cheese, butter. “CJ gave him the recipe because he couldn’t stop obsessing. He tried it out on me first. Pretty good. Are you cold?”

“No. Oh, coat.”

“Just toss it on a stool. You can pretend you’ve hung it up.”

“Did you know he was going to propose?”

“Yeah.” He got out a skillet, set it on a burner. “I went with him to pick out the ring. He wanted backup.”

Nash glanced at her. “If you’re pissed I didn’t mention that to you, get over it.”

“I’m not. If you’d told me, it means you don’t have a vault.” Resigned, knowing he had one added more appeal, she drank some wine. “It’s a beautiful ring.”

“He didn’t really need me. He took one look at it, and that was that. Sort of like when he took one look at your sister.”

“It’s really fast.”

“That’s what I said. But.”

“Yeah, but. I really like Theo.”

“Good. I really like Drea. And if we didn’t, it’s still up to them.”

“Right. Better that we like them, though. And they’re good together.”

“Agreed. But I’m warning you, if this is leading up to best people duties, I’m kicking you out.”

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