Page 93 of Midnight Secrets

“Okay, thank you.” Lifting a hand, I acknowledged her, then continued to my office.

When I rounded my desk to sit down, I saw the pile. Brushing it aside, I set my notepad down, then unlocked my desk drawer to get my gun. I’d look at it later. Right now, I had some video footage to track down.

CHAPTER 32

Claire

“Ah!” My fingers jumped on the keyboard, adding letters I didn’t want as Pebbles jumped up from her spot next to me, barking like a wild woman. Pigtail on top of her head bobbing, she ran for the front door.

Ellis laid his book down and got up from the chair. “Were you expecting someone?”

Willing my heart to stop racing, I shook my head. That dog would be the death of me one day. “No.” But that didn’t mean anything. Tamara had stopped by earlier without calling first. I figured that would be the norm until I could find a temporary office space.

It was a little late for unexpected work visitors, though.

I shut my laptop and set it on the coffee table, following Ellis to the door.

He peeked out the window. “It’s your coffeeshop friend.”

“Mina?” I moved closer to peer outside.

Sure enough, Mina was headed up the sidewalk from her car in the driveway, grocery sacks in hand.

I walked around Ellis and unlocked the door, opening it as Mina reached the porch. “What are you doing here?”

“Cooking you dinner.” With a wide smile, Mina breezed into the house. Her smile dipped a bit, confusion sparking in her eyes when she saw Ellis. “You’re the wrong brother. Why are you here and not the other one?” She looked at me. “Where’s the cop?”

“At work. Ellis is keeping me company.” I closed the door and relocked it.

The last traces of Mina’s smile disappeared. “What? No. That’s a load of bullcrap. What’s going on? Why do you need a babysitter?”

“He’s not a babysitter.” He was simply… looking out for me.

I suppressed an eyeroll. That sounded lame even to my own ears.

“I’m kind of a babysitter.” Ellis flashed a playful grin.

The eyeroll couldn’t stay hidden this time. “Whatever.” I turned to Mina. “Why are you cooking me dinner?” I wasn’t upset about it, but it was unusual. She rarely showed up unannounced for a meal. We always made plans ahead of time—even if it was for a half an hour later—when we wanted to hang out.

“You’ve been MIA lately. I know things have been crazy with the fire and all, but I need the tea.” She eyed Ellis again. “Apparently, there’s a lot of it.” Not waiting for an invitation, she set off toward the kitchen.

Ellis intercepted her, taking the grocery bags and carrying them for her. He peered inside as he set them down. “What is all this?”

“Elk stew.” Mina shooed him out of the way. “I slow-roasted the meat earlier this week.”

My mouth watered. I would never complain about Mina showing up with homecooked food. She should have started with a café or diner instead of the coffeeshop. I understood why she did; competing with Kellerman’s was not an easy task. But herfood would have spoken for itself. I couldn’t wait to see what she did when she expanded.

I moved to a cabinet by the stove and removed my stockpot. “This will be one of your menu items when you expand, right?”

She lifted a shoulder as she shrugged out of her coat. “Maybe. I’m not sure what all I want to put on the menu. I need to finalize the sale and renovate before I think about that.”

“Well, I will always vote for elk stew.” No one made better.

After washing her hands, Mina grabbed a knife and set about chopping the vegetables she pulled from the grocery bags. “Tell me why you’re here.” She aimed the tip of the knife at Ellis, then chopped the end off a carrot.

“Because Oz asked me to be.”

Mina rolled her eyes, then looked at me. “He thinks he’s funny. He’s not.”

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