Page 39 of At Last

“Duke’s making me oatmeaw.”

“Got enough for me and your mom, too, Peaches. Wanna give her some grapes, Doc?”

“What’s in the pan?” The pan next to the pot of oatmeal he’s stirring. “It smells like… butter, brown sugar and—”

“Pecans.” Duke finishes for me. “She said she ain’t allergic to pecans and those are the kind ’a nuts Jesse bought.”

“No, she’s not allergic.” I answer, my face in the refrigerator as I pull the crisper drawer to get to the grapes.

Washed yesterday before I put them away, I simply break off a vine and lay them down on a napkin.

“You going to want some, Chief?”

“Sure. Coffee’s done. Get a cup.”

I break off a vine for myself and one for Duke before putting them away and grabbing a mug from the upper cupboard, having to reach on my tiptoes. “This house is made for giants.” I fake whine. Duke and Jade both snicker.

He turns off the burners and reaches inside the lower shelf of the upper cupboard to pull three bowls where he lines them up and spoons in oatmeal. Then he spoons on the butter, brown sugar, pecan mixture on top of each.

Because I stand watching him instead of getting coffee, he grabs my mug from my hand and swats my bottom. “Sit,” he orders.

So I sit. He slides a bowl and spoon in front of Jade, then one in front of me. But before he begins to eat, he pours me a mug of coffee and then reaches inside the fridge to get the flavored coffee cream, a crème brûlée flavor I’d made and stored in an empty water bottle when I put the groceries away yesterday. He pours some in then looks to me. “How blond you like it?”

“Sandy blonde?”

To that, he gets it and pours just a bit more into the mug. A perfect sandy blond. “Never met someone who makes their own coffee creamer before.”

“It doesn’t take much time. Pretty easy, actually. Try it.”

He nods and pours a couple glugs into his mug, then refills the rest of the way up with more coffee. Then he sips. His eyes grow huge. “Holy shit, honey. If you’re as good a doctor as a cook, ain’t nobody gonna die in this town ever again.”

Although I shouldn’t be smiling at the thought of people dying, his comment makes me smile at least for the moment. Leaning against the counter, his feet crossed at the ankles in a relaxed pose, bare feet and everything, he picks up his bowl and shovels a hearty spoonful into his mouth.

“So Chief, if you give me the address here and your driver’s license number then I can sign you up as a pickup person for Jade.”

“Will do.” He sips on his coffee.

“Do you think you could pick her up today by six?” My stomach does a little clench. I hate not being the one to pick her up. I’ve always been the one,always. But this is what I’ve wanted for us, isn’t it? Instead of freaking out, I take a napkin and lean over to wipe oatmeal from Jade’s chin.

“Not a problem. Where you gonna be?”

That’s funny.Where am I going to be?Only leaving my daughter alone for the first time since she’d been injured a week ago. Since my home had been broken into where only a picture of my girl was stolen. Maybe I spoke too soon about not freaking out.

“Working, unfortunately,” I say, and try to sound chipper about the whole crappy situation. “Since the other guy doesn’t do house calls and I’ve been off since Jade went to the hospital. I’m going to be playing catch up.”

“Time you think you’ll be home?”Home. He didn’t say here. He didn’t say his house. Buthome. “Do I gotta get Peaches dinner without you?” The man has accepted our intrusion in his life surprisingly well.

“Yes. You and Jade should eat. I’ll try to be here by eight, okay? There will be some late days for the next couple of days. Jesse and I can grab some dinner.”

Well that might have been the wrong thing to say by the way his body jolts and straightens, and he sets his bowl down on the cupboard harder than the situation requires. Or the way he walks around the island to where I’m sitting next to my girl, pulls the spoon of oatmeal I’d been about to shovel into my mouth away and drops it back into the bowl then wraps his arms around my shoulders.

“Youdo notgrab dinner with Jesse. He’s a prospect. Your guard. Need to eat, you eat with me, Doc. I’m your man.”

Wow.

I swallow the lust lump formed in my throat from him giving me that, and nod. “Okay. Feed Jade. We’ll eat when I get back here.”

“Home.” he corrects me. “When you get home.

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