Page 10 of Whispers of the Dragon
“Of course,” he said, still getting drenched from the rain as he looked up at the dark sky. “I’m not sure when this is going to let up, but I guess I should start mylongjourney ho—”
“I’m sorry, where are my manners?” Grandmother laughed, a bit embarrassed at herself. “Come inside; you can’t possibly walk far in this.”
“Thank you.” Ryu stepped into the warm, dry home, which had her tiny grandmother backing up at the sheer height of him.
“Oh, my—”
“Is dinner ready yet?” Grandfather asked, followed by the sound of shuffling into the living room.
“Honey”—his wife moved toward with a big smile—“Eira made it home, and look what she brought with her.”
Grandfather, who must now be as blind as he was deaf, had completely missed the giant. He had to look up a couple feet to see his face.
Again, Ryu immediately switched on the charm with a slight bow. “Hello, sir. I’m Ryu—”
“Husband,” he said with a nod, cutting him off before looking back to his wife and moving on to more important things. “I’m hungry.”
“Shoot!” she yelled and ran off as if remembering something. By the smell of it, it was the thing starting to burn. “Come; stay for dinner, Ryu!” she yelled over her shoulder before she disappeared.
With her grandfather following his wife like a starved puppy into the kitchen, Eira looked at an awfully smug Ryu.
“After you,” he said with a killer smile and a wave of his hand toward the kitchen.
Rolling her eyes, she stomped off in defeat. She already knew he was going to have her grandmother eating out of the palm of his hand, and he was going to go nowhere tonight. Her only hope was if it stopped raining sometime soon. By the sound of the rain hitting the roof, however, that wasn’t likely.
Ryu took up most of the small kitchen when he entered. The fourth chair that usually sat in the corner of the room had been brought up to the table already, and when Ryu took it, he dwarfed the table, taking up that whole side.
Eira began setting the table, and by the time she was finished, her grandmother had served the last dish as well.
“Thank you.” Ryu politely bowed. “It looks delicious.”
“You’re welcome,” her grandmother said, taking the seat in between her husband and Ryu.
Eira did the same on the opposite side. She had to scooch closer to her grandfather when Ryu reached to fill up his plate and his big arm almost hit her.
“Wow, it tastes just as delicious as it looks,” he complimented after taking his first bite.
Grandmother blushed. “Thank you.”
“Suck-up,” Eira mumbled under her breath, knowing only he would hear it. The slight smile that touched his lips told her he did.
“So, where do you live?” Grandmother asked once her flush had disappeared.
“Yeah, Ryu”—Eira smirked, just as curious—“wheredoyou live?”
“In the next village over,” he replied nonchalantly before taking another bite.
“Which one exactly?” she asked, smiling wider, thinking she had him.
Grandfather had just shoveled some rice into his mouth, which had some of it spitting out when he named it.
“Ine?”
Dang it!
“Yep, that’s the one.” Ryu gratefully took the scapegoat approach.
Unfortunately, Eira had lost her appetite, too deep in thought about the strange man she had let follow her home. Pushing the food across her plate, she wondered where the hell Ryu must have come from because he clearly didn’t know the area.
