Page 4 of Roman
“I was given it by Alistair when I had the meeting about the bakery.”
Evan sighed before he took it. He quickly scanned through the papers before he looked up at me and shook his head. “Did you read this at all?”
My mouth dropped open, hurt at his words. “Yes, I did. But that was a couple of weeks ago, and I was more thinking about what I would make. Or even if I actually wanted to do it.”
Evan nodded at me. “Do you remember what all is in it?”
I shrugged. “Sort of. I know the pay, hours, general idea is in there.”
More nodding. “How about we go over it after supper? I was thinking about throwing a pan of enchiladas together, and we could eat those with some rice?”
I couldn’t stop myself from grinning. I had never had an enchilada until coming to Treasure Ridge, but I had found that they were quickly one of my favorites. But my absolute favorite was all of the different types of apples they had here. In our realm, there were apples, sure, but there was only one type. Here though? So many, and they tasted quite different.
“I wouldn’t say no to enchiladas. I’m surprised you didn’t eat at the council building though.” I’d been so wrapped up in baking that I’d lost track of time.
Evan’s brow scrunched. “Since when do I have the evening meal at the council? We eat together.”
I shook my head. “You don’t have to.” I went to the cupboard and pulled down a pair of plates. “I was thinking that maybe I would be able to find my own place once I get a few pay cycles. What do you think?”
“Why would you do that? You live here.”
I sighed and set the plates down on the counter with Evan. “Yes, but if I moved out, you wouldn’t feel like you couldn’t bewith the other enforcers. You could hang out with them, go out, have fun. Instead, you come home and spend evenings here. I feel bad, Ev. You should be out having fun, enjoying life. You never got to do any of that because of what happened with our parents.” I would forever be grateful for what Evan had done for me. He hadn’t had to. There were several couples in our village who would have gladly taken me in and raised me with their own children so Evan wouldn’t have to. He himself had only been nineteen when they went missing.
“Nope, we’re not doing this now. If you want to move out, we can discuss it later, but we’re not having this conversation tonight. We’re going to eat enchiladas and rice, and we are going to talk about everything that’s in the folder that Alistair gave you. Beyond that, it’s going to have to wait.”
Evan grabbed the top plate from the short stack, and as he slid it across the counter, it was suddenly filled with a pair of rolled enchiladas, and the other half of the plate was filled with fluffy red rice. I took the food as he moved it toward me, offered a smile, and then went to the small table where we usually ate our meals.
Evan joined shortly after, and the sudden appearance of drinking glasses filled with bubbly liquid had me wiggling in my seat. I loved the clear lemon-lime-flavored soda. That was yet another thing that we did not have in the fae realm.
“All right. Let’s go over everything and see what all is expected of both you and the council and how they’re going to be involved.”
“I know I was questioning things earlier, but I really do think I was brought here to do this.”
“I think you should as well. So we’ll see what they expect from you, and we’ll discuss how you should go about asking for more help because I really don’t know that three of you is going to be enough.”
I shrugged. There had only been four of us in our village, but I was beginning to think that the bakery there operated on a smaller scale than what was expected here. I guess time would tell for certain. Right now, I was going to enjoy my delicious supper that Evan had provided for us.
Chapter 3
Roman
Iwas nervous. I shouldn’t be, but here I was, sitting at the end of the road that would take me to Knox and Philip’s house. I was sixty-eight years old, and I had spent two decades raising and protecting my twin brothers, yet now I was hiding at the end of the road in my vehicle because the thought of seeing them was a bit unnerving.
There truly was no reason for my unease. Knox had been quite welcoming, but I had sadly pulled away from both of my brothers. Partly because I did not wish to interfere in their new lives but mostly because I was trying to be a good brother. I knew that I had been overly protective, and both of my brothers had expressed frustration with me on more than one occasion. They did not need me any longer, and I was trying my best to let them live their lives without me interfering.
Where did that leave me? Alone, but I had taken steps to make sure that I started living my life again. Well, I had thought I had. I was employed at the local college, but it wasn’t really what I’d expected.
Knowing that if I didn’t show up soon, I put my vehicle in drive and continued down the road until I reached a familiar driveway. I turned in, and when I noticed not only Knox’s truckbut a large black SUV that I knew Ramsey drove, I realized I was the last one to arrive. A quick glance at my dash told me I wasn’t late. Maybe Ramsey and Phineas had simply been here for some time? The twins, despite being mated, were still incredibly close, and I knew that it had been an adjustment for them when Knox brought Philip down off the mountain.
I parked my own SUV and then reached for the bakery box. Philip must have been waiting for me to arrive because I didn’t even make it halfway to the door before he came running out toward me. I moved the box to one hand and then held out my arm for my little brother. He made a squeaking sound before he slammed into me. I wrapped my arm around him and gave him a tight hug.
“I’ve missed you,” he told me. “Don’t spend so much time away from stopping by to say hi.”
“I have missed you as well. Phineas too. And also the babies. How have you been?”
“We’re all good. I think the bigger question is, how have you been? It’s not like you to just disappear like you did.”
He wasn’t wrong. I had been such a constant in both of their lives for so long I was certain that my sudden disappearance was noticed. “I’ve been busy,” I told him. That wasn’t completely untrue, but we both knew that wasn’t completely the reason why I had stepped back so much.
