Page 12 of Strike a Chord
Her eyes met his.
He brought both her hands between his and just held them there to warm them up, their gazes locked.A small smile tugged at one corner of his mouth.“Come on.I’m starving.Let’s go home and have breakfast.”Then he closed the fridge and freezer, grabbed the cooler and zipped it up.“Out your go.”
She preceded him.
“Good girl.”
He waited for her to lock the house again, and together they headed out to the truck.He stowed the cooler in the back of his truck and rejoined everyone in the cab a moment later.
“One more time.Doors are locked?Gas is off?”
Four people said, “Yes.”
“Then let’s get the heck out of here.”
“Gloria, my love,” Dax said, pressing his hand to his heart and leaning back in his chair in the kitchen, “divorce Phil and marry me.That was the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten in my life.”
Gloria chuckled and swatted her hand playfully at Dax.“Oh you.But if you’re swooning about the hollandaise, that was all Jennifer.This is her masterpiece, I just assembled.”
Dax pivoted his attention to Jennifer whose cheeks had once again turned pink as she sat there nibbling on a piece of pineapple.“It’s just a simple seafood eggs Benedict.Cold smoke instead of ham.Nothing fancy.”
“No.Scrambled eggs and bacon is nothing fancy.Oatmeal with cinnamon and brown sugar is nothing fancy.This is five-star decadence.”Dax swept his finger through some of the remaining hollandaise on his plate and popped it into his mouth, humming with delight.Then he turned to Gloria.“I take back my marriage proposal.Sorry.”
She giggled and swatted her hand in his direction again.
“You sure have a nice place here, Dax,” Phil said, taking a sip of his coffee.What hair remained on Phil’s head was bright white.He had an uncountable amount of well-earned lines on his face from his thirty years running a log loader in the woods.But it was his crystal-blue eyes that twinkled when he laughed or cracked a joke that really spoke of his good nature and kindness.“What is it, about an acre?
“Yeah.Just enough for me to manage.I didn’t want anything too big.Perfect for the chickens, goats and me.”
“You have chickens and goats?”Levi asked, his eyes bright with excitement.
“All outside.Though, I’m sure with the rain, they’re being little wimps and huddled up together in the barn and coop.”
“Can we go see them later?”Levi asked.
Dax nodded.“I’ll have to go out and see them eventually.You can come with me.”
Jennifer got up from the table and reached for Dax’s plate, but his hand gently rested on her wrist and he stood up.“I can do it.You cooked.”
“Yes, but this is your home.It’s the least I can do.”
He shook his head.“Sit.”
She sat.
He smirked and collected everyone’s plates.“Levi, why don’t you help me do the dishes?”
Nodding, Levi stood up and together they made quick work washing the dishes, drying them and putting them away.
“I hope we’re not keeping you from anything, Dax,” Gloria said, sipping her tea.Unlike her husband who had not much hair left and what was left was bright white, Gloria had a head full of bright red curls.She reminded Dax a lot of Lucille Ball, actually.She even had a similar raspy voice like Lucille.
“Not at all.”
“What is it you do, exactly?”Phil asked.“I noticed the farm stand at the end of your driveway, but surely you don’t make enough from eggs to afford a place like this.”
Dax huffed a laugh.“Well, I sold my condo in Vancouver a few years ago, which allowed me to afford land over here.But I’m an artist, as well as a musician.I’m in a couple of bands on the mainland and I go over to Vancouver a few times a month for gigs.I also have my paintings in galleries over there, a few on the island, a few in Seattle and one on the Sunshine Coast.”
“An artist,” Gloria crooned.“Mind if we see your work?”
