Page 24 of A Winter Romance
“Sero! You promised to show us how to make the Solstice loaves today!” Ila climbed onto the bed. Ethred clambered up behind her. They jumped up and down, completely oblivious to Aryn, who stared at the girls with wide eyes, clutching the blankets up to his chin as if trying to preserve his modesty.
Sero pulled on his shirt. “We can do that now if you like.”
The girls screamed with joy, springing off the bed and bolting from the room.
“Once you’re dressed, you can come out and join us,” Sero said to Aryn as he followed the girls out.
Aryn nodded.
Chuckling, Sero closed the door, giving Aryn some privacy.
ChapterSeventeen
“Soon they will be ready to be put into the oven,” Sero said to his sisters.
“Will we put them in now?” Ethred asked, wiping the dough from her fingers onto her dress.
“We’ll have to wait while they prove.”
“All right.” Ethred hopped down off the counter. “We’ll just come back later to eat them.”
“Aren’t you going to help me and Aryn clean up?” Sero called out as the girls ran to the front door.
“No,” Ila called back. Both girls giggled.
Aryn laughed. “Bye, Ila and Ethred,” he called after them.
“Bye, Uncle Aryn,” they called back.
Aryn’s eyes widened. “Uncle Aryn?”
Sero smiled but couldn’t speak. Uncle Aryn. He liked hearing the girls call Aryn that. It made it sound like Aryn belonged here in his kitchen, with his family, with Sero. Sero walked over to the door and closed it. But he had to remember, Aryn didn’t belong here. He would be gone soon.
“Your sisters have a lot of energy.” Aryn leaned against the counter, a smidgen of flour on his cheek. The Solstice gift was pinned to his jacket. Sero had noticed him touching the berries several times, almost reverently, throughout the morning. Each time, Sero wanted to pull Aryn into his arms and kiss him breathless. But if he did, Sero knew they’d end up in the bedroom. And whilst the idea was tempting, there was still more baking to be done.
“They do,” Sero said.
Aryn looked towards the door where the girls had disappeared. “Your two sisters, are they twins? They don’t look alike, but they look about the same age. Not that I’m a good judge of that sort of thing.”
“They are only a couple of months apart,” Sero said.
Aryn frowned, trying to work that out.
“By blood, Ila is my cousin,” Sero said. “She lived with her parents, my uncle and aunt, with the other oreads in the valley. But when her parents died, my parents took her in, adopted her. So now she is my sister. It can be a little confusing.” He realised he’d never had to explain it before. Everyone in the village knew.
“I’m sorry about your aunt and uncle.”
“Thank you.” He picked up the utensils strewn around and started to wipe down the counter.
“It’s great that your parents adopted Ila.”
“It’s what family does,” Sero said. “They take care of each other.”
“Hmmm.” Aryn’s brows furrowed as if that wasn’t his experience of family.
Sero didn’t know Aryn’s family, but from the sounds of it, they were nothing like his own. And from what he’d heard, he wasn’t sure if he liked them very much.
“You bake all the bread for the town?” Aryn asked.
