Page 167 of Sins of the Father

“Mm-hmm. What do you—”

She jumps up and hugs me. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I won’t let you down, I promise.”

I laugh. “I know you won’t. So does this mean I should tell Ethan we accept?”

“Duh! I’ll give my two-week notice today.”

“Good. Ethan wants us to start right away. We need to secure space, so we may need to work out of our homes for the first month.”

“Awesome. I can stay in my pajamas all day.”

“Whatever floats your boat.”

She puts the box in her purse and slings it over her shoulder. “Time for me to write my resignation letter.”

“Glad you’re excited to do this with me.”

“Are you kidding? You could have given me a pay cut and I would have come with you.”

“You would have?”

She raises her eyebrows. “Duh.”

“Okay. Go write your resignation letter.”

She says bye to Harper and leaves.

I go into the kitchen. Harper has the spices all over the counter. Her back is to me, and she’s studying a bottle.

I sit on the barstool. “Wow.”

She spins. “Do you know this bottle of basil expired four years ago?”

I shrug. “It’s a spice. I don’t think the expiration date matters.”

She scrunches her face. “Yes, it does.”

“No way.”

“All these are expired.” She sets it on the counter with a dozen other bottles.

“Please tell me you aren’t throwing those out.”

“Of course I am. They are way beyond the expiration date.”

I rise and walk around the counter. I pick two bottles up. “These haven’t even been opened.”

She points to each bottle. “May, two years ago and February, three years ago. Not safe.”

I really didn’t know spices had expiration dates, but just to mess with her, I open the bottle of smoked paprika up, put some on my finger, and lick it. “Tastes fine to me.”

She gasps. “Steven, do not eat expired food.”

I add more to my finger and hold it to her lips. “Try it. It tastes like normal smoked paprika to me.”

“Do not put that anywhere near my mouth.”

I rub it on the curve of her neck.

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