“She made Jurassic pancakes!” Stevie whispered, face so excited, it might burst.
Seth rolled his eyes and mumbled that Steven was a baby while Steven rattled off another trivia question. “Okay, what’s Legolas’s favorite kind of weapon?”
Tyler, Heart, and Seth all leveled a preposterous glare at Stevie as Tyler smirked and said, “Too easy,” at the same time Heather said, “He’s an archer, silly,” and Seth said, “Bow and arrow, dumbass.”
“Ah, score.” Heart high-fived Seth this time. “But dumbass? Really? For that, you get an extra chore, and have to say you’re sorry.”
“Sorry, dumbass,” Seth muttered as he nudged past his little brother.
“That’s okay, butthead,” Steven muttered back, sticking a foot out to trip him.
Tyler rubbed the bridge of his nose and poured his coffee, then slapped his thermos and lunch onto the counter from the fridge to take out to the field for the day. The oven timer beeped.
“Okay.” She clapped her hands like a butler trying to get the kitchen staff’s attention as her spatula clattered on the granite. “Seth. Forks and knives. Stevie. Napkins. You guys have never tasted something like this before.” She found the oven mitt in the melee and pulled out a pan. Cinnamon wafted from the oven door. “It’s gonna blow your mind.”
Drawers opened and closed as the boys gathered the utensils. She carried the tray to the table.
“What are those?” Seth asked.
“Custard pastries,” she said proudly. “My avó in Portugal makes these whenever I visit—my grandma. And I’m telling you, if your mouth isn’t watering, then there’s something wrong with your salivary glands.”
Tyler followed the tray. So did his boys. Aside from his mother, a woman had never cooked for them before, and Heart was sharing a family recipe that was important to her. Their collective inhale shrouded the room in reverent silence.
“Well go on. Try one.”
“Off the tray?” Stevie asked, knowing full well they always served food on plates first.
Amusement twisted Tyler’s lips. I get it, boys. She made my head spin, too. “Hold it over your plates.”
His eyes met Heart’s and held them. They love you, he mouthed.
Her cheeks blushed. A genuine, happy blush. She shrugged and mouthed back, I kinda love them.
They dug in as Tyler finally sat. The pastry, hot, melted on Tyler’s tongue. Damn. She could bake.
“Oh my God, this is the best,” Seth mumbled as flaky crust clung to his stuffed lips.
“What happened to the piano bench?” Steven asked as he crammed his mouth and reached for another.
Tyler’s eyes flitted to Heart’s, a smile toying with the corner of his mouth. He’d forgotten all about it.
Heart quirked her brows at him. “Yeah, Dad, what happened to it?”
He shook his head. Got up to carry the eggs over and drawled into Heather’s ear as he went, “Barefoot in my kitchen again. You making a habit of this?”
She laughed at his teasing. “Do you want me to?”
“Yes.”
May as well be honest. She eyed him, then turned back to her work.
Stevie spoke next. “Heart, can we come with you to the back ninety to see those fossils?”
“I don’t—”
“No.” Tyler cut Heather’s reply off.
All playfulness leached from Tyler as his pulse spiked. Muscles hardened. Jaw tensed. The happy chaos of the kitchen vanished as if sucked out by a vacuum.