He wandered closer and gave her knives an appreciative nod. “Nice. ”
She loved her knives and had to temper her smile as she thanked him.
He glanced around the kitchen, quietly taking it all in, and Sorrow wondered what he might be thinking. “Your mother let me in,” he said after a moment. “I hope you don’t mind me showing up so late in the day. ”
“On the contrary. ” The sound of a rapid boil startled her from her thoughts, and she jumped to turn down the burner. She stirred her sauce, relieved it hadn’t burned. She used an arm to brush the hair from her brow. “Your timing is perfect. You’re just in time to clean out that dish for me. ”
He gamely jumped into action, shrugging out of his coat and rolling up his sleeves. “What are we making?”
“Beef bourguignon. ”
He scraped bits of onion and bacon fat from the casserole into the sink. “Don’t you mean boeuf?”
With a laugh, she tapped her spoon clean. “Impressive. ”
“Hey, I saw that Julia Child movie. ”
She wiped her hands on her apron then grabbed a sieve from a cabinet under the island. “So that means you won’t complain if I ask you to hold this for me?” It was time to strain the sauce into the casserole dish, and balancing everything always gave her arms a workout.
“I’ll do you one better. ” He took up both sieve and saucepan with an easy confidence that surprised her. “I’ve got this, you just scrape. ”
She couldn’t help but think of Damien, who was so powerful and in control in other aspects of his life, but magically turned useless whenever he got near a kitchen.
Billy added, “I’ll only complain if you don’t let me eat it when it’s done. ”
She raised a brow. Taken aback, but not in a bad way. “Sorry, Sheriff. If you saw that movie, you’ll know this sucker doesn’t go in the oven till tomorrow. ”
He inhaled deeply. Straining the sauce had spread the rich aroma into the air even more than before. “Well, I’ll just have to take a rain check. I’d cross an ocean for a good beef bourguignon. ”
Sorrow paused at that. “Would you really?”
He gave a hearty nod. “I love Sierra Falls, but…good restaurants? That’s the one thing I miss about living in the city. No offense to your tavern,” he added quickly.
She laughed. “Believe me, no offense taken. I’d rather…I don’t know…set my hair on fire than eat Sully’s ‘Prospector’s Pie’ one more time. ”
Billy’s laugh was loud and deep. “What on earth is that?”
“Meat pie,” she said, scrunching her face.
“Hey, sounds good to me. What kind of meat?”
“All kinds. ” She shuddered.
He laughed at that. “Just how many kinds can there be?”
“Oh, you’d be surprised. ” She brought the casserole dish to the refrigerator.
He jumped to open the door for her. “Is that why you learned to cook? An aversion to mystery meats?”
She bumped the fridge door shut with her hip. “Necessity is the mother of invention. ” But as she washed the dirty sieve, she found herself giving him a real answer. “If I can’t whisk myself off to another country, well, cooking is a way to bring other countries to me. It lets me travel to other places in my head. ”
Wiping her hands, she turned around, and her smile faded. He stood so close, his body a commanding physical presence suddenly so near, in her private space, the kitchen.
The silence hung.
She racked her brain for words and automatically asked, “Can I get you something to eat?”
“I…I think…” His stomach took the opportunity to rumble, and they both laughed, the awkward moment passed.