A couple of minutes later she was settled onto a stool at the countertop bar with a glass of wine. She realized that Taryn had really won the lottery so far as families went. She’d gotten to know the entire group over the years and she genuinely liked each one of them. Except maybe the twins.
Unsurprisingly, Taryn pushed a cutting board and a stack of vegetables her way and said, “Here ya go. Chop these while I stare longingly at your wine.”
“You can smell it, if you want,” Cora said, smirking.
Taryn narrowed her eyes and then pushed more carrots toward her.
Cora waited dutifully as Taryn moved to the butcher block and retrieved a large chef’s knife. As Taryn passed it over, she gestured to the carrots and asked, “How do you want these cut?”
“Julienne cut, please.”
“Not a chance. How about I slice them in rounds? That’s a pound and a half of carrots.”
Taryn frowned at her and said, “Fine, fine. I mostly just wanted to see if you’d do it anyway. Rounds make the most sense.”
“Lack of sleep makes you sadistic, Tare.”
Taryn smirked and said, “Evan’s been hiding upstairs with the menfolk since noon for a reason.”
Impulsively, Cora set aside the knife and slid off the stool. She pulled Taryn into a hug and quietly said, “You’re doing great, even if you feel like a crazy lady.”
Taryn squeezed her and whispered, “Thank you. Now can I please just sniff your wine?”
Cora laughed, pushed the glass toward her on the counter, and said, “Have at it.”
A few minutes later, the room was clamoring with several different conversations at once. As she chopped, she was half listening to them all and talking with Maureen about her webpage. She’d tried to make one for her practice and it was rudimentary at best. She was going to have to give up and hire it out. Since she was family, it made the most sense to use Maureen.
They discussed the general layout and color scheme that she had in mind. When Maureen started to talk about search engine optimization, Cora stared blankly.
“Search engine optimization is when you—”
Maureen broke off in the middle of her explanation. Cora watched as her eyes shifted toward the doorway of the kitchen. The entire room went silent. She knew Jamie was standing there. Even with her back facing toward him, she could feel his eyes on her. Slowly, she set the knife down and turned around.
Jamie stood in the doorway of the kitchen, frozen, as if he was unsure it was safe to enter. She gave him a wave and said, “Hey.”
Their eyes connected, and she felt the same familiar longing. It had been years, but he had barely changed. Maybe he looked a little older but his eyes still had that same mischievous sparkle that she remembered. She smiled in greeting. Mostly because she couldn’t help herself.
That familiar smile tugged at the corners of his mouth in answer. He raised a hand in greeting and said, “Hey.”
She felt that stupid rush of warmth come over her. It was the same one that she had always felt when he smiled at her.
She cursed herself mentally, broke eye contact, and turned around to continue chopping vegetables. She’d have to engage in some sort of conversation with him at some point, but she certainly didn’t want to do it with all these witnesses.
As she calmly chopped, she heard the sound of the refrigerator opening and then closing. Seconds later, he said, “As you were, ladies.”
Everyone’s eyes turned from the doorway back to her. She remained stubbornly silent. She was absolutely not rehashing the moment with his sisters and his mother. Not going to happen.
Wisely, Taryn started the conversation again and slowly everyone else joined in. Cora focused on the vegetables in front of her and continued slicing until Maureen finally called her name and shook her out of her reverie.
“What?” she asked. “Oh, sorry. I was in the zone.”
“I can see that,” Maureen said. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” Cora said. “Fine.”
Maureen only raised an eyebrow at her.
“I’m fine,” Cora snapped.