Burn (Steel Brothers Saga 5)

“Oh, of course not.” I walked over and shook her hand. “I hope you’re feeling well.”

“I take it one day at a time, dear.”

Her use of the word “dear” took me aback. I knew from talking to Jonah that she was only three years older than I was.

Marjorie took charge. “Sit down, everyone. We’ve been doing Italian in cooking class for the past couple weeks. Tonight was good old-fashioned spaghetti and meatballs. For some reason, no one could stick around to eat tonight, so I got to take everything home. We have enough to feed a small army.”

“And I brought my Italian blend. A perfect mélange of Sangiovese, Syrah, and Merlot,” Ryan said, bowing.

“You’re a goofball,” Marjorie told him and then turned to me. “His wine is awesome. Just pardon his humility.”

I laughed. “It smells wonderful. Thank you so much for inviting me.” And then I felt kind of stupid, because I hadn’t actually been invited. They had invited Jonah, and he had told them I was coming along.

But Marjorie touched my forearm. “No problem at all. We should be thanking you for everything you’ve done for our family.”

I was no doubt crimson by now, but there was nothing I could do about it.

Ryan picked up a bottle of wine. “Do you like wine, Doc?”

I attempted another smile. “I do.”

“Yeah.” Jonah grinned at me. “She’s a red wine aficionado.”

“I don’t know about aficionado, but I do like a nice red wine.”

“You’ll love this, then,” Talon said. “Ryan’s a genius.”

“Aw, shucks, Tal.” Ryan let out a boisterous laugh. “You’ll make me blush.”

“As if anything could make you blush,” Talon said.

Then everyone laughed as Ryan filled the two empty glasses at the table and invited Jonah and me to sit down.

I inhaled. “It smells wonderful.”

Stupid again. I’d already said that.

Marjorie started to sit down but then popped back up. “Silly me. The garlic bread is still in the oven. Excuse me for a minute.”

“And I whipped up a salad,” Jade said. “One of the few things I’m capable of. It’s in the fridge, so please excuse me.”

Marjorie and Jade returned with the bread and salad, and the family began passing items around the table. I took modest amounts, even though I was starving for the first time in days. I didn’t want to appear too…what? When the garlic bread came around, I took two big slices.

The food was delicious, and I didn’t talk much, but I didn’t need to. The family was happy and jovial, talking a lot among themselves. A few times a question was directed at me, and I answered succinctly. Jonah took part in the family conversation, though he still seemed a little rigid. I wasn’t sure why.

After we finished dinner, Jade helped Brooke up from the table and came back about fifteen minutes later.

“My mother sends her apologies,” she said. “She needs to lie down now and rest.”

“That’s perfectly understandable,” I said. “It was so nice to meet her.”

Jonah placed his hand over mine, in full view of everyone still seated at the table. His hand was warm and felt nice, gave me comfort. And he seemed visibly less tense. Maybe the glass of wine had done him good.

“Now that Brooke is going to bed, I need to talk to all of you,” Talon said. “About Felicia.”

I felt conspicuous. What was he talking about?

Jonah squeezed my hand as if to offer me reassurance. “I haven’t told Melanie a lot of what’s going on.”