Page 29

It was going to be difficult staying upset with a man who fit here. A man who was at home in the heart of everything that mattered to her.

Mullens knew he was pushing it with Athena by staying for supper. Not replying to his texts last week had sent a pretty clear message, as had her little conversational digs in front of her family. She wanted him to go away and stay away.

But there was no way he could pry himself out of this kitchen, even though, for her sake, he probably should. It was like a hook had been sunk in deep, anchoring him here.

He’d missed joking around in the kitchen and being part of a family.

Athena’s parents were so warm and welcoming that he could see why she was such an amazing woman. She had their warmth and smarts, their humor and sense of fun.

And yet right now Athena wasn’t having fun.

He’d been working behind the scenes to make things right in her life again, and while he was beyond deserving forgiveness, there was still a flicker of hope burning inside him.

Or maybe it was stupidity. Either way, it spurred him onward in his quest to continue fixing all the things he’d mishandled.

“You may have heard that your daughter and I got off on the wrong foot,” he said tentatively, breaking a momentary lapse in the chatter.

Athena, who was finishing up the eggs, turned from the stove, blinking at him. She looked hurt, almost as if she was going to cry. Or maybe scream.

“I did hear something,” Mrs. Gavras admitted.

“What happened?” Meddy asked, giving Athena a cautious glance, as though aware she was treading where a younger sister might not be welcome.

“It wasn’t her fault.”

Athena had turned back to the stove and hunched her shoulders, like she wanted to block out his words.

“She said something that reminded me of my sister. Evonne.” Mullens focused on slicing the rind away from the sweet center of a honeydew melon, not on the way it hurt saying his sister’s name out loud.

It was like breaking through the thin ice on top of a puddle, the frigid water below zipping straight to his nerve endings, making them zing.

“You hated her?” Meddy asked, her voice rising with surprise.

“Meddy!” Athena snapped, her eyes wide with alarm as she peeked at Mullens.

“No. We were really close, actually. But she passed away when I was thirteen.”

He inhaled, then exhaled. As the team’s therapist had promised, it was getting easier to talk about. He’d told a lot of people about Evonne recently, working on becoming the kind of man who could open up and be an equal to a woman like Athena.

It still hurt, but he no longer felt the impulse to lash out or shut down.

“Oh, hon.” Darianna’s eyes filled with sorrow, as though she’d known the girl herself.

“So we got off on the wrong foot because I reminded you of Evonne?” Athena said, moving to his side. She placed her hand over his, gently encouraging him to release the knife handle he’d been squeezing. “Why? What did I do?”

She watched him, her head tipped to one side, and he wondered where they’d be right now if he’d taken care of his grief much sooner. But maybe it wasn’t too late, and with some serious effort he could get them there.

“If I could take back that moment,” he murmured, “I would.”

“Grief is a funny thing,” Mrs. Gavras said. “It comes at the most inconvenient times.”

“What did I do?” Athena repeated, her expression stricken, as though she was ready to blame herself for the battle they’d been engaged in since day one.

Over the lump in his throat, he managed to say, “Broccoli and pancakes.”

Broccoli and pancakes? Was Chad joking? How on earth had all this conflict between them come from two unassuming foods?

“I used to tell my sister a joke about broccoli,” Chad said, as they put the last dishes on the table and took their seats.

Athena’s mom sat at one end, her father at the other, Meddy across from her.

Chad was at Athena’s right, having hustled in to take the chair closest to her mom, then lifting his dog from Darianna’s lap to set him on the floor.

Both Darianna and Stitches had given him a sad look.

Meddy groaned. “Not that stupid joke Athena tells?”

He nodded slowly.

“What’s the difference between broccoli and boogers?” Athena confirmed.

“Kids won’t eat broccoli!” her dad crowed, scooping fruit salad onto his plate.

Chad smiled weakly.

Athena’s heart sank. One moment of goofing around and she’d been inadvertently insensitive, sinking their potential relationship before it was even out of the harbor.

“New-player orientation,” she whispered. She’d assumed her immaturity had turned him off. She hadn’t even considered the joke had been a trigger of some sort. But why would she? Who had a trigger involving booger jokes?

“And what about the pancakes?” Meddy asked, wading into the conversation as though she’d never felt pain a day in her life and didn’t understand the mine field she was dancing through. She waved the plate of carrot cake pancakes at him.

He hesitated, his face pale, then slowly took it and served himself one.

Athena watched, speechless.

“Your sister liked pancakes?” Darianna asked.

Chad nodded. “A lot. Last thing we ate as a family before she…” His eyes were desperate and he frantically waved the serving dish about, finding nowhere near him to set it down.

Athena snatched it from him and he let out a breath, his shoulders relaxing.

She set down the plate on a bare spot beside her dad, then gently laid a hand over Chad’s.

“I’m sorry.” Her words felt so insignificant, so meaningless in the face of the inner ache and turmoil he must have experienced.

The way he’d lashed out and declared to “not do pancakes” made perfect sense to her now.

If only she’d known, she could have offered a different recipe, refrained from telling the dumb joke.

Then again, he wasn’t a thirteen-year-old any longer. His reaction meant he had a lot to work through. And the idea that the man who still held her heart might not be ready made her sad.

“Okay, time for games!” Darianna said, giving a clap. She had pushed back from the table and Stitches had jumped into her lap again. He gave a little bark, ready to be her second in command.

The dishes had been done, the four of them working as a team while Mrs. Gavras packaged up the leftovers. Chad had worked himself into the routine, placing platters on shelves Athena couldn’t reach and even filling the dishwasher to her mom’s exacting standards.

If she didn’t keep him, despite all the arguments against him, her mom certainly would.

“Grab the tarts. I’ll get the plates and napkins,” Meddy said to Athena as the group headed to the living room.

Athena took the tray, then turned to Chad, feeling like she should warn him. “It’s non-competitive.” Lonnie had gotten so into winning that he’d sucked the fun out of game night.

“No, it’s cutthroat,” Meddy countered, giving him a grin. “And Athena gets worse every year.”

“Do not.” She shot her a warning look. “And we’re nice about our competitive cutthroatedness.”

They moved into the living room, selecting seats around the coffee table.

“She has a birthday coming up, so be warned. She’s going to get even more crotchety and set in her ways. It’s like a stepping stone each year where she—”

Athena gave her a gentle shove. “Shut up.”

“Oh, the love,” Meddy said, cradling her shoulder like Athena had injured it. “Can’t you feel it, Mullens?”

He grinned, seeming to enjoy their sibling banter.

Athena’s phone vibrated and, unable to resist the distraction from the warm and fuzzy moment happening around her that was melting her reservations about keeping Chadwick as a boyfriend, she pulled it from the pocket of her cotton skirt.

She needed to remember that he was in the process of destroying her career.

He’d promised to fix things, and then had vanished.

Sure, she’d ghosted him, but she’d have thought he’d at least reach out about a few things he was working on fixing.

She blinked at the preview of the text message from her literary agent, then unlocked her phone to read the entire text.

Her cooking channel had jumped up to thirty-five thousand subscribers. And the stellar pre-order numbers for the cookbook were no longer a rumor. They were high. She might even make bestseller lists.

She waved her phone at Chad. It took him a second to notice. “What’s up?”

“Did you do this?” She wanted it to be true, but braced for the truth in case her publisher was the one pulling her butt from the fire.

His expression cautious, Chad took her phone. He read the text, his soft smile growing larger.

“Did you?”

He gave a tiny nod.

“What did you do?”

“This isn’t my first rodeo, Tina.”

“Speaking of rodeos,” Darianna said as she locked the wheels of her chair. “Think you can keep up with us card sharks, Chad?” She grinned at him as she stood, taking the few steps to the couch, looking stronger than she had in weeks.

“Well…” He inhaled slowly as though considering the question while passing Athena’s phone back to her. “I think so. I was the Go Fish world champion a few years back. I haven’t been training lately, but I’ll do my best not to slow everyone down.”

Her mom laughed, giving his arm a pat as he sat beside her on the couch. “We’re going to expect big things from you now.”

Her father and sister had taken the two armchairs, leaving Athena to squeeze between Chad and the armrest. She plopped down, her mind spinning. He was fixing things. He’d gone silent because he was working on fulfilling his promise to do that. But not only fixing; he’d been making them better.

Darianna eyed Chad. “Where’s your wallet, hon? There’s a buy-in.”

He blinked, then shifted his weight to reach into his jeans’ back pocket.

Athena quickly put a hand on his forearm, stopping him. “She’s kidding.”

Her mom laughed. “Oh, sweetie. You’re no fun.”

“Crazy eights?” Neandro suggested.

“You know how to play?” Athena asked Chad. He nodded, confirming a couple of the rules.

Before long, the five of them were whacking cards down on the coffee table and laughing. Chad brought a playful energy to the games that had been missing over the past several weeks, and Athena wanted to freeze time and savor the feeling.

“I needed this,” she admitted, leaning back as they finished a round.

Chad glanced over his shoulder, catching her eye. “Me, too.”

From across the table, Meddy sent Athena a smug smile. She stuck out her tongue, certain that later on she’d hear from Meddy about how she was an amazing and a wonderful matchmaker.

After tonight, though, Athena wasn’t sure if she should keep fighting to keep the validity of her fears at the forefront of her mind, as if they were what mattered most when it came to Chad, or if she should just give up and thank her sister.