Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 60905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
“Sounds like they like your cooking.”
“They do tend to eat it pretty quickly,” he said with a shrug. “Which is good. That way they can be on their way before the coyotes come out.”
“Coyotes?” I echoed in disbelief. We were two hours outside of Chicago, not in the Wild West.
“Yeah. They seem to have a set hunting route, and they usually get here pretty late. That’s why I feed the cats around eight. Want to come with me when I take the food out?”
The honest answer was yes, but I hesitated. “Are you sure the coyotes won’t be out then?”
“I’ve never seen them then. Trust me, when they’re around, you’ll know it. They make a racket.”
Great. My sponsors were going to be pissed if I ended up becoming dog chow.
Brady grinned at the expression on my face. “Such a city girl,” he chided. Then he changed tacks. “Think you can handle slicing the bread?”
“Maybe?”
He laughed again and got me started.
11
LILA
“Everything is delicious,” Penny said. She was seated across the table from me, next to Gideon. Brady was next to me, and Cole sat at the head of the table. “It’s a genuine feast.”
I nodded as I washed down a bite of tender roast beef with a sip of Merlot. “An amazing feast.” Days ago, I’d decided that I wouldn’t allow myself to find any good in this place, but that resolution was fading fast. The meal was just too damn wonderful.
“Brady’s the best,” Cole said as he picked up a piece of bread soaked in gravy. “He learned from the best.”
“Your grandmother?” I asked. Cole had his mouth full, but he nodded.
“My dad wasn’t the best cook,” Brady said. “So every summer when I was here, I learned as much as I could from my gran.”
“I’d say she had an excellent student,” Penny said. Normally, she was fairly quiet around new people, but it seemed that the nap had revived her. Either that, or it was doing her good to be away from Jeff.
Something about what Brady had said triggered a memory from the research I’d done about the inn and this family. “Did you both spend your summers here?”
Cole wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Just Brady. I was raised by my grandparents, so I’ve always lived here.”
“Really?” I wanted to ask about his parents, but it seemed pretty personal.
But he didn’t seem to mind. “My folks had me when they were both still in high school. They had no interest in raising a kid, so my grandparents took me in.”
“Sounds like they were kids themselves,” I said.
“Yep.” Cole cleared his throat. “Worked out for me, though. My grandparents were the best.”
Brady nodded. “Summers here were the best part of my childhood.”
“Where did you live during the school year?”
“Here in town,” he said. “My dad was an assistant manager at the local hardware store.”
“Was?”
“Haven’t seen him in years.”
Oh. Crap, there were a lot of landmines in this conversation.
Penny saved me by keeping the ball rolling as she turned to Gideon. “How do you fit into all this?”
His dark eyes flashed to me before he answered. “I’m just a stray they picked up along the way.”
Penny met my eyes, and I gave a small shrug. She likely knew as well as I did that Gideon’s response wasn’t a real answer. It was his way of shutting down that line of questioning.
Brady asked some questions about my family, so I gave him the basics, how it was just my mom and me now, but that she’d moved to Florida a few years back.
Penny’s story was different from all of ours. Unlike us, she was still very close to both her parents and her large family consisted of several cousins her age whom she thought of as sisters. I was a little envious as I listened to her. I had no siblings, and just one cousin whom I’d only met twice.
Before we got off the subject of families, Penny asked about the paintings in the hallway. “Did your grandmother do those?”
Cole looked mildly surprised. “How’d you know?”
“They seem like they were done by someone who really knows the woods well. Knows them and loves them.”
“That would be our gran. She took hikes nearly every day of her life,” Brady said. “Glad you like the paintings.”
“I really do,” Penny said. “In that one by my room, the angle of the sun striking the trees makes the whole painting come to life. I love how she used a palette knife to give more texture to the clouds in the sky. I swear, I can almost see them moving.”
The three men were staring at Penny in a way that made her cheeks pink. “She’s an artist,” I informed them.
“Not really,” she said quickly. “I just admire art.”
“Well, it sounds like you know your stuff,” Cole said, giving her a smile. Though he could be gruff, I got the impression he’d beam at anyone who complimented his grandmother.