Page 29 of Cookbooks and Demons

The next day dawned sunny and bright. Helena opened her eyes and stretched deliciously. She couldn’t remember the last time she slept so well. Luxuriating while she lay there, she tried to remember going to bed last night, but nothing came to her. Beside her, Pooka was curled up, eyes closed and purring.

“Man, I must have been really tired,” she said to her cat, “but to be fair, it was a hard day’s work yesterday. Trying to get those appointments with the various catering services had been more of a challenge than I thought itwould be.”

Pooka stared at her with slitted eyes. Off in the distance of her house, she heard a clinking, kitchen-y sound. The disturbance spooked the cat, who jumped off the bed to disappearunder it.

“Ugh, if only it wouldn’t cost me so much to get the one guy I know could do a good job,” Helena muttered, unsurprised by her cat’s reaction, since she usually hid from strangers, and pushed back the covers. Slipping on her bathrobe, she did her basics in the bathroom, then made her way to thekitchen.

Pushing open the door, she smiled at the demon with a man’s face standing there, flipping a pair of eggs onto some toast that had green stuff smeared all over them.

“Good morning,” she said cheerfully and went toward her coffeemaker, only to be intercepted by an already steaming cup.

“I don’t know how you take it,” Rafferty said, passing it to her.

“But you know that I drink it?” she inquired as she redirected to the fridge to get her lavender creamer that she bought from the organic coffee shop just down the street.

“Why else would you have the coffee maker?” he asked, and she had to concede the point.

Dropping a dollop of the sweet, scented stuff, she let it mix naturally as she replaced the creamer in the fridge, then turned to head back to her dining room. Before she got there, Rafferty went ahead of her, bearing the plate, which he set down at her spot like a waiter. He stepped back to pull out her chair.

“What are you doing?” she asked as she set the coffee next to her plate.

“Being of service,” he said simply.

“Why don’t you sit down and join me?” she invited as she sat down so he could stop doing that.

“I’m fine,” he stated, backing up so he could take a spot against the wall, his arms behindhis back.

“You’re making me feel like I’m in a hotel,” she said, looking at him over hershoulder.

“I think it would be better for both of us if we kept a distance,” he stated.

Helena wondered what had happened between yesterday and that morning. Yesterday had been the first time she had felt comfortable around the demon, seeing him all vulnerable like that after he had gone a little crazy cooking all those dishes. She had loved his wide-eyed amazement at the Food Networkchannel.

“What happened to all the food by the way?” she asked. She remembered eating that delicious French Toast sandwich, but not really anything else from his feast.

“I made it go away. It was a foolish mistake of mine, and I apologize, mistress,” Rafferty said, bowing his head like apenitent.

“Oh, that’s a shame. It all looked so good,” she said. “Whata waste.”

“It was not wasted, mistress. It was like it neverexisted.”

“Why are you calling me mistress all ofa sudden?”

He averted his gaze, resting it on the floor instead. When it became clear that he wasn’t going to say anything more, Helena sighed. Two steps forward, one step back.

“Rafferty, this is your vacation. And you are creeping me out by standing where I can’t see you. Comesit down.”

She hated to order him to relax, but this time, the demon obeyed. He crossed to take the seat kitty-corner from her, and they eyed each other as he slid to sit, folding his hands on the table. He looked ready to spring up any moment.

Helena sighed, accepting what little victory she could and looked down at her plate. “Avocado toast?” sheguessed.

“Yes, with a poached egg on top,” her reluctant guest confirmed.

“Did you see this on a cooking channel as well?” she asked, picking one of the pieces up so she could take a bite.

A guilty look crossed his face, his way of confirming.

She chuckled as she took a bite. Lime had been splashed onto the avocado, just enough to make the natural brightness of the savory fruit sing even brighter. The egg capped that brightness just as it was about to be too much, easing the taste on her tongue.

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