Page 98 of Bourbon and Secrets

She smiles curiously. “What’s kitchen sink dinner?”

I turn on the hose and make sure the trough is filled. “You’ll have to come over to find out.”

“This ismy favorite mix right now—it’s a bunch of mashups from these DJs on TikTok. They pull together classics from the 70s, like ABBA or Hall & Oates, and then pair it with a solo diva artist like Celine or Mariah,” Lark says as she and Faye share the EarPods and hover over her iPad.

“My mom used to play this Mariah Carey album every Saturday morning. It was our cleaning day. And that meant two things: nobody was sleeping in and the music was going to be loud. Maggie and I grumbled the entire time.”

Lark adds, “I would have too.”

I turn around, grabbing the pot to boil water. Most of what we have in the refrigerator will go best over rice or pasta. “Girls, are we doing a rice, pasta, or a salad base tonight?”

Faye listens to the split vote between all three options. “Do we get to know what else is going with it?”

Lily opens the refrigerator doors and starts rattling off the half-used items and leftovers. “Two tomato halves, diced onion, some leftover chicken and dad’s shrimp scampi leftovers. There's half of a container of strawberries.” She turns toward me. “Dad, is that parsley or cilantro?”

“Cilantro,” I answer.

“Rice,” Faye calls out. “I have an idea. Am I allowed to help?”

I shift a glance to Lark, and then to Lily. “Can she help?”

They both give their happy yeses in unison, and I hold my arm out, ushering Faye to take the reins. “Kitchen sink dinner is all yours, Peach.”

Just under an hour later, I rinse off the last dish and add it to the dishwasher. “This one definitely means vivid energy,” Faye says as she points to the gemstone bracelet on Lily’s arm. “Here,let's figure out if you wear that during a new moon phase, if it will have healing capabilities that morph into something else.”

Lily laughs out, “Do you think that’s how it works? Like, everything is connected like that?”

Faye shrugs her shoulders. “Everything is connected in some way or another—gems and stalagmites seem like they might take some charge from the moon, don’t you think?”

“Or the sun,” Lily says with interest.

“Dad,” Lark whispers next to me. When I look at her, she keeps her eyes trained on Lily and Faye.

“Yeah, sweetheart, what’s up?”

She keeps whispering, “That was, like, really good. It was better than the usual kitchen sink dinner. I’ve never had strawberries in a taco bowl, but it worked. And I kind of want it again another night.”

I lean into her space and ask something I’m hoping she’ll be on board with. “Should we ask her to come to dinner again, then?”

She’s watching what I am: Lily and Faye getting excited about the fact that it’s a waxing gibbous moon and Lily has a natural cluster of citrine.

“Yeah, I think it would be nice to have her here,” she says with a smile as she grabs her iPad and moves to the living room.

“Lark, you’re not allowed to watch an episode without me,” Lily calls out, storming into the living room after her sister.

Faye looks at the glass I slid in front of her after she takes a sip. “Why do I love this? What is this?”

It’s not hard to feel pride at hearing her say that. “It’s the bourbon I’m testing out.”

“I like it,” she hums with a relaxed grin.

“You’re looking a little more carefree than earlier today,” I tell her as she moves into the kitchen. Coming up behind me, she cages me in, wrapping her arms around my waist as I finishrinsing the last pan. She rests her head on my back, and I can’t move fast enough to dry my hands and turn around to hold her. I don’t know when it started feeling comfortable—this sense of ease when I’m around her, but on a night like tonight, I feel it. I feel how easy it would be to have more nights just like it.

As I settle into the weight of her leaning into me and my arms wrapped tight, my nerves kick in. In my gut, I know this could fall apart in a minute, and I plan to do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Chapter 35

Lincoln

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