Page 31 of Love Letters & Lemon Drops

"A pan and some sugar, I think. Do we have sugar?"

"Evie said it was in a jar on the left side of the table," he responds, looking over to where that kind of thing seems to be laid out. He lifts one of the lids and looks inside. "Yes, this is it."

"Do you think this pan is the right one?" I ask him, lifting up a heavy metal pan. I don't know what I'm looking for, but it seems like it might be right.

"I actually have no idea," Artie says. "I should have asked Evie for more help."

"We can figure it out," I assure him. "It says that we need to put the water and sugar in the pan and then boil it. Any pan will do, right?"

"I think so." He reaches out to take it from me, setting it on the stove. He seems a little less clueless than he's claiming when he manages to get the flame going quickly enough.I'mcertainly impressed. I've never used a stove in my life. Maybe that will change the more time I spend in Falhaven.

Artie uses a scoop to dump some sugar into the pan, following it up with some water.

"I think we should probably get the lemon ready?" I suggest. "It says we need to zest it. But what does that mean?"

He grimaces. "I really should have asked Evie to come supervise," he mutters.

"Why didn't you?"

"Because I wanted to spend time with you," he says in response.

"Oh." I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. "I do like that."

"I'm glad. I want you to spend time with me." He leans in and presses his lips against mine. It's a swift kiss, which it probably should be when there's fire in the room, but I enjoy it all the same. There's something intimate about a stolen moment like this, and I want to experience many more moments like it.

We break apart. "Aren't we supposed to be watching the sugar?" I murmur, toying with the ruffle of his shirt and barely thinking about the sugar at all.

"Probably." He kisses my nose and leaves me to return to the stove. "Is it supposed to bubble like that?"

I shrug and head over to check out what he's looking at. The sugar certainly seems to be doingsomething. Whether it's right is a question I'm not sure I'm able to answer.

Footsteps sound and I look towards the doorway, disappointed to find Arthur's sister standing in the doorway. The tiny dragon on her shoulder lifts herself into the air and flies straight over to the oven, settling down in the bed on top of it.

"Oh, I thought you'd be done," Evie says, looking around the kitchen. "But you've barely started."

Arthur shrugs. "We don't have as much experience as you in the kitchen," he points out.

"That's clear." An acrid smell fills the air, and Evie's eyes widen. "What are you doing in here?" She hurries over to the stove, a horrified expression on her face as she looks at the pan.

"Did we do it wrong?" Arthur asks.

"Well, you didn't do anything right," Evie mutters, shutting off the burner and taking the pan away. "If you've destroyed my pan, then you're going to have to get me a new one."

"Doesn't it belong to the kitchen?" Arthur asks.

"Nate sent it to me from Gaullesse," she responds.

I look at Artie in puzzlement.

"Nate's the pastry chef's son I told you about. They're friends."

"Oh." I'm not sure that explains anything, but I don't need an actual explanation to understand that the pan is important, Evie's expression tells me as much.

"What are you trying to make?" Evie asks.

"Lemon drops," I respond, holding up the recipe.

The frustration disappears almost immediately as she eyes the recipe. "If you don't need to make them yourselves, I can do it for you," she suggests.

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