Page 148 of The Genius
“A child would think that you’re old,” Shelly speculated. “I think.”
Archer pointed to Solomon. “Just because you’ve grown up to be bigger than a mountain doesn’t mean Marco and I can’t still crush you.”
Solo snorted and flashed his teeth in a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Sure you could. Granted, I would have to be drunk or half asleep and both of you would have to come at me at the same time using heavy weapons and a small army.”
“One thing that hasn’t changed is your confidence and arrogance.” Archer patted Solomon’s shoulder. “You hungry?”
“Starving.”
“Good, then let’s make breakfast and you can update us on what you’ve been up to.”
I gave Shelly a kiss and told her to relax while I helped make breakfast. “You could pack our things in case we need to leave with Willow and Hunter in a hurry,” I whispered in her ear.
“Can I be on the breakfast team too?” Storm asked.
“You can set the table,” Archer instructed him and turned to Mila. “Mila Vanilla, will you do me a favor?”
“Of course.”
“Boulder should be on his way, but get the message to him, Finn, Magni, and Khan that Solomon has arrived. They are at the Gray Mansion with all the women to spend the morning with the kids.”
“No problem. I’ll tell them to bring some of the puppies. Pets always have a way of calming people down; maybe it’ll help Hunter. He seemed a bit stressed out.”
“Fine, just don’t bring the crazy frizzy one you brought last time. That thing pissed on the carpet in the school room.”
“Egypt is young. He can’t help it.”
Archer gave me a sideway glance when we left Mila. “Don’t let her pressure you into adopting one of her puppies. Mila has a whole litter of troublemakers in her room at the mansion. It’s rare to see her without animals by her side.”
“Thank you for the heads-up.”
Ten minutes later I was stirring a large pot of oatmeal, Storm was setting up the breakfast buffet in the dining room, while Archer and Solomon were working on getting fruit, bread, jam, and a variety of nuts and vegetables ready.
“What happened to the bacon or steaks?” Solomon asked with one hand holding the door to the fridge open. “It looks like a fucking greenhouse in here.”
“Don’t worry. There’s a large fridge up at the butcher’s house with all the meat.” Archer gave an apologetic shrug. “Kya wanted it that way; when she was pregnant the smell of meat made her sick.”
“So? She’s not pregnant anymore, is she?”
“No. But we struck a compromise.”
“Okay. She got meat out of the fridge, but what did you get?”
“I get four days with her alone in a cabin twice a year.” Archer held up the knife he was cutting with. “Don’t give me that look. I share her with our kids and the students every day. Four days alone with my woman is a big deal.”
Tasting the oatmeal, I added a bit of salt. “I get that, but the butcher’s house is a five minutes hike. Sounds like a pain in the wintertime.”
“It’s worth it.”
Solomon walked to the door. “I’ll go and get the meat then.”
“Hey, wait up, I’ll come with you. In case you run into Hunter.”
Solomon turned. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt him.”
“Not intentionally.” I turned off the oatmeal and put on the lid. “But you’re both hungry, which always makes things worse.”
“Good point.” Archer pushed Solomon back into the kitchen and called to Storm in the dining room. “Hey, Storm, fetch bacon, sausages, and some steaks in the butcher’s house, will you?”
