Page 22 of The Rainbow Recipe
“I’ll consider it,” she said warily, opening the door. “Why do you doubt him?”
He inhaled and let it all out. “Because someone touched the rocks in the back of the cavern with fear or horror, far more recently than an ancient Etruscan.” He left her gaping in the doorway as he swung down the corridor to the kitchen. It felt good to one-up her. Besides, he was starving.
His mother was making grilled cheese sandwiches for the twins. Wordlessly trailing him into the kitchen, Priscilla washed her hands and dived into slicing cheese, bread, and tomatoes. Typical, unlike other women, she didn’t immediately ask a thousand questions, but dived into cooking.
“Basil? Oregano?” she inquired, reaching for the garlic cloves hanging by the window.
Emma threw off her apron and hurried out to her beloved garden. Dante figured he should contribute something, but his leg throbbed, and he simply wanted to put it up. He dragged an ice bag out of the freezer. He wanted to be prepared in case her head exploded as she processed what he’d told her.
“Alex, Nan, follow your grandmother and learn which herb is which. Ask if she has spinach.” Picking up a knife, he took his usual seat at the table and raised his injured leg on a chair. Might as well clear the room while he was at it. “Give me the garlic. Let me mince.”
Pris halted in mid chop to study him, shrugged, and handed it over. “I’m just sprinkling it in the oil. I only need a clove.”
He all but rolled his eyes. If she didn’t want to question, he would. “Are you going to tell me why you’re really here?” he asked, smashing the clove to peel it.
“Because Kit-Kat died, I don’t think it was natural, and I want to get ahead of the cops before they accuse me. Obvious, isn’t it?” She began assembling her ingredients.
“No. Katherine Gladwell lived in London. She never visited Lucia that I know of. Coming here is not obvious.”
“I told you, sheknewyou,” Pris insisted, flinging his chopped garlic into her simmering oil. “Her last thought was of you. She was looking at Jax at the time, and maybe she thought she saw you, but she still had to know you to make that connection. And she wasterrified. My assumption was that you threatened her.”
“I never met her that I’m aware of. Now, had that been Lucia...That’s another matter entirely.” He would gladly have twisted Lucia’s head off her shoulders for so callously abandoning her children, leaving their upbringing to a footloose father like him.
The twins dashed in carrying garden trugs of herbs and spinach, proudly dumping the leaves all over the counter. His mother followed a little more slowly. She was nearing sixty. She shouldn’t have to keep up with five-year-olds.
“Wash your hands,” Pris ordered, scooping the leaves into a colander. “Emma, what does everyone drink? Have a seat.”
Had she heard him thinking that Emma needed to rest? Or was she just messing with his mind in a good, old-fashioned way? Trying to process how this woman thought might make him insane.
“Bossy, isn’t she?” his mother murmured, almost with pleasure. Instead of sitting, she opened the refrigerator for water, wine, and milk.
Dante had no problem with bossy if he got fed and his mother got to sit down—and the twins didn’t fling food at him. He still didn’t know whether to trust her. He watched as Pris held out the pan so the twins could decorate the tomatoes with chopped herbs.
“Priscilla, do you have children?” His mother asked what he’d been thinking. So maybe women just did that naturally.
“No, just a couple of nieces. But kids this age are simple to understand. Older ones, not so much.” She returned the pan to the stove, added the spinach he had requested, and layered on the last of the bread.
Dante sipped his wine and thought about herunderstandingyoung children. She’d all but said that she read minds. Or vibrations. Or whatever. If the twins were simple—she was understanding that they wanted to be helpful?
To be part of the family, like the adults.
Anyone who paid attention to kids would probably know that, right?
He had spent years pretending they didn’t exist. Maybe, if he applied himself...
When would he ever have time to do that?
She fed the twins first, adding a few herbs to their plates so they could taste the leaves separately and detect the flavors. Nan didn’t care. She gobbled half her sandwich, then climbed down and wandered off. Alex studiously tasted the leaves, wrinkled up his nose, and almost shoved his entire sandwich down so he could follow his sister.
The women didn’t correct their manners, so Dante kept his mouth shut and tried to learn—while consuming the plate of sandwiches presented to him. Instead of sitting down, their guest ate while cleaning up.
Then grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl, she headed for the door. “I’m going back to that cave. If I’m not back by dark, tell my family where to find me.”
Thirteen: Evie
Afterthought,South Carolina
“Look at this!”Mavis shook a flyer at Evie.
