Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 129951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
After I set the pancakes on a plate and put them in a warming oven, she waited for the inopportune time when I was pouring more batter to share, “Tempie has a boyfriend. Oh no!”
The “oh no!” part of that was me pouring a stream of batter across the hot griddle.
“What did you say?” I asked her.
She was staring at the griddle. “That streak is cooking, Vivi.”
I scraped it off, re-oiled, and poured four more pancakes.
Then I looked to her. “Tempie has a boyfriend?”
“She doesn’t want anyone to know. But I hear her talking to him on the phone. I’ve talked to Prue about it, and she’s heard it too.”
“Do you know who he is?”
She shook her head. “No. I think he’s from London. Or at least, the conversation I overheard yesterday, he seemed mad she was in London and he didn’t see her.”
Oh boy.
“She has a flat there,” she told me. “She isn’t there as much as Battie because…”
Because she was at The Downs with Prue and Chassie.
“Battle told me how much responsibility she has here,” I remarked.
Her head snapped to the side to look at me.
Shit.
She thought I was talking about her and Prue.
“You know, the sheep and the cottages and the lettings in town and all that,” I explained. “It sounds like things are pretty busy for her.”
“Oh yes. That.” Now she was nodding her head. “I think she’s busy. But she’s so organized, I also think, in a way, it runs itself.”
I bet Tempie ran it like a well-oiled machine.
“I’m hoping, now that Battie’s found you, she’ll come out of the closet, you know, proverbially,” she said.
I grinned at her. “I get you.”
“She’s funny about her men,” she muttered, then asked, “Is this done?”
“Yes, honey, grab a plate and put a paper towel on it. Then put the bacon on the towel.”
Her brows were knit. “Paper towel?”
“What do you call it?” I snapped my fingers repeatedly. “Shit. Oh! Kitchen roll!”
“Right,” she said and headed to the kitchen roll.
Once she was transferring the bacon and I’d flipped the pancakes, I asked, “She’s funny about men?”
“Both Battie and her are about people they’re seeing. They tend not to introduce us to the ones who aren’t candidates.”
Yikes.
Candidates?
“Though,” she carried on, “Battie isn’t as strict about it. However, he will share before we meet someone,” she took off his deep purr, “‘she’s not the one.’”
That made me laugh out loud.
“He hasn’t taken us aside to tell us you’re not the one,” she went on.
I quit laughing as a happy shiver drifted over me.
“I don’t think either of us would have gone there if we weren’t…if this wasn’t…” I faltered.
“I get it,” she said and lifted the plate of bacon. “Should I put this in the oven too?”
“Yes, and grab a mitt. I want to add these pancakes to the others. Then one more round and we’re done.”
We did that, and while the pancakes were cooking, she turned fully to me.
“She likes you, loads and loads, so I think maybe you can tell her, you know, that Prue and I…we’re…” She rolled her head on her neck. “She doesn’t need to baby us anymore. She can have a life.”
Oh yes.
Either she’d done some reflecting, or she just knew what her sister was up to.
“She’s known me two weeks, honey,” I said gently. “Don’t you think it’d be better coming from you?”
“I’ve already said it to her. She doesn’t believe me.”
If Temperance was who I thought she was, she had not missed that Chastity was no longer whisper-talking, so she might be more inclined to hear her and believe her now.
“Maybe try again?” I suggested. “And if it doesn’t work, I’ll…” God, was I going to offer this? I guess I was. “Talk to her.”
“That’d be wicked,” she whispered happily.
I could only hope that Tempie noticed the change in Chassie herself.
Fortunately, not much slipped by Tempie.
“Wanna try your hand at flipping a pancake?” I offered.
“Please?”
I handed her the spatula. “You have to wait until the batter bubbles, then you can flip.”
When the time came, her first go was a disaster. But I tidied it up. The second and third were much better, and the fourth was superb.
“See! You perfected it in four!” I crowed.
A pretty pink blush colored her cheeks.
“Right, grab a mitt and take the bacon up,” I ordered. “I’ll finish these and be right behind you.”
“Will do.”
She was on her way with the bacon when I called, “And you tell them, if there aren’t two rashers waiting for me, I’m not cooking again!”
“Will do that too!” she called back, loud, no wispy whisper attached.
Healing.
Or at least, I fucking hoped so.
“This is for the birds,” I bitched.
“Use your legs. Let go of the pommel,” Battle instructed.
“You let go of the pommel. I’ll hit the dirt if I do.”
Battle reached out and grabbed the reins of the beautiful gray roan mare who had the unfortunate luck to have me hauled up on her back half an hour ago.