It was approaching noon when Persephone left the den. She looked in on the girls who were still out cold. Finding their room door ajar told her that Hill had already been by to perform his own check-in. She smiled, pleasantly surprised to find that the man’s parenting instincts seemed ingrained as well.
Her stomach rumbled and only then did she remember the pancakes still waiting in the ceramic warmer. Chances were, she’d wind up throwing out most of them as her perspective diners were asleep or...brooding.
She dismissed the accusation. If anyone had a right to brood, it was Hill. She couldn’t even imagine how wildly his thoughts had to be raging over what he’d learned.
Removing the lid from the warmer, she smiled over the still inviting aroma and her stomach muscles clenched in response to it. She was adding a few of the fluffy honey-wheat cakes to a plate when she felt him in the room. How the man managed to move around in such utter silence; built as he was, was a continuous source of fascination on her part.
“About before, Sef...I’m sorry.”
The plate shook in her hands when she whirled to face him. He’d moved further into the kitchen, but not by much.
“Coming at you the way I did in there,” he jerked his head in the general direction of the mini den. “I scared you- I’m sorry.”
Persephone paid no attention to where she set the plate as she put it down. “It’s okay-”
“No. No it wasn’t- not for me.”
“I’m the last person you should be apologizing to.”
Hill let the debate end there and considered the plate she’d set aside. “There enough left for me?” He asked.
“Yeah, yeah, definitely,” she glanced toward the plate. “I probably made way too much, but your girls can eat at least three each between them on a good day, then they burn it off like it was never there.”
A furrow lay between the long, sleek lines of Hill’s brows, but it wasn’t anger induced. It was more a frown of concentration- of acceptance. “My girls,” he recovered from the moment, nodding toward the warmer. “Will you fix me up?”
Grateful for the task, Persephone turned and began to fill a second plate.
“Can we take this outside?” he asked.
“Uh, yeah sure,” she blinked, gave an eager nod and waved to the end of the long counter space. “There’s silverware in the last drawer, glasses up top.”
They worked in companionable silence and were gathering on the patio moments later. Persephone was about to cut into her pancakes when she looked across the table. Whispering a curse, she stood fast to cover Hill’s hand when he reached for one of the glass syrup containers on a silver caddy in the middle of the table.
“Not that one, Guy. It’s Boysenberry.” She selected another carafe that contained maple syrup.
Hill’s emerging frown was one of surprise, stoked from the fact that she remembered his intense dislike for the flavor. More than that, it was her calling him ‘guy’ that made his mouth twitch on the verge of a smile. It was the endearment she preferred instead of honey or sweetheart and one Hill had accepted was far better suited to him.
He felt his smile spreading and forced its removal as the reality of six stolen years stifled any budding softness. “Thanks,” he murmured, dousing the stack with maple and then devouring several hearty bites.
When Hill suddenly laughed in a good-natured fashion, Persephone straightened, sat back in her chair and waited.
“Took me forever to tell Quest and Quay Ramsey apart,” he envisioned the twin brothers then. “They’re Bill’s cousins. Identical twins.”
Persephone nodded. “Yeah, she’s mentioned them.”
“Their personalities are different,” Hill said. “I noticed the same with Leeya and Layah.”
Persephone noticed the emotion take hold of his stunning features when he spoke the girls’ names.
“Leeya Marcella and Layah Marcella. Marcella for… Marci Cannon.” Persephone cleared her throat over the memory of the dear friend she’d lost on the island and swore to never forget. “Their first names are plays on the L’s in your name.”
Hill continued to eat, nodding slow while processing the information.
“Lee’s the bold one, older by three minutes,” Persephone went on, downing more of the honey wheat cakes she’d laced with butter and a splash of blueberry syrup. “Lay fronts like she’s this dainty princess, but don’t underestimate her.” Persephone felt her heart elevate when he laughed again.
“A real Princess Layah, huh?” He teased.
Persephone grinned over the Star Wars reference.
“Tiny but tough-both of them,” Hill added.
Persephone appreciated the satisfaction in his tone. “You caught that and you haven’t even been in a debate with them yet.”
“I figured they’d change once you were gone and it was just me and them,” Hill reminisced about his earlier time spent alone with the girls. “They weren't even afraid of me,” he gave a genuine laugh of surprise.
Persephone shrugged. “Yeah, they don’t back down from much. Lay’s the reason there are two double beds in there. She came to me all cool and sweet and told me that she and Lee were tired of sleeping on those twin rectangles and were ready for a square bed- would not let up about it ‘til I caved.” She smiled, enjoying the breeze and the glorious afternoon view while Hill indulged in more laughter.
“There are two double beds because, as I was told by Layah, I’ve got my own big bed and I’m a big girl so I should just go on and buy them each one now so I won’t have to worry about it later when they’re big girls.”
“Can’t fault ‘em for being logical,” Hill chuckled. “Chances are you’ll have to buy larger beds again, given my height and yours…” he fixed on Persephone’s bare legs beneath the glass table where they dined. She had them propped to one of the vacant chairs and crossed at the ankles. He lingered on her pedicure and then forced himself to look away.
Understanding, Persephone pulled her legs from the chair.
“How’d you do it, Sef?” His voice held a touch of awe. “How can they know me?”
“The pictures.” Persephone deliberately placed her fork to her plate. “You never seemed interested in them and your brothers kept sending them anyway so...I took them. Those photos were part of the first stories the girls ever heard. I talked about your family, you, us… all the time. Later…once I got to know Bill she…sent me pictures of herself, Belle, Sabra so I could add them to the collection. When the girls asked why you weren't around I said you worked to keep people safe and that you’d been working to keep us safe for a long time and that you’d see us one day.” She pulled a hand through her disarrayed locks and sighed. “They’re getting older so...that answer doesn’t work as well as it used to.
I’ve wanted to tell you about them for a long time, Hill,” with that, she began to clear her side of the table. “Can I get you anymore?” She offered him.
