Opening the oven door, Cadence peered inside, trying to decide whether or not the chicken was done. She’d cooked it for as long as the recipe said to, but it wasn’t “golden brown” on top. Or was it? She sighed and closed the oven again, resetting the timer for five more minutes. There was a reason she didn’t cook much. Not only did her husband never eat, she was terrible at anything that involved a stove. Still, part of her wanted to improve her domestic skills now that she was married, so she’d decided to try something different and actually cook a meal—chicken and two sides. So far, she was thinking she would’ve been better off ordering take out or heating up one of the entrees from the freezer.
The front door distracted her from her cooking disaster. She gave the mashed potatoes one more quick stir before she headed into the living room. “Hey, honey,” she called in her best fifties-housewife voice. “How was your day?”
Aaron paused a few feet in front of her. “Is that... chicken I smell? Are you cooking?”
“I know! It’s crazy!” she declared as he leaned down to kiss her cheek. Anything more than that and they’d have burned chicken on their hands. “I don’t think it’s done yet, but almost. Maybe.”
He raised an eyebrow at her but before he could ask what she meant, he noticed her necklace. “What’s that?”
She couldn’t help but giggle. “Open it up.”
Still wearing a skeptical look, he examined the closure carefully so as not to break it and then popped it open. A second later, they were both laughing. “What’s that all about?”
“I don’t know. He said he wanted to give me my birthday present now. He seemed... weird today.” She turned and headed back into the kitchen, and he followed. Though they had a formal dining room, they almost always ate at the kitchen table, and Cadence already had it set. The green beans and mashed potatoes were definitely done. She just wasn’t sure about that chicken....
“I thought he seemed a little distracted when he came by the office, too,” Aaron said as Cadence pulled the oven door open again. “What makes you think it’s not done?”
“I don’t know. It looks more like a tan color than a golden brown to me.”
“Did you look at the inside? Is it pink?”
“Good idea.” Using her X-ray vision, she peered into the chicken. “It’s mostly white.”
Laughing, he took a knife and fork from the silverware draw. “You could do it the old fashion way.” He cut a slit in one of the chicken breasts and pulled it open. There was still a tinge of pink, but it was mostly white. “I say a couple more minutes.”
Cadence checked the timer, which would be going off in about that time. She hadn’t thought about cutting it open. “Maybe you should cook dinner from now on.”
“Maybe neither one of us should cook dinner from now on,” he teased. “I’m sure it’s fine.”
“Not that you’ll eat it anyway.” She gave the other two dishes another stir.
Wrapping his arms around her waist, he kissed her cheek again. “I’ll eat it if you want me to.”
She couldn’t help but smile at him. In all the time she’d known him, she’d never seen him eat more than a couple of bites of anything in one sitting. It was so vastly different than Elliott and Brandon. But then Jamie didn’t eat much either....
“How was your day?” he asked, stepping away from her to grab some serving dishes out of the cabinet. “Did you finish up the seating chart?”
Cadence couldn’t help but sigh. She scooped the mashed potatoes into one dish while he did the same with the green beans. “I did. Mom had it pretty well done. I just moved a few people around. I decided to seat Elliott beside you. I hope that’s okay.”
“As long as you’re on my other side, I’m fine with that.”
She gave him a sweet smile and a little, “Ah,” before the timer on the stove went off. “So I think that part’s good.”
“What else is there to do?”
She turned the timer off and pulled the chicken out, satisfied that it wasn’t going to make either of them sick. “I don’t know. A lot.” Cadence sighed again, plating the chicken and taking it to the table while Aaron brought over the other two dishes. She fixed a plate and poured more wine in her glass than she probably should have before she had a seat and surveyed her handiwork.
“Anything I can help you with?”
“Nah,” she said eying her plate. “I’ll get it done.” She did feel better that they were already married, but that didn’t negate the fact that there were still a million things to do.
They shifted the conversation away from the wedding and work as they ate, spending the majority of the time talking about the honeymoon. Cadence was looking forward to those two weeks in Fiji more than she’d ever looked forward to anything before in all of her years. Even talking with Aaron about it made her feel calm. Two weeks, no work, no Vampires, just a beach, and this man that she loved. It was too bad she couldn’t just fast forward past the wedding.
“Well, what did you think?” she asked, once she was full. “Taste okay?”
“Yeah, not bad at all,” he nodded. He’d actually eaten a lot more than she’d expected, and she appreciated the effort.
Cadence stood and started clearing off the table. “Why don’t you let me do that?” Aaron interjected, reaching across the table to grab her hand. “Go sit down. There’s something we need to chat about.”
Her stomach began to flutter. Something about his tone sent up red flags. “What is it?”
“Nothing much. Go on. I’ll be in in a minute.”
She continued to stare at him for several seconds before he stood and went about clearing the table. Cadence topped off her wine glass and then took the bottle into the living room with her. Normally, she didn’t drink too much, but with that announcement on the horizon, she may need the rest of this merlot in a minute or two.
With his super speed, it only took Aaron a couple of minutes to clear the table and start the dishwasher. Cadence sat on the sofa, sipping her wine, waiting for him to come in the room. When he did, he smiled at her and sat down next to her on the couch. Her knee was bent beneath her so that she could face him. “What is it?”
