Justin sighed and leaned his head against the doorjamb. “I’m sorry. I guess I should have made something else.”
“No, no,” she said quickly through the door. “I just . . . er . . . have a tummy bug or something. It looked . . . er . . . lovely. Really.”
Yeah, and if he bought that, she had a bridge in the swamps of Florida that she could sell him too. The woman was a terrible liar, he thought and then stepped quickly back when the door opened.
Holly stepped out, face pale and hair disheveled, but a stiff smile pinned to her face. “You go back and enjoy your meal. I think I’ll just go lie down until my tummy settles.”
Justin remained silent and simply watched her walk away up the hall until she disappeared upstairs. Then he turned and moved slowly back to the kitchen.
“It’s good,” Tomasso announced when he entered the room.
Justin glanced to the table to see that the twins had split the fish down the middle, each taking half. They’d also piled their plates with the curried rice and brussels sprouts he’d made as well and were demolishing it all.
“It is good,” Dante assured him. “We left the head for you.”
Justin peered at the head still on the platter and then just turned around and walked out again. All that work and the twins would have it gone in seconds . . . and Holly hadn’t touched a bite of it.
“Bricker?”
Pausing halfway up the hall, he glanced over his shoulder to see Gia walking toward him.
“It all looked very impressive,” the woman said quietly, patting his arm as she reached him. “And you obviously worked hard. I’m sure she appreciated that.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t sensing a lot of appreciation as she hung over the toilet,” he said wearily.
She smiled sympathetically and shrugged. “I suspect she just is not used to her food looking back at her.”
Justin shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “I suppose I should go back in and start cleaning up. I made a hell of a mess in the kitchen and—-”
“I’ll do that,” Gia interrupted. “Why don’t you go pick up some subs or something and take one up to Holly? I’m sure she’d like that. She was so hungry she was nauseous while we were waiting for you to finish.”
“Was she?” he asked with surprise.
Gia nodded and then pointed out, “That probably did not help.”
“No,” he agreed, a little relieved that it might not have been all down to the meal he’d made. “Subs, huh?”
Gia nodded. “Or something else if you like. I just said subs because the boys like those second only to pizza, and if you got pizza they might—-”
“Eat it all on us,” Justin suggested with wry amusement when she hesitated.
Grinning, she nodded and then said with a shrug, “They are big boys.”
“Yeah,” he agreed dryly. “I’ll have to keep that in mind the next time I cook.”
“Good thinking,” she commented.
Nodding, he started away, then paused and turned back to hug her, offering a soft, “Thanks.”
“For what?” she asked with surprise.
“The suggestion,” Justin said as he straightened. “And the encouragement. I appreciate it. This life mate business is a little trickier than I expected, what with Holly being married and everything. I’m sure it would have been a breeze for me otherwise, but this was an unexpected complication.”
“Oh yes, I’m sure it would have been a breeze were she not married,” Gia agreed.
Justin peered at her closely. Despite being straight--faced, he got the feeling she was mocking him, but after a moment he shrugged that concern aside and checked his pocket for the keys to the SUV that had been delivered earlier. Satisfied that he had them, he thanked her again and headed out of the house.
Holly turned restlessly onto her side and sighed unhappily. Despite her charming bout of hanging over the porcelain throne, she was still starved. Unfortunately, she simply couldn’t go downstairs in search of food without having to hurt Justin’s feelings by refusing the fish.
That thought made her remember the fishy eyes staring dully at her from the platter and Holly shuddered and closed her own eyes on a grimace. She was not a fish eater to begin with. She didn’t mind fish--and--chip--type fish, but she had never cared for the fishy flavor some fish had and that fish down on the table in the kitchen had looked pretty fishy to her. Disgusting even. What had Justin been thinking? Good Lord, it was like serving a cow with its head on instead of a roast. Nothing like reminding the eater that their meal had been alive and kicking before it hit the table. Gad!