Elema Sreer brandished the small knife with a grin and Cort threw up his hands in defences, feigning shock. “Hey, don’t stab the messenger!”

Eela eyed her assistants with a raised brow. “No bloodshed in my kitchen. It makes a mess of the tiles.”

“I thought that’s what you had a housekeeper for,” Cort bantered back.

“I’m so telling Sinna you said that,” Eela said, shaking her head even as she grinned.

“No, please don’t. She might poison me.”

Sreer just laughed at their antics and went back to peeling the vegetable that apparently was going to be made into some sort of sauce.

The chime sounded and Eela smiled, setting her spoon next to the stove. “That should be Jones,” she said, moving out of the kitchen and down the hall. Mathis had to bow out, though she really wanted to attend. But Eela knew what it was like to settle a family into a new home and understood Jeanette needing to spend time with her spouse and son. Not to mention, the press conference made everything real and sometimes a person needed time to process the work they were about to do. As a former diplomat, she so understood that herself.

Elema just grinned and Cort eyed her. “What?”

She almost didn’t say anything, but it was hilarious to her that Cort hadn’t figured it out. Not that Eela and Jones were making public scenes, not at all, but it was rare that Cort wasn’t the one in the know. He knew just about everything that happened in Dasca’s life, even more than she herself did. Part of that was their roles and part of it was necessity. “I still think it’s hilarious you encouraged her to invite him. She probably didn’t need the encouragement, all told.” Cort eyed her sideways, gazing long at Elema and then she watched that realization dawn in his eyes. She rewarded him with a self-satisfied smirk and set the vegetable aside before picking up another to peel.

“Good for her,” he said with a warm smile. “I’m just surprised I didn’t see it.”

“I didn’t see it, that’s the point,” the Napean said, suppressing a giggle. “But you just watch tonight. Those two are exceptionally good at hiding it from the surface, but once you see it, it’s hard to miss.”

“I feel like I just handed them a match or something,” Cort said, shaking his head.

Elema grinned. “Oh, I suspect they know how to handle fires.”

Meanwhile, in the foyer, Eela opened the door and stepped back to let Jones in. “Good evening,” she said.

He gave her a grin. “Thanks for inviting me.” Dash held out a bottle of wine. “Jeanette sends her regrets and also her regards.”

She took the bottle and set it on the side table between the two arm chairs. “Yes, I spoke to her before I left for the day. I remember vividly moving about with teenagers, so I don’t begrudge her giving her family some undivided attention before things get really busy for you both here.” She held out her hand to take his coat.

Dash shrugged his linen jacket off his shoulders and gave it over to Eela. “Jessie’s a good kid. He’ll do fine, but it’s a big change for a fifteen year old.”

“It can be for sure,” she said, grabbing the bottle of wine and leading him into the hallway. “We’re in the kitchen.”

“Okay…” he said, though he stopped and swept his eyes over the wall of photos. “Wow, this is great. I love seeing images like these.”

Eela smiled and turned, walking backwards. “Feel free, but I have to go check and make sure I am not burning dinner.” She slipped around the corner to the right.

Elema called out a moment later. “Try to see if you can pick out her daughter. I dare you!”

“Miss Sreer, are you trying to get me into trouble?” Dash said with a chuckle.

Eela appeared at the end of the hallway. “Hey, you know the rules,” she said seriously, though her eyes were lit up.

“No formalities or titles. Apologies, bad habits,” Jones said. He tapped a photo and gave Eela a querying look. She stepped towards him and smiled at the image of a young woman with softer brows ridges and indentations than Eela, but who looked an awfully lot like a younger Eela and had a longer face with hair more dark brown than black. She nodded and Dash grinned. “I knew it. When was this one?” he said, gazing at the carefree woman standing on the end of a dock with her arms open wide and a wide smile on her face.

“Um, Caridee was twenty-two I think? Just graduating from her pre-med program and had found out she had gotten into medical school at Stanford for psychiatry.”

“Who is this?” he said, pointing to a smaller photo of a couple sitting on a fallen tree trunk watching a little girl dancing in the tall grass. “Is this you?”

Eela grinned. “Yes, it is. I think I’m about three there, maybe four? I don’t remember it but we were staying in Alsuwenen with my maternal grandparents.”

“Is that the grandfather that was a mayor?”

She nodded wth surprise. “You remembered.”

Dash gazed at her intently, still mindful that they weren’t alone, but that didn’t stop him from feeling intrigue towards this woman. “I remember lots about you,” he said before meandering down the hall into the kitchen.

She watched him for a moment, a smirk slipping onto her face, before she too made her way back into the kitchen.

[to be continued…]

~Eela Dasca & Guests