Page 57 of Kick the Candle (Knight Games 2)
Popping the cork, he filled the glasses one by one. "Overdue, then. Wouldn't you say?" He shot me an accusatory glance, took a swig of his wine.
Okay. I deserved that. I hadn't reacted to Seraphina fairly.
"You're right. I'm so sorry. I should have handled that better. I was just caught off guard." I concentrated on the best way to make it up to him. "Hey, why don't you go out there and smooth things over while I start dinner? Make her feel at home. Once she's settled in, I'll come out and get to know her better."
"You can't cook." Dad stared at me blankly. It wasn't an insult. I'd admitted the truth of my inability to cook enough times that Dad was simply repeating the undeniable fact.
"I'm a grown woman with a smart phone. I'll figure it out."
Dad wrapped me in a too firm hug and kissed me on the forehead. "Excellent idea. She's wonderful. You'll see." He grabbed two glasses of the wine and shouldered his way into the dining room.
I lifted my glass from the pristine counter and paused. So, Dad had a girlfriend. An incredibly young, shamelessly beautiful girlfriend. Wrap your head around it, Grateful! I mentally shook my own shoulders. Well, one good thing, I'd be too busy cooking to have much time to visit.
I yanked open the door to the refrigerator, resigned to get started. No turkey. In horror, I opened the freezer. Yep. There it was: one, frozen, twelve-pound turkey. I pulled the ball of ice from the freezer and plopped it on the counter with a foreboding thunk. The icy sheen on the shrink-wrap frosted from the heat of the kitchen.
Wine in hand, I returned to the dining room to break the bad news. It was empty. I proceeded to the living room. Dad and Seraphina were shoulder to shoulder on the couch, carrying on an animated discussion. After a few moments, I cleared my throat to get their attention.
"Dad, the turkey is..." I trailed off when I saw his face fall. For some reason, this was really important to him. He must have strong feelings for Seraphina to introduce her to me and I could see he wanted tonight to be special. I hated the thought of disappointing him.
"What is it, sweetheart?"
"The turkey is going to take a few hours. I don't mean to be rude, Seraphina, but I'm going to be working in the kitchen for a while."
"Grateful, I didn't mean to leave that all to you. Let me finish this drink and I'll be in to help." Dad scooted to the edge of his seat.
Seraphina gave me a pouty smile. "I'll help too. I trained as a chef at a prestigious school in France."
Was she kidding me? A chef? Over my dead body. I could only imagine what Seraphina would think of the frozen turkey on the counter, and there was no way I was suffering her critique of my lacking culinary skills for... as long as it took to cook a frozen turkey. It was a matter of pride. Maybe I hadn't attended a European culinary school, but I could cook dinner for my dad. "You know what? Why don't I get the turkey started while you guys enjoy your drinks, and then you can help with the salad a little closer to dinner?"
The two lovebirds didn't argue with me. In fact, my dad scooted closer to Seraphina as he nodded his head. Great. I was officially relegated to third wheel status. I shook it off and headed back into the kitchen where I dialed Logan. He answered on the first ring.
"How do you thaw a turkey?"
Logan cleared his throat. "Two days in the cooler."
"I've gotta cook this sucker this afternoon."
"How big?
"Twelve pounds."
"I've heard you can cook it from frozen but it takes five hours and the results are inconsistent."
"Inconsistent?"
"It might taste like rubber."
I groaned. "Six isn't too late to eat rubber turkey," I said hopefully. "So just throw it in a pan and pop it in the oven?"
"Melt some butter over the top, salt it inside and out. You and the bird will be golden."
"Thanks."
"You are still coming Saturday, right?" he asked.
"Wouldn't miss it."
"Good, because we need to talk about us. No interruptions. I need to know where I stand in your life." Metal clanked against metal in the background.
