Page 7 of Home Again

3

Gianna studied the prodigal grandson from beneath her lashes as she took a bite of Ophelia’s heavenly ambrosia salad. She knew that he’d left home to join the Navy when he was eighteen, and later became a Navy SEAL, but all of her research had said that he wasn’t a part of the family anymore. She was going to have to call Jada and have her get some information on him…STAT.

“I can’t pinpoint your accent, Gianna, where are you from?” Sebastian asked.

Damn, he’s hot. How in the hell could Armand and Sebastian be related?

She finished chewing, then set down her fork. “Kentucky.”

“Where in Kentucky?”

“Good luck finding answers, Gee doesn’t like to tell much about herself,” Armand said as he went back to the fridge. Gianna frowned when she saw him grab his third beer since sitting down. At this rate, he’d be passed out before sundown.

“Gianna?” Sebastian prompted.

“Oh.” She turned back to see Sebastian’s curious eyes. “It’s a small town called Berea; all of my mother’s family have lived there for generations.”

“Now why does he get answers, and I don’t, pretty girl?” Armand said as he stretched his arm over the back of her chair.

“You never specifically asked me what city I was from, Armand,” she said with a small smile. She took another bite of chicken, thinking that if she could keep her mouth full she wouldn’t have to answer any more questions. She picked up her glass of lemonade when Sebastian spoke again.

“So what brings you to our neck of the woods?”

“Work.” She took a long sip. “Do you want seconds?” she looked down at his empty plate.

“What kind of work do you do?”

“I design textiles.”

He frowned. “Want to run that by me again?”

“That takes more than a minute to explain. I’d really like to finish my meal.”

“See?” Armand exclaimed. “She keeps her cards close to her vest.”

She took a bite of her potato salad and watched as Sebastian gave his uncle an exasperated glance before getting up and taking his plate to the sink. He then opened the dishwasher, rinsed his plate and put it in, and started doing the same for the other dishes that cluttered the counter.

“Ophelia will take care of that when she gets back on Monday,” Armand said with a wave of his hand.

Sebastian ignored him and continued with what he was doing.

When Gianna was finished, she took her dishes up to the counter, trying to figure out how she could help. He gave her a sideways glance. “I’ve got this,” he said with an enticing smile.

“Can I help?”

“Sure, you can explain about designing textiles.”

She sighed. “Textiles can be fabrics for clothing, bedding, furniture, and wallpaper. The kind of textile that you design for clothing is going to be different than what you would design for wallpaper.”

“That makes sense,” Sebastian said as he scraped off two days’ worth of gunk from a plate. “So do you design for all types of media?”

Why did it take her by surprise that he used the word media? She gave him a fast glance out of the corner of her eye and he lifted an eyebrow. She’d been caught. He knew what she’d been thinking.

Blast it.

“It truly depends on what is inspiring me. I tend to design for bedding and clothing. I get my inspiration from the outdoors. It has done well for me.” She started opening cupboards and drawers to see if she could find a washcloth that she could use to start wiping down the counter.

“What got you into this? Did you attend school to learn?”