Healing Haven - Book 2 in Haven Series [Complete]

29| Magic in the spring

Camped out on the living room carpet, wearing nothing but one of Ethan's shirts, Alyssa set down her fork atop her plate and was almost tempted to swipe up the last bit of the romesco sauce with her tongue.

Holy shit the man could cook.

The meal had been Michelin star worthy—and she'd certainly know having frequented more than a few in the last seven years. Whenever she'd set off to travel on business, Alyssa had always made a point to track down the best restaurants in the city and explore all kinds of stunning cuisine. From authentic to cutting edge, food had always been a source of comfort and pleasure.

To think he'd been subjected to her amateur attempts in her own kitchen over the last few weeks made her flush with amused embarrassment. 

"Who taught you to cook like that?" she asked as he rose to carry their empty plates into the kitchen.

"Mom." Ethan slid their plates into the rack of the loaded dishwasher, reached for the box of soap from under the sink and slid a capsule into the cartridge. "She was big on making sure we could take care of ourselves—all of us. Cooking, cleaning and laundry, we all took shifts in the Davies household, learning everything we needed to know from the ground up." Slapping it shut, he pressed a couple of buttons and she heard a low rumble followed by a wet swish of water.

Alyssa eyed him thoughtfully, smiled. "I like that. A mom who doesn't cater to her boys because they're boys."

Ethan snorted, leaning back against the counter. The hard lines of his body stretching the material of his shirt taught over his biceps and chest. "You've met my mom, so you can definitely say she doesn't cater to anyone. We each had to pull our weight. No excuses and no special allowances. Not even for Rhiannon."

Nose scrunched, Alyssa worked through the list of his siblings' names he'd once told her but stumbled after Jenelle. "Which one is she again?"

"Ria's the youngest of us, and was diagnosed with Aspergers—a high functioning form of autism, when she was about nine."

"Hm." She nodded, her memory jogged. "The artist, right? How old is she now?"

"She'll be twenty in May. She got a scholarship to an art school in Paris after high school. Mom thought it would be great for her to get away and experience life abroad to develop her own sense of independence, though dad wasn't too happy about it. But we have a cousin out that way keeping an eye on her, checking in from time to time." 

"So you have seven siblings. How many cousins?"

"Never thought to put a number to it before." Pausing to think, Ethan stroked a hand over the back of his neck. "Mom's from a big family herself. She was the middle of ten and her family's scattered about, so...couple dozen at least. Every couple of years we all get together for a big reunion. Sometimes here, sometimes elsewhere."

Alyssa whistled.

"What?" He nudged her with his shoulder, amused by her stunned surprise.

"Nothing. It's just...I'm so envious of your family life. Growing up with all those siblings, aunts and uncles and cousins. So full." Holding her glass, she swirled what remained of her wine. "It was never like that for Eva and me. We only had each other. And mom," she added with a roll of her eyes, "though mom was a difficult pill to swallow even on her best day. I can't say it was all bad, but it wasn't all great either."

Taking her glass, Ethan topped up her wine as well as his. "What about your dad?"

"Never knew him. And mom refused to speak of him. Ever. When I turned eighteen I got it in my head I'd find him. Track him down. But," she jerked a shoulder, "I didn't have much of anything to go on and couldn't afford the private investigation fees. So I gave it up. Don't even know why I'm telling you all of this...it was so long ago."