Eliona's War 2: Veiled Healer

Chapter 81

It wasn't until Seth made a sizable dent in the mountain on his plate that Mrs Beakor and Tripp took mercy on him and shut up. A comfortable silence settled over the kitchen, broken only by the scrape of forks against plates.

His nerves were stretched thin from the bizarre situation of having breakfast with his boss and neighbor who both were practically in their underwear. The four cups of coffee he'd downed to try and clear his head didn't help, either.

Afterward, he helped clear the table, while Mrs Beakor packed up the leftovers. She informed Seth that he wasn't leaving without some.

"You too, Tripp," she called out.

Tripp called back from the living room, where he'd been shooed to get out of the way: "You're the best, Hel!"

"I know, so don't you forget it!"

Seth poured the rest of the lukewarm coffee into his mug. He took a long sip and tried to gather his thoughts. "How long have you guys known each other?"

Mrs Beakor took the empty carafe from him, and began rinsing it in the sink. "Years. We were in the service together, which lasted only a year before I resigned, but we kept in touch since."

"We did much more than that." Tripp came to lean against the kitchen wall. He watched Mrs Beakor with fondness. "Did you know we got married?"

"No way." Seth's jaw almost hit the floor. "You're married?"

"Bah. That hardly counts." Mrs Beakor snorted. She turned the water off and set the wet coffee carafe on the counter. "It was in the middle of nowhere with a snotty unqualified kid. Entirely a spur of the moment thing. We didn't even sign papers later to make it official."

"It's official to me," Tripp informed Seth. "I asked, she said yes, and that's all that matters."

Mrs Beakor scoffed. "You sap." Then she went to Seth and snatched the almost empty mug from his hands. "That's enough coffee for you."

"I didn't even have that much," he protested.

"You had six cups, kiddo. You're gonna get the jitters."

"I don't care," he grumbled. He watched as she dumped his mug down the sink. What a waste.

"There's this really clever invention that just came out," Tripp remarked. "You should try it, Seth. It's called 'a good night's rest.'"

Seth scowled. "I did sleep!"

"Yeah?" Mrs Beakor was suddenly very close. She poked him in the cheekbone. "With those bags? You packing up and taking a trip with those?"

He pulled away, huffing. He did not have bags under his eyes. She was seeing things.

"C'mon, kiddo." She didn't seem phased in the slightest. Instead, she curled a thin, but strong arm around his shoulders and steered him into the living room. "Now that we all have full bellies, why don't we sit and you can tell us what's bothering you, hm?"

Right.

That.

Breakfast had been a nice distraction, but now that it was over, he'd all but lost the nerve. Especially with Tripp here. He wasn't sure if he wanted to talk about anything in front of his boss.

Still, he let himself be guided to the center of the couch. She plopped down on one side of him, and Tripp settled on the other. It wasn't a very big couch, so knees and shoulders were all touching.

"Uh," he froze, turning red again.

"Yes?" Tripp sounded amused.

"Is this necessary?"