“You’re sure?” she asked, picking up her pencil again.
“Very,” he murmured as he stole one more kiss. “I’ll let you know when it’s all ready.”
The sound of the piano and her soft humming was relaxing as he listened from the kitchen. A few minutes later, he heard Samson come in the front door and greet her quietly before coming in the kitchen, a grin on his face as he tilted his head in her direction and whispered, “That’s a fine sight to come home to.”
“Isn’t it?” he murmured as he finished stirring the ingredients for a homemade salad dressing and placed it on the table with everything else. He turned expectantly to his brother and grinned when Samson patted a lump in his coat pocket.
After everything was set, he lit the candles and turned out the lights while Samson went into the living room. The piano went quiet and he bit his lip as he listened to their quiet murmurs, and the silence of a long kiss, before Samson drew her by the hand into the dim kitchen.
“Candles? And flowers. Wow. And we have the house to ourselves,” she said. “Is there a special occasion I forgot about?”
“Well, we do have news,” Samson offered as he pulled out her chair for her.
“What news?” she asked as she lifted the cover on the casserole and said, “If I’d known this was going to be an occasion I would’ve made something fancier than chicken and rice casserole.”
“Are you kidding?” Samson asked, rubbing his stomach. “This is one of my favorites.”
“So what’s your news?” she asked after they’d served themselves, as Ivan poured white wine into a glass for her.
Samson nodded to him as he filled a frosted beer glass for his brother and then took his seat. “Eat first while it’s hot. Then we’ll tell you our news.”
Looking as if she wanted to insist, she finally nodded. Anticipation filled him as they ate. When the meal was nearly done, she said, “I can’t stand it anymore. What’s your news?”
After taking a sip of his wine, Ivan smiled at her. “I’ve left Hermione’s employment.”
“What? You did? But how?”
He explained to her all that had come to pass on the day of the fire and his subsequent conversations with his former employer. “After the nonsense she pulled, visiting the shop, and then her appalling lack of compassion the day of the fire, I realized there was no way I could be happy working there anymore. She flew off the handle when I told her as much and went so far as to insist that you’d set the fire yourself, for attention. When she demanded I work out the duration of my contract, which expires in March, I pointed out she’d already breached it in front of witnesses by not giving me thirty days’ notice.”
“I’m so sorry, Ivan.”
He chuckled and took another sip of his wine. “Why?”
Pausing, she looked down at her plate and then said, “I don’t know. Aren’t you sad you won’t be cooking there anymore? You had a following.”
Nodding in agreement, he replied. “I plan to keep cooking…for you, if you’ll have me. This just moved up my availability. And my following, as you call it, won’t mind visiting Divine. Joseph will be stepping in to help as soon as he’s fully recovered and we can all make beauty out of ashes together.”
Her eyes grew shiny in the candlelight. “What a lovely thought. Okay then. And you, Samson?”
Samson’s eyes twinkled as he chewed slowly, obviously savoring her cooking, and then leaned back in his chair as he sipped from his beer, delighting in drawing out her anticipation. “I’ve given the department my notice.”
“But I thought you enjoyed your work,” she whispered, averting her eyes as hope dawned, as if she was afraid to hope for too much.
“I want to work closer to home.”
Confusion knit her brows as she lifted her gaze to him, to them. “But your home is in Morehead.”
He shook his head. “My home is here, in Divine, Cassandra. Our home,” he said, gesturing between him and his brother. “Our home is in Divine. Sitting right here at this table with us.”
Her hands shook as she lifted them to swipe at her sudden tears. “I don’t understand.”
Samson glanced at Ivan and nodded. It was time. “You are our home, Cassie, if you’ll have us,” he said as he placed the white velvet box before her on the table cloth and opened it, revealing a gorgeous diamond ring nestled between two bands, each sparkling with channel-set diamonds.
Her jaw dropped, and her hands were shaking so badly she fumbled the box as she tried to pick it up, and Ivan caught it. Her laughter mixed with a sob broke the tension, and they both rose from the table and kneeled beside her chair.