Page 51 of SEAL's Resolve
Kristi tore her gaze from her dark-haired operative and eyed the meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans in the takeout container. The food looked and smelled wonderful. Rafe set a glass of iced green tea on the table for her. “Thanks.”
He trailed a hand over her hair and returned for his own meal as Rio seated Darcy across the table from Kristi.
“I’ll bring your dinner,” Rio murmured. “Sit and relax.”
“You don’t have to do that, sweetheart. I had a good day.”
“I like to spoil you. Let me.” He winked. “You can return the favor later.”
When Darcy’s cheeks flushed a pretty pink and her eyes sparkled with unspoken secrets, Kristi felt as though she watched a private moment between the husband and wife, and longed for a similar strong relationship of her own.
She turned her attention to the takeout container and dug into her meal. Kristi sighed. Oh, man. The meatloaf was fabulous. “Now I know why this is your favorite meal, Cal. I can’t remember when I’ve tasted better.” And she’d eaten plenty of five-star meals in her lifetime. None of them compared to this simple, comforting meal.
“The cook at Delaney’s is a genius. The meatloaf recipe was passed down from his grandmother, and he won’t share the recipe.”
“He won’t even tell me the secret,” Darcy said. “Believe me, I’ve tried to bribe him with one of my recipes. He’s not cooperating.”
“Would Nate have better luck?” Jackson asked. “His cooking is legendary around Otter Creek. Some of his recipes might tempt Ralph to share.”
“I don’t think so.” She smiled. “Pitting Nate’s determination against Ralph’s stubbornness would be fun to watch, though.”
“Don’t alienate Ralph,” Cal said. “He might refuse to serve meatloaf to PSI and Fortress operatives. That would be a tragedy. I wouldn’t survive my next rotation at PSI without Ralph’s meatloaf.”
Rio snorted. “Nate’s one of the best interrogator’s in the business. If he can’t get the information, no one can.”
Cal turned to Jon, one eyebrow raised.
“No way. I’m not getting into the middle of this battle of wills.” He forked up a bite of meatloaf. “I’ll just enjoy the food. Besides, some things are better off left alone. Wouldn’t want to upset the economic food balance in Otter Creek.”
Darcy opened her takeout container, grabbed a fork, and dug into her grilled chicken and salad.
After Darcy finished her meal, Kristi said, “Your house is so beautiful, Darcy. You must love it.”
“I love it now.”
“You didn’t always?”
“Oh, the house appealed to me the minute I saw it. The structure had good bones, like a classy lady. However, the inside was an unpleasant surprise. The woman who owned the house was a hoarder, and her family insisted on selling the house as it was. You literally took your life in your hands when you walked inside this place. I lost count of how many large dumpsters I filled up clearing out this place.”
Kristi’s eyes widened. “I can’t imagine all the work you had to do.” How did she finish the job with an autoimmune disease plaguing her?
“Oh, it wasn’t so bad.” Darcy leaned her head against Rio’s shoulder. “Rio and his teammates plus an army of PSI trainees helped clear the house. All I had to do was sit back and direct traffic.”
“Don’t let her fool you,” the medic said with a tender smile at his wife. “She worked harder than she should have.”
“My house and my mess to clear. Everything worked out, though. Now, we have a beautiful home to share with friends and family when they need a refuge or a place to recover.” She turned to Kristi. “I have pictures of the interior of the house before we cleaned it out if you want to look at them. They’re shocking.”
“I’d love to see them.”
Darcy pulled out her phone and scrolled until she found the pictures she had mentioned. She handed her phone to Kristi.
She stared at the screen, eyes wide. Good grief! Stacks and stacks of stuff piled nearly to the ceiling. “It’s a wonder you were able to navigate through the house at all.”
“We caused more than one avalanche.”
“How long did it take you?”
“A week. I had a lot of help from the trainees. Josh allowed them to use helping me in place of physical training for a few days.”