Chapter 8

I’m looking around and I smile as I spread my arms open wide, “Are you kidding me? I love it!” I can not believe this is my new home. The entire main floor was my favorite design… Modern rustic! It had whitewashed hardwood floors, reclaimed wood wainscoting and antique white walls. The kitchen cabinets were white with black marble countertops. All of the appliances are stainless steel. I kept looking around and smiled, “This house is absolutely perfect, Luke.” He walked to me and wrapped his arms around me, “I’m so glad you like it. Do you want to unpack and then go for a run?” I nodded, “That sounds awesome.”

I followed Luke to his truck then grabbed a bag and took it up to our room. I started folding items and putting them in my drawers. Luke continued to bring stuff in the house, while I continued to unpack. I had everything unpacked in no time and walked downstairs to find my mate in his office, “Hey, ready for that run?” He sighed, “I just got a message to call one of my assistants. Let me take care of this.”

I walked into the kitchen to see what kind of meat we have for dinner tonight. I start looking in the fridge… nothing but veggies. I look in the freezer… jackpot. Looks like there is some hamburger that will thaw pretty quick, so I put that on the counter to thaw. I then look in the pantry and find all the ingredients I need for lasagna or meatloaf, so I walk into Luke’s office and I just stand at the door with a raised eyebrow, “Still not done?” He shook his head, “I’m not. Turns out there is a matter that needs my attention. I’m sorry, love.” I smile, “It’s okay. Really. Do you want lasagna or meatloaf tonight for dinner?” He asked, “We have everything for either?” I smile and nod, “Sure do.” He replied, “We could do lasagna tonight, if you want.” I smile, “You got it! I will look around and figure out what I’m going to make with it.”

I went back into the pantry and found canned peach slices. I took them into the kitchen and found the flour and sugar. I went to the fridge and found a stick of butter. I looked around for cookware and found the pan I needed. I started the oven and put a stick of butter in the pan. I melted the butter in the oven while I mixed the flour, sugar, and milk together. I took the melted butter out of the oven and added the batter, then the peach slices with the syrup, then put it back in the oven. I set the timer for thirty minutes, then turned to the sink to clean up my mess. When the dishes were clean, I took the cobbler out of the oven and sprinkled sugar on it then returned it to the oven.

 I took out my phone and started my favorite playlist. I looked through it and found one of my favorite songs, “Con Calma” by Daddy Yankee with Snow. I started dancing around the kitchen and started preparing ingredients for dinner. As soon as the meat was thawed, I started cooking it and boiling the noodles. I was dancing around the kitchen as I added more ingredients to the cooking meat. While the food was cooking, I walked to his office door and heard him talking on the phone, “I’m sure we can do that. I think she would have a ton of fun. How long should we be plan on being gone? Two weeks? Sure. We can do that. Where is it again? Ok. I will talk to my mate and call you back.”

He then turned to me, “How do you feel about going to Florida?” I smiled, “I would love to. What are we doing?” He smiled, “We’ll be helping Princess Chloe and Princess Saphira with the alligator poaching problem there.” I smiled, “I would love to help with that. There is a special place in Hell for animal poachers.” He laughed, “You are definitely a woman after my heart.” I smiled, “Damn straight.” He smiled, “We leave next week. We should work on using our magic together until we leave.” I smiled, “We should. I have dinner and dessert going now.” He cocked his head to the side, “Really? What did we decide on for dessert?” I smiled, “We are having peach cobbler for dessert. I’m making lasagna for supper.”

I walked back to the kitchen and started assembling the lasagna. I checked on the cobbler, and it was done to perfection. I pulled it out and put the lasagna in the oven. I set the timer for thirty minutes and went back to his office, “We have thirty minutes before the lasagna is done. Is there anything you need me help with? I would love to lighten the load on you.” He smiled as he sighed. He sat back in his chair and patted his lap. I walked to him and sat on his lap. I cuddled into his chest and smiled, “You are so comfortable. I love being this close.” He smiled, “I could live like this too.” I felt him kiss the top of my head and I sighed in contentment.” I felt him do the same and I asked, “So what duties would you like me to help you with?”

He asked, “How are you with numbers?” I replied, “I’m a major math nerd. Two years of accounting in high school.” He smiled, “Perfect. That’s what I need for you to do.” He handed the kingdom ledgers to me and he explained, “Up until the day before I left for the ball, one of our kingdom elders had been doing the books. I had suspicions about him, so I took them over. I thought I saw something fishy, but I would love a fresh set of eyes to look at it.” I smiled, “I would love to do that. I will take it to the kitchen table so that I can work on it while I’m finishing dinner. Would you like a salad and garlic bread with the lasagna?” He nodded, “Perfect.”

I kissed my mate on the cheek and got off his lap. I grabbed the ledger and took it to the table. I saw issues almost immediately. There are a lot of entries to someone that have no reason codes attached to them. Every entry in these ledgers have reason codes except for the entries for payments to a person named Ernie Ball. I needed to finish up dinner, so I walked into the kitchen, made a salad and some garlic bread. I took the lasagna out and put the garlic bread in the oven to toast. I put dinner on the table and tell Luke to come eat dinner.

We sat down at the table and filled our plates. He saw the peach cobbler and nearly drooled, “That looks so good. But so does everything else.” He started eating and moaning at the same time, “Did you make the sauce from scratch?” I nodded, “I did. Do you like it?” He replied, “It’s amazing.”

I finished dinner and brought out dessert with two plates and forks. I sat down and asked, “Who is Ernie Ball?” He replied, “So you saw that too?”