To his amazement, the others acted as if he’d spoken for them as well. Henry Dale and Iris left Susan spluttering in the yard, and eventually, she was forced to return home when nobody would acknowledge her. Eli stepped right into the back of Mira’s U-Haul, handing boxes to Iris and Henry Dale. When Mira returned, she seemed a little shaken by the encounter, but she soon threw herself into unloading.
With four people pitching in, it didn’t take long to empty the truck. Everything was piled in the foyer, of course, so there were more trips up-and-downstairs. Henry Dale eventually tapped out and wandered off to his room to rest. Eli kept going until the last carton reached Mira’s room on the third floor. Iris stayed to the end as well.
“That was painless, apart from the woman ranting when I got here,” Mira said, blowing out a breath. “Thanks for helping out.”
“The other neighbors are fine,” Iris said quickly. “I don’t know why, but Susan has an axe to grind for some reason.”
Mira nodded. “It happens. At my last place, the neighbor would constantly leave passive-aggressive notes on the door.”
“What kind?” Eli asked, idly curious.
At the condo, he rarely saw anyone else. He had the impression most owners were absentee and only rented the units for income. In fact, he couldn’t recall the last place where he’d even known his neighbor’s name. Probably in college—in the dorms?
“Stuff like, ‘Your mail is overflowing the box. Please collect the sale flyers or discard them; they’re making the building look messy.’”
“Oh, that kind,” Iris said with a shiver.
“We were planning to make dinner to welcome you unless you have other plans,” Eli said to Mira.
The other woman smiled. “No plans yet. So thank you. That sounds good.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Iris definitely wasn’t jealous that Eli had offered to fix dinner for Mira.
That was just who he was. He often cooked for her and for Henry Dale, Sally too, when she was home at mealtimes. There was no reason to think he meant anything by it. Even if Mira was really cute and she seemed to have her life together as well. Well, apart from the minor hiccup of an unexpected breakup with her girlfriend, but that only proved that someone had liked her well enough to move in with her.
I’ve never even gotten to that point.
Iris stifled a sigh and tried to give herself a mental pep talk. Maybe it was the run-in with Susan before, but she’d lost the happy glow from earlier in the week. The amount she earned from the shop still wasn’t enough to live on, and she wasn’t getting as much as she’d hoped from the house either. Sure, she still thought it was a good decision to have Mira update certain things using her magic, but—
“Are you helping or what?” Eli beckoned from the kitchen doorway, soothing some of her spiky edges.
He included me in that offer from the start. Oh. That means…we. Us.
Much happier now for reasons she refused to contemplate, Iris took two steps, then paused. “You can start unpacking if you want. We’ll call you when the food is ready.”
Mira inhaled softly, a hint of unsteadiness in her voice. “This…means a lot to me. We’re basically strangers, and you took me in on the most tenuous of connections. I’m trying not to show it, but…things are really tough right now.”
Impulsively, Iris backtracked and opened her arms. “Hug? Totally fine if you’d rather not. Like you said, we don’t know each other well yet.”
“I’m not a hugger,” Mira said. “Unless I’ve known someone for a long time. But I do appreciate the thought. I’ll be upstairs.”
Judging by how the woman rushed off, Iris guessed Mira would probably burst into tears as soon as the door closed behind her. Iris caught up with Eli in the kitchen, where he was chopping potatoes into fine cubes. Intrigued, she watched him mince up the onions and tomatoes in the same way.
“What’re you making?” she asked.
“Picadillo. My mom’s recipe, or at least that’s what Gamma says. She wrote it down before Mom passed away.”
She glanced over at him, locked on to the fact that he hadn’t mentioned his family much at all before. Actually, she knew more about Sally and Henry Dale than she did about Eli. “You don’t remember her making it for you?”
“I do recall eating it, and I have faint memories of her singing and cooking. She liked Shakira.” He paused, staring down at the ingredients sizzling in the skillet. “I was six when she passed away.”
“I’m sorry,” Iris said.
Eli lifted a shoulder. “It’s okay. I don’t talk about her a lot. My dad died seven years later, and I moved to St. Claire to live with Gamma.”
“Ah, so that’s what you meant when you said were sort of from here.” Crap, I should be more sensitive when he’s opening up. “Sorry for your loss.”
Eli didn’t look at her, busy sautéing the garlic, potatoes, and onions in olive oil. He added the tomatoes next. “It was a long time ago. Can you defrost some peas and carrots?”
It seemed pretty clear that he was done talking about his sad past, so she took the hint. “Sure. How much?”
“About a cup. There’s an open bag in the freezer… A minute or two in the microwave should do it.” With a little flourish, Eli crumbled the ground beef into the hot pan, where it made a satisfying hiss. “Can you make some tomato broth?”
Iris hadn’t even known they had this in the kitchen, but in the cupboard, she found four jars of stock powder—chicken, beef, vegetable, and tomato. While he browned the beef, she dutifully mixed a cup, and he added it to the pan. In that moment, she realized how much she enjoyed watching him cook. Part of why this house felt like home? It was Eli.
And that was a terrifying realization.
He shot her a concerned look, now that everything was coming together for the meal. “You okay? I noticed that you seemed down earlier.”
Wow, he reads me that well?
Iris decided to tell him part of the truth. “Honestly? I was thinking that at least Mira had someone who loved her enough to move in with her. As a partner, I mean. I’ve never even gotten there.” She sighed softly. “Hell, the last person I dated decided my sister Lily was the better option. Wait, should I still call her that?”
“That’s up to you,” Eli said, carefully tending to the food in the skillet, which was starting to look sort of like corned beef hash.
She’d never tasted picadillo, but it smelled amazing, and the aroma only became richer when he added peas, carrots, and various spices to it. “What is?”
“Whether you still consider them family. Apart from Gamma, I’m not close to anyone in my family. On my mother’s side, I have relatives in Veracruz.” Eli turned off the burner, moved the skillet to a cool burner, and then started setting out sour cream, hot sauce, and the like, along with a bag of tostadas. “But that’s not the point. Don’t waste a second on some asshole who picked her over you.”
Why did it feel so good hearing that, especially from him? He’d seen Lily and Rose too, which meant he had some basis for comparison. She forced herself to stay on the far side of the table, not to hug him like she wanted to.