Those, to her, looked like they probably cost thirty dollars apiece. “Those are very expensive-looking steaks.”
“And?” he asked smoothly. “Do you think I’ll ask you to eat chopped liver? I bought the groceries, so just say,Thank you, and we’ll eat.”
“Thank you.” As she watched him at work in her kitchen, she asked, “Do you want me to do anything?”
“What do you want to go with it?” He raised an eyebrow.
“I’m hungry enough that I’ll need some starch.”
“Rice, potatoes, or pasta?” he asked, tossing her a package of a mix of rice with quinoa.
She looked at it in surprise. “What are those funny little yellow things?”
“That’s the quinoa.”
She shrugged. “I recognize the rice part.”
“Quinoa’s good. We’ll have that with it.”
“In that case, why ask me?” she grumbled.
He chuckled. “You can pick the veggie.”
But, as she looked at the vegetables he had put in her fridge, she wasn’t even sure which would go best.
“It’s not rocket science. Whatever you like goes best.”
She laughed at that, then quickly picked up the broccoli and showed it to him.
He nodded. “Sounds good. Do you want to prep it, or shall I?”
She shrugged, took a small paring knife, and had it in even size florets within seconds.
“Perfect. Now you can take your coffee and go sit and relax.”
Her eyebrows shot up at that. “Did you not work today?”
“I did, but it wasn’t as stressful a day, like some of them have been.”
“Good for you. My cases are getting to be a nightmare.”
“Sorry,” he muttered, as he turned up the heat on the cast-iron pan. He already had the water for the rice mix coming to a boil. “Go take a break.”
Following his orders and realizing that she was just cranky enough to make more trouble, she poured herself a coffee, walked over, and slumped onto the couch.
“You want to tell me about the case?”
“Not really. Unless you have any insights, I don’t really want to discuss it.”
“And how could I possibly have any insights,” he noted in a reasonable tone of voice, “if you don’t tell me what it’s about?”
“I’ve told you a lot of it, but now my two cases have dovetailed.” She shook her head. “I’m trying to figure out what these bullies at the university have been doing, but, so far, I haven’t had any luck. I’m waiting on Dr. Agress’s executive assistant to send me a list of complaints from other students, but he wanted to go through them first.”
“Of course he did, so any complaints against rich donor-family kids won’t be allowed to come your way.”
She opened her eyes and stared at him. “Do you really think he’ll censor them?”
He turned and gave her a hard look.