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"I don’t need a candle, Haven I can handle an onion"
She s the ends off of the onion before slicing it down the center The ases hit Carmine and he blinked rapidly as his eyes started to burn
Every cut see with tears It got so bad after a few minutes that his vision blurred, and he blinked to clear it, only succeeding in pushing the tears over the edge He groaned and cut faster, turning his head to the side to brush the tears aith his ar blindly, and cursed as pain shot through his finger
He dropped the knife and pulled his hand away in shock, seeing the spot of blood for at all, but the juices froer in his ed at the rusty onion taste
Haven pulled his hands away fro "Are you okay?"
He nodded and she pulled hi his hands under a strea his cut
"Look at you, fixing e places?"
"When you decided to try to cook"
Car off the faucet and grabbed a towel as he leaned back against the counter He watched Haven as she finished cutting the onion, feeling inadequate when it didn’t seem to affect her She preheated the oven and worked quickly, throwing together their food with ease
Once she had it all in the pan, she turned to Carmine with a smile "When the oven’s ready, can you put the chicken in? I need to go change"
"Sure"
He stood there for a h the kitchen Carrabbed the pan and stepped toward the stove, oblivious to the puddle of water on the floor His foot skidded in it as he slipped, absented to stay on his feet but the pan hit the floor, the chicken and vegetables scattering around the kitchen
He scra them back in the pan, as footsteps quickly descended the stairs Cursing under his breath, he grabbed the chicken just as Haven walked back in
She gasped, freezing in the doorway as she surveyed thethe chicken up by its leg
"When’s the last time the floor ashed?"
"Does this count?" he asked,toward the puddles
"No"
"Then, uh" He paused, calculating "Eleven years ago when my mother lived here"
She just stared at hi it hit the floor with a splat, and reached into his pocket for his phone He dialed Celia’s nu "Yeah, uh, can we reschedule dinner for to up with a sigh and looked over at Haven "How do you feel about Chinese?"
"Chinese is great," she said, sliding her eyes to the chicken on the floor "Salmonella? Not so much"
The church pew felt like steel beneath Car Restless, he tapped his foot, trying to pay attention to the service, but it all sounded like blah, blah, blah to hi?" Gia asked, her voice a h the church Worshipers in the surrounding rows turned to look, scowling "He looks like he’s possessed! There’s a demon in that boy!"
Celia quietly scolded her h "It’s called addiction He hasn’t had a drink today"
Gia sneered "Don’t let him take communion then He’ll steal all the wine"
Car steadily bounced as Haven grabbed his hand Whatfor Sunday Mass, he wasn’t sure, but he certainly regretted it noeat forh his veins, bubbling up under the surface of his flushed skin
The rest of the service dragged by slowly He sat in the pew during corandmother’s lips as she moved past to join the procession to the altar Haven re, her eyes ith innocent fascination
She had never been inside a church before
After Mass ended, Carmine pulled Haven into the , hesitating as he glanced at her "Can you ride home with Celia and Corrado?"
Her brow furroith confusion, but she nodded, not questioning hiet her home safely, before he headed toward the front of the church Father Alberto stood at the altar, talking to a few parishioners He noticed Car his way over to hiain?"
Car out his cell phone "No, I’m covered today"
"A ride?"
He pulled out his keys "All set there, too"
"So what can I do for you?"
"I was hoping we could talk"
Father Alberto smiled "Absolutely"
The priest led Carmine into the back office, the same one the two of them had sat in before, and motioned for hih his hair as he sat down, re quiet as the priest settled into his chair
"It’s good to see you," Father Alberto said "I wanted to catch you at the cemetery after Vincenzo’s funeral, but you were preoccupied with the young woman I didn’t want to interrupt"