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Mykie took her hand and let the smaller woman guide her into the warm kitchen.
"How did the funeral go? No complications?" Melody asked.
"Nothing out of the ordinary. I didn't feel welcome there, though," Mykie explained.
"We probably shouldn't talk about it, sweetheart," Chance said as he passed both girls. “Jezebeth is still a sore subject.”
He stopped behind Melody and pressed a kiss to the back of her head before he continued to the oven. It seemed that Mykie and he had returned with only a few minutes to spare before the turkey had to be taken out.
“I feel bad for the girl,” Melody said with a shake of her head and a frown. “I couldn’t imagine losing someone you were partly close with just before the holidays. I still say we should have invited them all over.”
She picked up the mixer was must have been using before they came home. Over her head, Chance and Mykie exchanged silent looks across the kitchen.
"I think it's best to let the Young family deal with their grief on their own this time. The next time we see Jez, we'll pass along your sentiments," Chance stated as he pulled the oven open. He put on his mittens and pulled the pan out to set on the stovetop.
Melody crossed her arms and tapped her foot, a clear sign the woman was irritated. “I’m blind, not stupid. I know what it sounds like when I’m being pacified and brushed off.”
Chance sighed. “We’re partly responsible for Adam’s death, so it’s best that our families don’t mingle for a little while.”
"Speak for yourself. I wasn't the one who slit his throat," Mykie muttered under her breath as she took the mixer from the brunette and turn it up to level two. She drowned out any remark that either of the two would have said.
She felt slightly guilty, however, due to the stunned look on Melody’s face. Did Chance not tell her about the eventful night? Did he tell her about what he does at Pearl’s and with the Cantil at all? Mykie only came to Chance’s for holidays and birthdays, so she wouldn’t know how a normal day worked between the couple.
She waited for Chance to finish cutting enough of the turkey to eat and bring it out to the table before she turned off the machine. She set it on the side so she could eject the beaters and set them in the sink beside her.
She looked around for a ladle spoon and the top to the bowl before she carried it out of the kitchen and into the dining room. Melody and Chance were already sitting at the table and were waiting for her before they loaded their plates. She sat down across from Melody, and it spurred the two of them into action as they started to pass around the bowls of food.
It wasn’t until each of their plates were loaded that someone said anything beyond asking for something to be passed.
“If work isn’t a safe conversation, how about your relationship with Earl and Madeleine Harper’s boy?” Melody asked, piercing a piece of her turkey, and sticking it in her mouth after she stopped talking.
“Not a good topic either, I hear,” Chance muttered before he took a bite of his food.
Mykie glared at Chance. “My love life is doing decently, except for a few bumps. It won’t get in the way of work.”
She looked at Chance for the last part.
“I trust you that it won’t. I know you’re like a dog with a bone when it comes to your jobs, so you would never dream of letting something get in the way of that,” Chance stated.
“Speaking of that job, a Vulture showed up at the bar the other night. Said we were trying to poach one of their businesses, and if you gave them the information they wanted, they’d let us have it. Do you know anything about that?” Mykie asked.
Chance sighed and set down his fork. “The Harpers are too big of a deal for me to let them go, whether the Vultures are looking into them too, or not.”
“So, you knew about this? That the Harpers may be involved with the Vultures?”
“I don’t know that for sure," Chance emphasized. "That's for you to figure out, and whether their involvement is as serious as the Vulture implied. Due to your relationship with Renly, you have a much higher chance of convincing them to make a deal with us, even if that means breaking the deal with them. The potential of the Harpers as a business of ours outweighs the consequences of messing with the Vultures."
He picked up his fork and knife before he began cutting up his turkey pieces. “I want this deal, Mykie, no matter what that looks like at the end. I won’t tolerate anything less.”
The table was silent for a moment as Mykie looked at her father. She had never seen him be so serious about a deal with a business, but she had seen him when he lost. He was not a graceful loser. Everyone was punished when he was upset about losing, especially when that loss came at the cost of the Vultures winning.
Was this really about the Harpers, or something more?
Mykie nodded. “I’ll do what it takes.”
“Well, I wasn't asking about how it'll affect your work. I want to hear about the boy," Melody said.
“Renly’s…” Mykie swallowed her spoonful of potatoes before she continued. “I think he’s like his mother. He knows he has money, and he doesn’t understand the plights of everyday people. It’s frustrating to hear the way he talks sometimes. Like his big house is just a simple vacation home, or that a dress I spent all my tips on and I sacrificed my take-out for a month can easily be replaced with a snap of some fingers.”
