Chapter 21: Dinner Before the Storm
Marcus arrived at six with two bags of groceries and the quiet authority of someone who had decided what was happening and expected the environment to cooperate. He set the bags on the counter, looked at the kitchen once, and began reorganizing it without asking. Not rudely — just efficiently, with the particular certainty of someone who knew what they needed and where they needed it. Maya watched him move a cutting board, relocate a pan, and assess the spice situation with an expression of mild professional disappointment. "Do you need help?" she asked. "I need you to sit down and not let Cole touch anything." "I wasn't going to touch anything," Cole said, from the doorway. He had arrived three minutes after Marcus, slightly out of breath, carrying a bottle of something and wearing a
- Writer
