And given that the men had disappeared from the lodge, she supposed that fell to her.
There’d been a recipe for meatloaf on the back of one of the packages of meat, and so she’d decided to make that for them. It didn’t look so hard. They were missing a few of the spices, but she figured that she’d just add some extra salt and pepper. When she pulled it out of the small oven, it looked good and smelled even better. Pleased, Audrey set the pan down on the table and returned to the kitchen to make a small tossed salad to accompany it.
It wasn’t high class cuisine, but it was a nice-looking dinner. She wanted things to be comfortable for her twin while she was struggling to get clean, nice, and wholesome dinner with friends would be a great start. If she could keep Daphne distracted and relatively content, this could work. And with Cade at her side, between the two of them, they could keep on Daphne at all times.
This was going to work, Audrey decided.
While the food was cooling, Reese and Cade returned and washed up and sat down at the table. A moment later, Daphne descended down the stairs, each step shaky and weak.
Audrey’s heart sank. It had been less than a full day and her twin looked like hell. Dark circles lined Daphne’s eyes and her entire body shook with small tremors. Her steps were small and shuffling, and she seemed thinner than ever.
Audrey went to Daphne’s side, wrapping an arm around her. “How are you feeling?”
Daphne brushed off her arm irritably. “Don’t touch me. Hurts.”
Immediately, Audrey released her, feeling contrite. “I’m sorry. What can I get you?”
“Glass of water,” Daphne said, and licked her lips. Audrey noticed that they were dry and cracked, as if she’d gone weeks in the sun. Was detoxing supposed to be this hard on her twin? Audrey had never done drugs, so she didn’t know, but she was concerned.
“I’ll get it for you,” she told her. “Go sit down at the table.”
“Not hungry.”
“Well, sit down with the others at least. I’m sure Cade will be happy to see you,” Audrey said, keeping her tone bright and cheerful. “Go say hello to him.”
Cade got up from the table and approached Daphne, extending his hands to her. “Hey, beautiful.”
Daphne managed a tiny smile and put her trembling hands in his. “You’re such a tease,” she told him. “I look like shit.”
“You’re too hard on yourself,” Cade told her quietly. “You’re going through a hard time.” He took her hand and gently guided her toward the table, then pulled a chair out for her.
Audrey smiled at the sight. Having Cade here was wonderful. He always knew what to say to her twin to make her behave, to make her respond, and he always treated her like a lady, even when Daphne was at her lowest. “I made meatloaf and salad, Daphne,” she said, setting the glass of water down in front of her. “Do you want to try it?”
“You should,” Cade said softly. “Your sister worked hard on it.”
Daphne shrugged her thin shoulders. “I’ll try and eat.” She glanced over at Reese, who sat on the opposite end of the table. “Hey. You’re the guy from the hot tub, right? You’re still here?”
“I am,” Reese said pleasantly, glancing at Audrey. “Your sister offered to give me a ride back to town but I was enjoying her company so much that I thought I’d stick around.”
Audrey snorted. She wished it was that easy to get rid of him. She finished dishing a small serving onto Daphne’s plate and then took Reese’s plate and began to slop a large amount on there. The meatloaf seemed a bit . . . pink in the middle, but she figured if you could have a steak rare, you could have meatloaf rare, too.
When he raised an eyebrow at the amount she piled on his plate, she gave him a saccharine smile and thumped it down in front of him. “I figured you probably have a caveman-like appetite to go with that caveman personality of yours.”
“Is that a hint for me to drag you off into my cave?” He waggled his eyebrows at her.
She shot him a withering look. “Not in the slightest—”
“Well,” Cade said, interrupting. “I’m starved and it smells great, Audrey. Thank you so much for fixing dinner.”
“She’ll make someone a terrific wife someday, won’t she?” Reese said casually.
Audrey froze, then turned to glare at him.
He gave her a wicked smile, unfurling his napkin and placing it on his lap.
“That she will,” Cade said, missing the tension between the two of them. He glanced at Daphne fondly, then smiled at Audrey when she set a plate of food down in front of him.
“Eat, everyone,” Audrey told them, serving up her own plate and then sitting down. “You don’t want it to get cold.” Her gaze slid over to Daphne. Her twin had a fork in hand but she had yet to take a bite. Instead, she was poking at the food with the fork tines, dismantling it and shoving it around her plate. Wasn’t she hungry? She hadn’t eaten earlier, either. She cast a concerned look at Cade, who shook his head, indicating that she should leave Daphne alone.
A choked sound came from Reese, and Audrey looked over just in time to see him spit a mouthful into his napkin. His eyes began to stream as he coughed.
Her eyes widened. “Did you swallow wrong?”
“Yeah. I tried to swallow. That was the problem.”
“Spitters are quitters,” Daphne said from the far end of the table, her voice low and tired.
Audrey looked over at Cade, who had a pained expression on his face. As she watched, he reached for his water glass and politely coughed into his hand.
A hint of a smile touched Daphne’s mouth. “You guys shouldn’t have let Audrey cook. She kind of sucks at it.” She pushed the meatloaf around on her plate a bit longer. “Glad I’m not hungry.”
It couldn’t be that bad. Casting another angry look at Reese for joking around when her twin clearly needed to eat, Audrey took a tiny bite of the meatloaf. Wet, half-raw hamburger meat and onion touched her tongue. The salty, greasy taste was overwhelming. With a gagging noise of her own, Audrey quietly followed Reese’s lead and spit into her napkin. “I must have missed something on the recipe.”
“Like the instructions?” Reese told her.
She tossed her napkin down on her plate. “I didn’t see you volunteering to do anything in the kitchen, did I?”