Shea wasn’t due back till around 6:00, and it was 5:30. Elli kept an eye on the chicken as she started the mac and cheese. Shea had once said that he wasn’t very familiar with country cooking. Since Elli was an expert at it, she figured she’d educate him. She smoothed out the apron she had brought over. It was her Mamaw Ally’s, and it was one of her prized possessions. Mamaw Ally was the one who had taught her to cook, and she was also the one who had taught Elli to sing. A sad smile went across Elli’s face as she thought about the old woman that had given her so many good memories. She missed Mamaw Ally so much. She had died when Elli was 12, so she never got to see Elli succeed in her career as a singer. Her daddy always told Elli that she reminded him of her, which made Elli feel good inside. Mamaw Ally was an amazing woman.

Since Elli was cooking country for Shea, she decided to dress the part. She changed clothes when she ran home to get her cast iron pan, putting on a white eyelet dress that had big flowy sleeves with her black and white swirly cowboy boots. She pulled her hair up in a bun since Shea liked it like that: he had once said he liked her neck in plain view, which was fine by her.

Elli was so excited to see him, she couldn’t see straight. The week had gone by so slowly. When she did the books this morning and saw how much money she had made in the past week, she realized that she must have been incredibly busy. No matter how busy she was, all she could think about was Shea and what he was doing. He had been so busy that he hadn’t been able to talk to her much in the last couple of days. He had so much promotional stuff to do and with all the baby showers and weddings she had, she had missed his calls a lot more than she would have liked.

But tonight was about them. Elli had gone out and bought new plates for him, to butter him up before asking him to go to dinner at her parents. Fate was working in her favor, and she was going to spend the night with her man. Elli smiled at the thought of calling Shea ‘her man.’

Elli was just starting to set the table when she heard the doorknob rattling.

He was home!

Shea was hurting, badly.

His shoulder was aching. He had a cut along his collarbone where that idiot, Mattias Ohlund, had slashed him with his stick. Asshole. But then again, Shea did hit him in the boards a little harder than necessary. But oh well. Shea threw his bag on the ground as he looked for his keys. He was so happy to be home. Elli had a wedding tonight, but she promised she would come by afterwards, which was awesome. He had missed her so much.

He found his keys and put them in the door, looking forward to the hot shower that awaited him on the other side. When he pushed the door open, he was hit by the strong smell of fried chicken.

What the hell?

Shea threw his bag on the couch, walking towards the kitchen where he heard sizzling and movement. When he rounded the corner, his country cutie stood in front of the stove in a cute little apron, with her hair in a messy bun.

Man, she was gorgeous. She turned with a big grin on her face before she squealed and ran to him, wrapping herself around him.

“Welcome home!” she gushed, kissing his lips loudly. He smiled against her lips, holding her close to him. She smelled like mangos again, something he found he missed a lot while he had been gone for the week. She was so soft, so warm in his arms.

“Mm, I’ve missed you,” he nuzzled her neck before biting her lightly. “Did you miss me?”

For some reason he needed to know.

“Of course!” she gushed with giggle as she brought his lips back to hers. He kissed her hard, pulling her as close to him as he could.

“I didn’t expect you to be here. What happened to the wedding?” he asked, still not letting her go.

“Bride slept with the best man, so no wedding. It’s all fate. I think I was meant to be here when you got home, making you chicken.”

He smiled, kissing her nose.

“It smells fantastic.”

She smiled, looking over her shoulder at the pan.

“Thank you, let me flip this,” she broke from his arms and flipped the chicken.

Shea decided he wasn’t done holding her, so he came up behind her and held her from behind, putting his chin on her shoulder.

“How was your week?”

“Long, lots of crap going on. Good week though, money wise at least,” she said, checking on what appeared to be mac and cheese.

She was a Godsend.

“That’s good.”

“Yeah, you need to take a shower?”

“I do, I’ll be quick.”

“I’ll be waiting,” she said with a grin. He smacked her butt, making her squeal, as he walked away.

“You better be,” he teased as he went into the bedroom. He noticed her pink and green bag sitting at the end of the bed and smiled, hoping that meant she was staying the night. He went to his closet, grabbing a pair of sleeping pants and a tee before going into the bathroom and jumping in the shower. It felt amazing with nine jets of hot water hitting him from every direction. He closed his eyes, letting the hot water hit his aching naked body; it was almost as great as having Elli in his arms, or playing hockey. It had to come in somewhere in the top three.

After washing up and drying off, he stood in front of his mirror and looked at his chest. The cut was deep and dark with black stitches holding it shut. Bruising surrounded the cut. Fucking Ohlund. He shook his head as he got dressed before taking out his contacts and putting his glasses on.

When Shea came out into the kitchen, Elli was carrying food into the living room. He followed her into the living room, and stopped. There was enough food to feed an army! And where did that plate setting come from? He had white, plain plates. These were pretty blue ones with silver swirls. His table looked like something out of Better Homes and Gardens: pretty napkins, a big vase of white flowers, place mats, etc.