A Recipe for Love by Elaine White

Author:Elaine White
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fated mates, forty-something MCs, bisexual MC, found family, shifter, blended family, chef, physician
Publisher: NineStar Press, LLC
Published: 2023-12-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

CHANNON

“Shit,” Channon murmured, slamming the passenger door shut.

Waiting at the truck was a decision he quickly regretted. The guilt from how he’d treated and spoken to Waylan was heavy, but the thought that he was searching for something dangerous―with only a peaceful caly as backup, someone who had recently been ill, lost weight, and presumably muscle mass―left him feeling like shit.

Frustrated, he tolerated ten minutes of waiting before trudging after them, remembering the point on the map Waylan had wanted to explore first. Channon admonished himself, knowing Waylan hadn’t done anything to warrant the way Channon had behaved. Even if he’d harboured an attraction, he hadn’t acted upon it or deserved how callously Channon had cut off contact.

His feelings were complicated by Waylan’s reticence. He hadn’t crossed a line into having an affair or done anything inappropriate, but Channon still felt like they’d been building toward a relationship, even if only emotionally. Waylan’s intentions were impossible to predict without speaking to him, but he wasn’t ready. He wasn’t past the burning anger and sense of betrayal.

Channon quickly caught up with the explorers, though they had travelled well off the planned route. Tathe was on his walkie talkie, and Waylan dug at the ground with his hands.

“We found it!” Waylan said, eyes wide with the fever of knowledge, his hair dishevelled and fingers deep in the dirt.

Tathe approached Channon. “I offered to call the other guard to bring a shovel, but Doc says the ground is soft so he can get the root out whole.”

Channon tutted and approached Waylan, crouching as he pulled a flip knife from his pocket. He offered the tool silently, trying not to be affected by Waylan’s glee or the quietly spoken gratitude as he carved at the sandy soil to remove the root of a plant shoot. “What did you find?”

Waylan hummed and pushed his glasses up his nose. “This resembles a Vihaan root from E’Boolou. Tathe was kind enough to confirm that he’s seen this in caly lands,” he explained, brushing and digging at the dirt around the root. “However, the leaves are the wrong shade. Elham root has a bluish-green leaf and this clearly has a reddish-brown.”

“Which means…what?”

Waylan paused and sat on his knees to stare at Channon with delight. “I have no idea.”

*

“CAN I DROP you at your car?” Channon asked, realising he couldn’t abandon Waylan here. He’d made the effort of finding Channon, even when he deviated from his usual route, and the least he could do was return him to his car.

“Thank you.”

Waylan was an odd creature. He’d always known that but even Channon was surprised by the way the doctor behaved once he’d found the root. He’d asked Tathe’s permission to dig up two of the four they’d found to take them back to the hospital for testing.

The other ranger had quickly arrived with a golf buggy to help Tathe put up ‘No Access’ tape, closing off ten feet around the roots so no one risked getting near the two remaining plants.

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