Together for the Twins by Laurel Blount

Author:Laurel Blount
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-10-31T20:56:43+00:00

Chapter Nine

A week later, Elise busied herself at the counter, keeping her eyes fixed on the grapes she was slicing in half. As old as the twins were, this precaution wasn’t strictly necessary. But it gave her hands something to do and kept her from interfering as Ryder tried to convince the boys to sample the raw veggies served alongside their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

It wasn’t going well so far, and every instinct Elise possessed was pressing her to step in—but, of course, she couldn’t, not if Ryder was going to learn how to manage the boys effectively on his own.

“Broccoli is yucky,” Tucker announced.

“Yeah!” Benji agreed. “We want tater chips.”

“Potato chips are really good,” Ryder agreed. Find a point of agreement, she’d told him. “I like ’em too. But these vegetables are just as crunchy, and if you dip them in the ranch dressing—”

“Uh-uh.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tucker push his plastic dinosaur plate away. Benji immediately followed suit—then thought better of it, pulled it back and snagged a triangle of sandwich. Then he pushed it away again and poked his lips out.

Elise bit down on the inside of her own lip and sliced another grape. Steady, she told herself. Don’t say anything. Let Ryder figure this out.

“Well, you don’t have to eat it if you’re not hungry.” Good. He was following another one of her instructions. Never force food. She mentally gave him a point. “Of course,” Ryder went on, “it’s kind of a shame. Kids who aren’t hungry enough to eat their broccoli don’t have enough room in their stomachs for dessert, either.”

The twins exchanged a horrified glance.

“There’s no room for broccoli,” Tucker explained quickly. “But there’s lotsa room for cookies.”

Ryder chuckled. “Life doesn’t work that way, kiddo.”

“Them cookies,” Benji whispered to his brother. “They’re chocolate chip today. Them’s our favorite.”

Tucker shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “I ain’t eating no broccoli.”

“Your choice.” Ryder reached for the plates. “But that means cookies are off the menu, too.”

“I’ll eat mine!” Benji grabbed his plate and slid it back into its place. When Tucker shot him an exasperated glance, his brother shrugged. “Chocolate chip,” he repeated. He picked up a broccoli floret, doused it in the small cup of ranch dressing and crunched.

“It’s not so bad,” he assured his brother when he could speak again. “With all the white goop on there, you can’t hardly taste the green stuff.”

Elise fought a smile as she scooped the halved grapes into a plastic container and fitted the top on. All ready for the twins’ snack later this afternoon.

She turned to go to the refrigerator in time to see Ryder pick up a floret of broccoli and turn it around in his hand. “You know what these look like? Little trees. Don’t they?”

“Kinda,” Benji agreed. Tucker stayed stubbornly silent.

“They’re like tiny trees,” Ryder went on thoughtfully. “And Benji’s like a gigantic dinosaur, chomping on them.”

“Rawr!” Benji said. “Look at me, Tuck! I’m a dinosaur, and you ain’t!” He chomped enthusiastically—and with his mouth wide open.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.