Free More Than a Mission by Caridad Piñeiro

only one there. She used the time to experiment with a new dessert recipe she wanted to enter in the annual Silvershire Cooking Contest at the end of the month—a trifle doused with a sour cherry liqueur that a local distillery was making.
    Concentrating, she selected a recipe for the cake portion of the trifle that would be firm enough, but not too heavy. She hoped that when the competition came in a few weeks, she would be able to place in the contest once more.
    Not that she needed the glory. But the awards had brought her work to the attention of editors at magazines like Gourmet and Bon Appetit, resulting in invitations to other cooking expos and contests. They had given her a chance to see more of the world.
    She smiled and thought that maybe she wasn’t all that different from her wandering sister. Easing two pans with the cake batter into the oven, Elizabeth was turning her attention to the filling and sauce for the trifle when Natalie popped into the kitchen.
    â€œG’mornin’, Nat,” she called out and wiped her hands free of some cake batter with the towel tucked into her apron strings.
    Natalie walked over and slipped an arm over her shoulders. “Is it a good morning, Lizzy Bee?” she teased with a too-obvious wiggle of her eyebrows.
    Elizabeth rolled her eyes upward. “Nat, even if it were a good morning that way, do I strike you as the type to kiss and tell?”
    Natalie pointed her index finger in Elizabeth’s face. “So you did kiss. You don’t need to tell me since it’s obvious from the look on your face.”
    Elizabeth raised her hands to her cheeks as if to hide what Natalie had seen, but then dropped them back down as the guilt behind that action registered. “You absolutely cannot know that from just one look at my face.”
    Chuckling, Natalie headed to the door to the cellar, but paused before going down. “You’re right. I can’t. But you haven’t denied it, so I guess I’m not so far off base.”
    With that, the younger woman flounced down the stairs, leaving Elizabeth to wonder what she would do when Aidan showed up for work. If he showed up for work. He had seemed conflicted last night.
    Join the club, she thought, admitting that she had been just as puzzled by their rather pleasant, but equally awkward interlude.
    But she was here this morning and ready to face him. She had to be here. Plus, she couldn’t let him get the wrong idea about what was happening and how much he affected her.
    She wondered again what he would do this morning if he came to work. She got the sense that whenever things got too complicated or didn’t go his way, Aidan was the kind who left.
    She only hoped that if he did decide to go, he would honor his promise and not leave her in a lurch. Especially not over the weekend when things would be crazier than ever.
    With that thought in mind, she returned her attention to the dessert, the day’s menu and a last-minute trip to the markets for ingredients to complete the chef’s specials for the day.
    Â 
    A footfall close by made him bolt from bed, gun in hand. Whenever he was on assignment, he slept with his weapon within easy reach, tucked beneath the mattress with the handle sticking out for a quick draw.
    Lucia held up her hands in surrender. “I’m sorry I woke you, but Walker’s here. He’s got some news.”
    Aidan lowered the gun. “Give me a few minutes, please.”
    Once dressed, Aidan stepped out into the main area of the suite where Walker Shaw sat on one of the couches, a shuttered look on his face.
    â€œI gather there’s problems,” he said and took a seat opposite Walker.
    â€œYou look like hell,” his colleague said. “Rough night?”
    â€œLate night with the Sparrow. First at a local club and then after, when she went for an early-morning stroll,” Lucia advised and brought over a tray with a pot of coffee and some