Chapter 237 Unfinished Business

• The kitchen was warm, filled with the inviting aroma of spices and the soft sound of a simmering stew. Crystal moved with practiced ease, her hands deftly chopping vegetables on the wooden cutting board. The knife’s rhythmic thud against the board was almost soothing, a familiar cadence that allowed her to lose herself in thought.
• She hadn’t always been alone in the kitchen. There was a time, years ago, when the kitchen had been a place of shared laughter and stolen kisses. Back then, the clatter of pots and pans had mixed with the sound of Logan’s deep, warm voice, teasing her as they cooked together. Those memories, long buried, now surfaced unbidden, brought on by the very task she was immersed in.
• The soft creak of the door broke her reverie, and she looked up just as Logan stepped into the kitchen. He moved quietly, as if not to disturb the moment, but his presence was impossible to ignore. The sight of him—tall, strong, yet somehow more vulnerable in the domestic setting—made her heart skip a beat.