章節 71: Chapter 66: Dinner at the Kendalls

Amber was inside Mr. and Mrs. Kendall's car, on their way to their house. At first, she was surprised that her parents had allowed her to join them for dinner. Seriously, what parents would allow their only daughter to follow some strangers home for dinner? This was their first time meeting each other and they already invited her over to their house.

However, after Mr. Kendall had finished talking to her parents, he had passed her her phone. Seeing that the line was still connected, she continued to talk on the phone. Apparently, Erick's father was the police chief in town. And he was well-known as a nice and honest man. Her father had told her that it was enough facts to know that she was in good hands. Not just that, it seems like her mother had once bumped into Mrs. Kendall before. Although they did not talk much, they did manage to exchange some pleasantries with one another.

The drive to their house took more than thirty minutes. Amber was surprised to see that their house was far, near the edge of the residential areas. They had to drive past several houses before entering an area that was close to the forest. Although she probably would be a bit wary that they lived in a forest, surprisingly she felt calmed and safe.

They finally arrived at a humble cottage two-storey. Just a few blocks away was another cottage, slightly smaller than the one in front of them. As Amber got out of the car, she looked over at the other house.

Noticing Amber's glance at the other house, Mrs. Kendall smiled and said, "Oh, that's the Cairns' house. I think you probably know their son, Hamish, since those two are always together like peanut butter and jelly."

Amber nodded. 'Oh, I didn't expect that those two lived nearby each other,' she thought.

Inside the house, she could feel how homey and comfortable the house was. There were pictures adorning the walls in the front hall. She smiled when she saw pictures of Erick when he was a baby and little child. On the right of the front hall, it led to the kitchen and on the left, it led to the living room.

She was about to enter the kitchen when Mrs. Kendall shooed her away. "No, no," she said. "You're our guest. Go and wait in the living room while I make dinner."

"But Mrs. Kendall…" Amber tried to protest.

Mrs. Kendall had pooh-poohed at her protest. "It's alright, dear," she assured. "And do call me 'Luella'."

Her eyes widened, Amber immediately rejected, shaking her head. "No, no, Mrs. Kendall," she said, feeling awkward. "That would be rude of me."

"Fine then," Mrs. Kendall said. "Just call me, 'Aunt Luella', then." Inside, she thought vehemently, 'I'll make you call me 'Mama' sooner or later!'

"Uh, ok, Aunt Luella," Amber said meekly. She then raised her arm, which was holding her paperbag. "What about these?" she asked further.

Aunt Luella took them from her and said, "I'll serve this later. You go and accompany your Uncle Lachlan in the living room."

Amber nodded and slowly walked in the living room.

Inside the room, Erick's father was sitting on an armchair with a wine glass on his hand. He looked as if he was staring off-space, as he swirled the wine in his glass.

Amber quietly sat on a sofa across him, her back straight and her hands folded neatly on top of her lap. She silently studied the man in front of him. She realized that Erick's good looks came mostly from him. They both have the same jet black hair and strong jawline. Although Erick has dimples, his father has that attractive cleft on his chin. Both of them were also tall with muscular lean bodies.

As she studied the man, she did not realize that the man too was studying her.

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'Is dinner done?' Lachlan asked in his mindlink to his Luna.

'Give me a few minutes,' she replied back in the mindlink. 'Go entertain your daughter-in-law.'

The two of them knew that Amber was Erick's mate. Mary, the Beta's wife, had told them about Amber and how the boys constantly talked about her. Though, it was more like Erick kept talking about her and Hamish listened.

Many times Luella had tried to find ways to 'accidentally' meet up with her but they never did see her. They knew that Erick went to her house every night so Luella was frustrated at how he never brought her home to introduce her to them.

Coincidentally, Luella wanted to visit Mary in her bakery. She had stopped by at Lachlan's office before going there together. They were thinking of buying some pastries when they saw a couple of girls walking into the bakery.

Both of them looked like they were still in their teens, around seventeen or eighteen years of age. Similar to Erick's age. One has brown curly hair with brown eyes. She was slightly shorter than the other girl, who has blonde hair and big green eyes. The two girls were talking with each other, pointing at the pastries displayed on the display boxes. Probably asking each other what they will buy.

Lachlan was whispering sweet nothings to Luella, making her giggle, when suddenly, she froze. She then sneaked a look at the two girls and pinched his arm.

He frowned, clueless as to why she had done that. He did not hear what the girls were talking about, even though he was able to. But he did not want to bother himself as he wanted to concentrate all his attention to his beloved Luna.

Unfortunately, it seems like his Luna did not share the same views as him since she had been listening in on their conversation.

"Darling, that's Amber!" she hissed.

He frowned deeply. Annoyed that someone had distracted her from being lovey-dovey. "Who the hell is Amber?" he asked.

"Erick's mate!"

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. He then sneaked a glance and saw two girls still talking, while pointing at the pastries. He turned back again and shrugged.

Luella rolled her eyes and announced, "I'm going over to introduce myself to her!"

Lachlan rubbed his temple. Before he could tell her 'no', she had already walked over and introduced herself.

Which then led to the present time where both Lachlan and Amber were sitting quietly in their seat, not talking.

'What the hell am I supposed to talk about with a little girl??' Lachlan argued in the mindlink. In all of his life, he has been surrounded with only males. He never had any younger female siblings nor female cousins. Even if he had, he doubts that he even talks to them. The only females he talked with were his mother, his Luna and Mary. Though, he only talked a couple of sentences with the latter.

Facing a young girl, he seriously became awkward. He really did not know what to say to her.

Clearing his throat, he opened a topic. "So," he said slowly, startling Amber. "You're classmates with my son?"

"Uh, yes sir!" she stammered as she squirmed nervously in her seat.

Lachlan frowned. 'Why is she squirming like that?' he thought, confused. 'It's not as if I'm going to eat her or something.'

The two fell into silence again.

Shortly after, Luella walked in to say that dinner was ready.

Amber had turned to look at her as if she was relieved and grateful that Luella had come and saved her from the awkward predicament.

Once seated, Luella told her to sit across her, which was usually Erick's seat. Lachlan sat at the head of the table, with Luella on his left and Amber on his right.

Amber was surprised to see the dishes laid on the table. There were only three of them but the dishes cooked looked like it was enough for a small village. There were piles of doughnuts on one bowl, a huge bowl filled with potato salads, a stackful of steaks piled on one huge serving plate and a huge pile of fried chickens.

"Come and dig in," Luella invited.

"Uh, are you expecting company, Aunt Luella?" she asked warily, still surprised at the huge amounts of food on the dining table.

Luella frowned at her, looking confused. "Company?" she repeated. "I don't think so, dear. It's just us, don't worry."

"But what about these foods?" Amber asked again.

Luella laughed lightly. "This is normal. If Erick was here, I would have cooked more."

Amber's eyes widened in surprise. Are their stomachs a blackhole?

The three of them then fell into a comfortable chatter, though, it was mostly Luella who was doing all the questioning while Amber patiently answered them. Lachlan quietly ate his dinner while listening. He did join in on some of the conversation before falling silent again.

Just as they were about to be done with their dinner, Luella smiled even wider as she studied the girl in front of her. She appreciated people who love her cooking. There was nothing more satisfying than knowing that there was someone who loves your cooking.

The girl was oblivious to the stare as she enjoyed eating the steak with relish. She poured more mushroom sauce on it and continued eating, her cheeks puffed similar to a squirrel stuffing their mouth with nuts.

"So, Amber, what are your hobbies?" Luella asked nonchalantly.

Amber stopped eating and raised her head. She patted her mouth with a napkin before answering, "Uh, I'm not sure. I don't think I have any hobbies."

Luella put her chin on her palm, with her elbow on the table. "Watching movies? Taking a walk? Cooking?" she suggested.

Amber tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Um… Cooking? I think I'm more of someone who likes to eat, rather than me cooking. Taking a walk? It's… uh, fine. Watching movies? I love Harry Potter!"

Both husband and wife looked at her in puzzlement. "What's Harry Potter?" Luella asked.

Amber gasped inwardly. 'More people to introduce what Harry Potter is about!' she thought to herself with determination.

She then began to explain to Lachlan and Luella what Harry Potter is about. She was so passionate in trying to make them understand what's so hype about it that her actions were everywhere. She was waving excitedly, showing them how the brooms in the movie flew and how they cast spells and the mysteries in the movie plot.

Lachlan began to lose interest when he realized that it was mostly about warlocks. Luella, on the other hand, found it interesting and began to ask more questions. She was slightly surprised when she found out from Amber that they even had an assignment on Harry Potter.

She was even more surprised when there was a werewolf in the plot. His name was Fenrir Greyback. Both Luella and Lachlan frowned when they heard from Amber that Fenrir was depicted as one of the villains in the plot where he liked to attack children.

"They should rewrite the whole plot and make a nicer character for werewolves!" Luella protested.

She then smiled at Amber and asked, "What do you think of werewolves?"