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She would have loved what Hawk and her boys had done.
Especially the separate dining area, with the long table and chairs where the brothers could have their breakfasts, lunches and dinners. And with sliders out onto the back veranda. It was out of the way but still part of the kitchen.
The kitchen was a full size industrial kitchen with massive ovens and gas hobs. Cupboards and drawers were filled with pots and pans and utensils. You could find anything and everything one might need to cook with in there. On the far side was a walk in cool room and a large pantry. Industrial size fridges and freezers had their own space against the wall across from the central prep area. Off the kitchen was a scullery with basins and dishwashers and another smaller room with shelves filled with the new crockery and glassware. It was stocked with anything we might need.
The kitchen was big enough we didn’t feel as if we were in each other’s way as we did our thing.
The meat for the braai has been in marinade overnight and was in deep covered trays in the cool room. The boys would collect them when they were ready to put the meat on the braai.
We were busy making salads.
Humungous mountains of salads.
We had planned ahead though, and were making enough potato salad for both days, the same with the pasta salad. None of us wanted to have beetroot hands therefore we bought big bottles of the salad, both sliced and shredded. They were busy chilling in the fridge and would be decanted later.
While we chopped and sliced and diced I kept an eye on Chris, making sure she didn’t overdo things.
Hawk had let me into her secret and asked me to watch over her. It was a good thing I watched over her, we all knew she worked harder than anyone else to keep things running at the clubhouse. She had been very close to Aunt B and after her death had stepped up to take care of the club and she hasn’t stopped.
Soon it would be our turn to take care of her.
I looked up and caught Frieda’s eyes, and she gave Chris a quick glance before looking back at me and winking.
Somehow she knew.
I gave a quick nod and went back to chopping onions.
Not a fun job but I handled it with clear glasses and my bandana pulled up over my nose.
Every time Chris looked at me she started laughing helplessly and had to stop working until she calmed down. She was avoiding looking at me at the moment.
I didn’t care.
My precautions ensured I wasn’t crying over the bloody onions.
Genna stood across from me chopping tomatoes, lost in her own world.
I have noticed that she has been withdrawing more and more from the club lately. She didn’t come to all the family braais, only attending some of them. She didn’t stay long; it was more like she showed her face then left. I had mentioned it to River but she made out like she didn’t know what I was talking about. Lies, she was covering for her sister-in-law. Why? What was going on with her?
As the president’s old lady it was my job to ensure all the women at the club were taken care of. Genna was one of those women.
I made a mental note to talk to her after the festive season.
We worked as if we had been working together forever.
Before we knew it the salads were done. The food tables were set up and River had done her magic and decorated them with Genna and my help. We only decorated the tables the food would be placed on because the brothers and their guests would ruin everything else once the party got wild. Which it would.
We were as ready for the night as can be.
Once we were done River and I ran upstairs to our room where I had my wedding finery stashed and did a last check that we had everything. Once we were assured we hadn’t forgotten anything we went back downstairs.
It was time to go home, take care of my hellions and get dressed for the party.
At the last minute Bulldog and Suzy had opted out of tonight’s party and had offered to take the kids. River and Ice’s three, our two and Gail and Johan’s four would be staying with them. We would pick our boys up on our way home later. It meant we would not be partying until late and crashing in our room at the clubhouse.
Hawk had been adamant he wanted to wake up on Christmas morning with his boys.
He wanted to spend their first Christmas morning with them, just the four of us, at home opening presents.
