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“That’s pretty amazing.”
“I know! This is all so exciting. We don’t even have to go to the grocery store. We actually get to cook what we gather!”
Good thing, as it seems we’re grounded,I thought, bending to pick up the pin, tucking it into my pocket as I looked around the kitchen with a sense of fear and intimidation. She actually expected me to cook, but without modern-day tools, I wasn’t sure where to begin.
I knew the first order of business was to get the stove fired up. Grabbing some small pieces of wood from a basket on the floor, I laid them into the firebox. I made sure to open both the draft and damper wide before striking the match. It shouldn’t be that hard to light a simple cookstove fire.
Hearing the growing crackle from inside, I sighed in relief, giving Kit a grin, happy I’d managed to accomplish my first task. That done, it was definitely time for coffee. I pumped water into the pot and was about to dump the beans in when Kit spoke.
“There’s a mill.”
“A what?” I asked.
She smiled and after putting down the egg basket, went to a wooden box on the counter. “You pour the beans in the top and turn the handle. Then you open the drawer and you have freshly ground coffee.”
Between the two of us, we took turns grinding the beans and within a few minutes, the heavenly scent of coffee filled the kitchen. While it perked, I opened the refrigerator to see what choices I had. I pulled out a large ham. It would be perfect with eggs, and while I was at it, I’d make some griddle cakes, too.
“How do you like your eggs?” I asked, holding up two different ones. “Brown or blue?”
“Let’s live dangerously and cook both,” Kit suggested.
Her smile and easy giggle warmed me through and through. It was hard to be anything but happy in the presence of this young woman. Again, I couldn’t help but wonder how she could be so different from her brothers.
A large crackle and pop pulled my attention back to the stove. The fire! From the noises coming from the stove, and the flames shooting out from around the door as well as pushing up around the burners, it looked like I had created a full-blown inferno. Without thinking, I grabbed the coffee pot and tossed its contents onto the fire to extinguish the flames. Most of the fire went out, but the kitchen soon filled with smoke. Coughing and choking on the pungent vapors, I fiddled with the damper some more to try to maintain the fire while eliminating the smoke.
My adjustment seemed to work after a few moments. Wiping the tears from my burning eyes, I turned to Kit. “Open up the door and let some air in.”
Kit looked at me like a frightened doe. She quickly followed the command and ran to offer her assistance.
I felt awful at being the cause of her fear. Grabbing a dishtowel, I began to wave the smoke out past the open door. Coughing again, I said, “Well, we’re off to a fine start, aren’t we?”
Now that the danger had passed and the air was clearing, she gave me a shaky smile. “My brothers said it will take some time to learn, but together, everything will be all right.”
Giving her a hug, I felt a wave of understanding flow through me. Kit was safe, would be taken care of because her brothers loved her. Assholes or not, they were protecting her. They were making sure she had everything she needed… even if it meant kidnapping a friend for her. As sick and twisted as it was… they’d changed the direction of their lives so she could be happy and safe.
“They’re right,” I said, “and we’ll learn together.”
It took far longer than I’d thought it would, but we did manage to make breakfast, the slabs of ham and the scrambled eggs going a long way toward brightening my day. Of course, the second attempt at coffee was truly my salvation. Kit drank milk that I learned had indeed come from one of the cows.
“Jay found an old churn out in the barn. He said it belonged to our great-grandmother. Rye is going to make a new plunger and then we can churn our own butter! Won’t that be fun? Of course, we have to milk the cow first.”
“Of course,” I said, because really… what else could I say.
We spent a few hours scrubbing and dusting before we unpacked some boxes, talking about the books we pulled out to place in our new home. Shelves went from floor to ceiling on both sides of the fireplace. I couldn’t help but think that a single Kindle could hold all these volumes, but had to admit the thought of settling on the couch or in one of the overstuffed armchairs, the weight of a book in my hands made a perfect picture in my head.
I learned that ‘dinner’ was lunch, and while Kit set the table once her brothers returned from town, I threw together a repeat of breakfast, this time actually making the griddle cakes I’d foregone that morning. Though many eyebrows quirked when I set their plates down before them, they did seem impressed there was actual food prepared—or perhaps they were shocked I hadn’t thought to poison it.
“You should have seen Goldie,” Kit said, practically bouncing in her chair. “She didn’t even scream when the fire started.”
“Fire!” Banks’ shout sounded a bit strangled as he had been swallowing when that little tidbit was shared.
Handing him his glass of water, I said, “It’s all right. I wasn’t trying to set the place on fire, I just used too much wood. Nobody got hurt, though I did waste an entire pot of coffee to put it out.”
He took several long swallows and then set his glass down. “I’m glad that was the only casualty.”
Pleased he wasn’t berating me, I managed to give him a small smile.
“The town was smaller than I remembered,” Rye said between chews.
