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Lara waved her hand. “Aidyn said he’s covering it. You can talk to him about it.”
“I’m speechless...I mean I don’t know what to say...It’s too generous. How will I repay you for all of this?”
Lara pulled her in for a hug. “I’d say right now, the main thing is making sure your mom is healthy. From there, Aidyn and you will have a talk. The rest of us are happy you’re here and we’ll help you learn what you need to learn.”
Lara turned to leave the bathroom and said, “Now, if you bring your dirty clothes out here, I’ll show you how to wash them.”
“Oh, I know how to...Wait, you don’t use a wash bucket do you?”
Lara chuckled. “No. We have a washing machine.”
Elena picked up her clothes and followed Lara out of the room. There was a small room next to the kitchen where there were two big metal machines. Lara opened one of the doors. “Put your clothes in here. Your mom’s are already in here.”
She pushed her clothes into the machine and Lara opened a big orange container and inside were little packets. “These are laundry pods. You put one in the washer with your dirty clothes.”
“What does it do?”
“It’s laundry detergent. It will help to clean your clothes.”
She put it in with her clothes and Lara closed the door. “You push this button to turn it on. Then turn this dial one click. Then push this button.”
The machine made a noise, and she jumped back. “What’s happening?”
“It’s filling with water.” She stood and watched it for a minute and a timer went off. “I have to pull the buns from the oven. I’ll be in the kitchen when you’re ready to come out.”
She stood there mesmerized by the washing machine for a long time and shook her head. No way it would get all the dirt out. Sometimes she had to scrub grass stains pretty hard to get them out.
Her mom was in a bedroom across the house from where she and Aidyn were, but they each had their own bathrooms. Adelaide helped her mom shower, and they were doing something called a video chat with Adelaide’s mom so she could diagnose her mom’s condition. Elena eventually moved out to the kitchen and looked around. “Where’s Aidyn?”
“I think he and Tate and Spencer are in a meeting in Tate’s office.”
“Okay.” She watched Lara pull the buns from little metal cup things. “Can I help with something?”
“Sure. Tell me what you know how to cook.”
“I can cook venison. Smoke it or fry it. I can make potatoes and carrots. I was never good at biscuits.”
Lara smiled at her and stopped what she was doing. “How about this. I’ll show you some cooking and you show me some cooking.”
“Okay.”
“So tonight I was going to make a big pork roast. We usually have a full time cook here, her name is Helissa, but she doesn’t work weekends. So, I cook on the weekends. She usually leaves something in the refrigerator for us but she hasn’t quite gotten the hang of cooking for four big men and that food doesn’t last long in the fridge. There’s always someone eating around here.”
“Okay. I don’t know how to make a roast.”
“Good. I’ll teach you.”
Lara pulled a big package from the refrigerator and set it on the counter. It was laying on a tray and had clear wrap over it. Elena touched the wrap, and it was flexible. “I’ve never seen that before.”
“It’s called plastic wrap.”
Lara used a knife and slit the plastic wrap open. “I’ll let the roast bloom for a bit while we make the rub.”
“Okay.”
Lara opened a cupboard that was filled with spices and herbs, all in little glass containers with pretty labels. She was fascinated by all the varieties of spices. Some were ground and some were leaves and some were coarse ground. It was amazing. Lara told her which spices to pull out and she did that.
They worked in unison and Elena couldn’t ever remember a time when life was so laid back. They weren’t hurrying to pick spices or pull potatoes from the ground. They had everything they needed in glass jars or containers in the refrigerator. They worked but not like she’d always worked.
