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“We still have a few minutes. Take your time,” Erin assured her.
The woman gave AJ a brief kiss, picked up the bag he had brought, and disappeared into the bathroom.
Erin rechecked her phone. Still no response from the other couple. She tried calling one last time but didn’t leave another message. She sighed and looked up at Graham. “I’m going to go tell them there are slots for both of them.”
“Sorry. I had no idea that they’d show up.”
“No worries,” Erin said, though Noelle could have picked a better time to schmooze with the McKittricks.
“It’s going to be interesting since Noelle doesn’t cook. At all.”
“Really?”
“Her family was based overseas and had servants when she was growing up. They pick up food or eat out.”
“She has to have some good qualities.” Erin just hadn’t seen what they were yet.
“She loves animals and volunteers at the shelter. Oh, and she’s patriotic. You saw how she decorated for the Fourth of July? She does that for Memorial and Veteran’s Day too.” Graham stretched for nice things to say.
“I do like when someone’s patriotic.” She went to inform them they could stay.
Noelle kept talking to Sally as if she didn’t see Erin waiting rather than interrupting. Finally, Erin tapped Colonel Ayers on the arm. “We did have a cancellation and a no-show, so we have space for you to join us. I believe there’s an empty station in the front and one in the back. We’ll get started in a minute.”
Noelle paused and looked at the groups on either side of the McKittrick’s work area. “Would you mind switching places so we can be next to our friends?” she said to the Nishiyamas.
Erin caught the way Pete cringed. She bit her tongue as Greg agreed, and Cindy reached for her purse. Had Noelle always been this way, or had her husband’s rank gone to her head? Noelle should take a lesson from Sally McKittrick, who didn’t treat the enlisted troops like plebians. Erin had decades of experience not saying the first thing that came to her mind, but Noelle was someone Erin needed to steer clear of rather than risk saying something that would reflect poorly on Graham, especially in front of the general.
Graham had taken up a post in the back with Mateo and Michelle on one side and John and Elizabeth on the other.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Mikie, and this stud muffin is my husband, Scott. He does the couples classes with me because he takes credit for the suggestion. See, we had gone from the ‘everything was all fun and romantic in the kitchen’ stage to where his tombstone was going to say, ‘He wouldn’t stay out of the kitchen when she was cooking.’” People laughed when she held up a large chef’s knife. “Some of you who have been married for a while know what I’m talking about. Show of hands if the kitchen isyourdomain, and you don’t want your significant other in there. Don’t be shy.”
Graham looked at Erin’s semi-raised hand. “I wouldn’t have guessed that.”
“We’re in that early stage. As long as you don’t start snacking while I’m cooking and get in the way, we should be good. Oh, and don’t rearrange the dishes I loaded in the washer because your way is better or is therightway.” Or wipe down the counters after she cleaned them. More things in her marriage that she tried to let slide because she feared telling Phil how that made her feel.
“Got it.” Graham couldn’t hold back a smile. “If I slip up, remind me.”
“I will,” she promised. She’d trust Graham could handle her expressing her feelings without receiving it as criticism or that she viewed him as inadequate. Through counseling, she’d learned effective ways to express herself. She couldn’t change the past, but she could do things differently in the future.
“Tonight, we’re going to teach you cooking techniques and put a little sizzle back in the kitchen. I don’t just mean food.” Mikie exchanged a heated smile with Scott. “For our first ‘recipe’ tonight, I want you all to turn to your partner.”
With looks of confusion, the couples slowly faced each other.
“Get closer,” Mikie ordered. “Now, y’all stare into each other’s eyes for ten seconds. No talking. It’s okay to blink. Start.”
The utter silence lasted a few seconds.
“Is someone counting?” Noelle blurted out.
“Five. Six,” Greg called.
The internal heat built as Erin continued gazing into Graham’s blue eyes. They leaned even closer to each other.
“All you couples in the back row got it going on,” Mikie said. “If this were a competition, one of you would win.”
“Competition? You didn’t mention that. Can we do this again?” Atkinson asked.
“Sure. When you get home. That was just a warm-up. We don’t want it to gettoohot in the kitchen.” Mikie gave a good-natured laugh as Scott rolled a cart down the center aisle, passing out containers filled with the food items. “Tonight, we are making sweet and spicy pork meatballs with ponzu glaze, green beans, roasted carrots, and dulce de leche lava cakes for dessert.” Mikie began walking everyone through the prep.
