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I didn’t see any way this could end without me crawling back to my family admitting that I had failed. That might have been inevitable, but it didn’t have to happen today. What did have to happen was breakfast. Hopefully it was going to be waiting for me when I got downstairs.
Pulling myself together for when I ran into the gorgeous guy who had slept a few doors down, I left my room and headed for the kitchen. Crossing the living room, I saw the same pair of couples that had been there when I had gotten back from the hospital.
“Excuse me, you’re staying here as well, right?” the skinny, grizzly looking man in flannel and hiking boots asked me.
“Yes, you checked in last night, right?”
“Yeah. Do you know if there’s supposed to be breakfast?” he asked, flashing a realization through my mind.
The gorgeous guy had said that he was heading to the hospital early. Considering he was going there to see his mother, and his mother was the one to make breakfast, the kitchen was going to be empty.
“Yes, there is. And it’s usually great. But…” My eyes darted around as I figured out what I should say.
“But?” the guy echoed.
I looked at him with an idea.
“But it might be a little limited this morning. Can you give me a second? I’ll go check on it,” I told him, excited by my idea.
Leaving the group, I entered the kitchen. Looking around, nothing seemed too intimidating. Hadn’t I watched our chef cook for us a thousand times? Some of what I saw had to have rubbed off on me, didn’t it? How hard could making breakfast be?
Opening the well-stocked fridge, I stared inside. Everything was in there. It looked like enough food to feed an army. It was overwhelming.
“Eggs,” I said remembering the delicious scramble Dr. Sonya had made for me the morning before.
Retrieving one of them, I stared at it and then pulled out another. These were definitely eggs. There was no doubt about it. And somehow what was inside was supposed to be cooked and place on a plate with a garnish on the side.
What was I doing? I didn’t know how to scramble eggs. I couldn’t even boil an egg. If I was left in a fully stocked kitchen by myself for a week, I would probably starve to death.
“Do you know if it will be ready soon?” the scruffy guy asked, poking his head past the kitchen door. “We have a hiking tour scheduled in an hour. We’re wondering if we should instead grab breakfast at the diner down the street.”
“No, you don’t have to go anywhere else. Breakfast will be coming up in a second. I’ll let you know when it’s ready,” I said, hiding my terror with a smile. I was sure he didn’t notice.
When he retreated with a doubtful look, I turned back to the impossible task in front of me and tried not to panic.
Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I settled myself.
“You can do this, Hil. It doesn’t have to be fancy. It just has to be something that qualifies as breakfast.”
With a new mission, I returned the eggs to their container in the fridge. Scrambled eggs were intermediate. I was a beginner. So I looked around for something that was beginner level.
On the back of the top shelf were a few of Marcus’s pastries.
“A continental breakfast?” I contemplated, remembering a few of my family’s trips to France.
Retrieving the croissants, I opened every cabinet until I found plates. Arranging them as nicely as I could, I next looked for a knife and the clay butter container Dr. Sonya had presented to me the last few mornings.
“There it is,” I said as relief filled me.
This was close, but I needed something else.
“Cereal!” I blurted, not knowing why I hadn’t thought of it before.
Scouring the cupboards, I found two boxes of cereal. I would offer the group both. Retrieving bowls and the milk, I took it past the swinging door to the dining room table and laid it all out. Returning with the croissants a few seconds later, I called the group into the dining area and nervously watched their faces.
They didn’t look too disappointed. Shouldn’t I take that as a win? I mean, I had figured out how to feed four people. I could technically be considered a sustainer of life.
“Thank you,” the group leader said before they all sat down and dug in.
