*
On Wednesday, disaster struck.
After going through her mental list of recipes and gathering all the ingredients she needed for her pumpkin pie, Callie realized that most of the vegetables she’d purchased over the weekend had spoiled.
“Ah, no way!” She whined as she plucked moldy green beans, yellow brussels sprouts, and dripping wet spinach from the drawer at the bottom of the fridge. “How did this happen?”
“Is everything okay?” Sasha came into the kitchen looking worried.
“I’m not sure what to say to that,” Callie said. “I think the freezer is leaking water into the fridge or something, because all these veggies went bad in just a couple days!”
“Oh no.” Sasha made a face as she picked up the bag of brussels sprouts. “These aren’t really wet, they just look like they spoiled faster than usual. Is it possible they were already going yellow when you bought them?”
Callie shook her head. “Not really. My friend from the farmer’s market helped me pick out the best ones.”
“Joshua?”
Callie could feel Sasha’s eyes on her, but she was too overwhelmed to be concerned with whatever Sasha was thinking. “Yes, Joshua,” Callie confirmed. “We ran into each other at the grocery store, and I asked for his help, since he’s the expert.” She clicked her tongue at the sight of all the spoiled food. “This is such a mess, and everything at the grocery store is going to be picked over at this point. Thanksgiving istomorrow.”
“What are you going to do?”
Callie chewed on the inside of her lip. “I don’t know. I’ll have to see what’s at the store. Maybe some of my recipes can besalvaged, but I was really counting on having fresh veggies for a couple of the dishes.” Callie put a hand to her head and closed her eyes, staving off a headache. Thankfully, the coffee machine was finally finished brewing, so Callie was able to pour herself a cup.
“I wish I could help you,” she said. “But I have to go to work early.”
“That’s okay,” Callie said. “You go ahead. Work is more important for sure, and I’ll be able to figure it out on my own.”
Sasha offered her one more apology, poured herself some coffee to go, and left. Callie continued to stare at all the gross, soggy veggies, with a dejected expression. She took a sip from her mug and waited for the coffee to do its trick. After a minute or so, Mallory joined her in the kitchen.
“Hey stranger,” she said to her daughter, “I feel like I haven’t seen you much the last few days.”
“I’ve been busy.”
Callie refrained from asking what exactly was keeping her unemployed daughter busy, but the thought did cross her mind.
Mallory pointed at the food. “What’s all this?”
“Trash. Or at least, it belongs in the trash. I’m not going to be able to cook with any of it.” She walked over her phone that was charging on the counter and searched for Joshua’s number in her contacts. “Somehow, all of it went bad in the fridge. I’m going to call my friend who owns this cute little farm and see if he’s got any good veggies I can get.”
“Hopefully he answers.” Mallory poured herself some coffee. “But if he doesn’t, I have no problem running into town and seeing what’s left at the store.”
“I’m sure he’ll answer.” Callie put the phone to her ear. “It’s not that early.”
“I just meant because of the holiday. A lot of people start celebrating early, you know? Or they take the whole week off.”
“Well, for one thing, I don’t know that farmers ever get to take a full week off after work,” she said. “And for another, he’s Native American, so he probably doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving...”
“Oh.” Mallory’s eyes widened and she nodded. “That makes sense.”
“Gosh, you don’t think I’ll offend him by asking for veggies to cook with, do you?” Callie drew in a sharp inhale. “Maybe I shouldn’t—”
The phone clicked and then Joshua’s voice came through the speaker. “Hello?”
“Oh—uh, hi! Joshua. It’s Callie.”
“Callie, hey! It’s so nice to hear from you.” She could hear him smiling through the phone. “How are things going with the family in town? Your kids are all back in Ferndale, right?”
“Yes, they are. It’s been good,” she said nervously. Callie couldn’t shake the feeling that she was making a huge mistake, that she was asking her friend something that would make him think of her as inconsiderate or ignorant. “Uh—well—mostly good. I ran into a bit of a hiccup this morning while I was getting ready to start cooking. It seems there’s something wonky going on with our fridge and some of my veggies spoiled.”
