“Wait, seriously?”
“Seriously,” Maverick said. “Not to criticize, but I doubt that many frozen meals in a row are good for humans either.”
“You’re not wrong but trust me when I say it’s far healthier for everyone when I don’t attempt to cook, which is kind of ironic, considering I worked in a kitchen all through high school. Fortunately for everyone involved, my only job was to load and unload the dishwasher, scrub pans, and get everything put away in time for the cooks to destroy the place again. At least I can admit to sucking and went in there looking for a dishwashing job, while some of the folks who came through there tried the fake it until they make it route, to varying degrees of sheer and utter failure.”
“Oh man, we’ve had a few of those come through the cookie shop,” Maverick said as I carried the brown paper bag to the kitchen and started rummaging around in the freezer, rearranging things until I’d gotten everything, barely, shoved inside.
Fortunately, it was one of those stainless-steel models with the pull-out drawers for packing food in, because if it had been an old-school model with the top freezer, we’d have been completely screwed.
“You work at a cookie shop?” Leo asked. “Oh my god, best job ever.”
Maverick giggled at that and, in his typically humble way, did nothing to correct Leo’s assumption.
“We’re the owners,” I called back from the kitchen as I pulled out lemons, butter, asparagus and the fish stock I’d made last night in preparation for our first meal in our rustic cabin.
“Seriously?”
“Yup,” I replied. “We do most of the baking and all of the decorating too, though we do have two awesome kitchen helpers who come in to do prep and handle some of the more basic recipes so we can focus on some of the more complicated creations.”
“It’s the best job in the world,” Mav declared.
“I’m going to get the food started. If you guys want to join me in here, it will be way easier to talk, and there’s a hell of a view of the pond from the bay window, though it does seem to be getting a bit dark out there. I think some of those clouds we saw on the way up here have finally started to roll in.”
“Dang, this is nice!” Leo said as they stepped into the kitchen. “They really wouldn’t have wanted me trying to cook meals in here; I’d have ended up with something splattered on the ceiling with my luck, and the artwork up there is fantastic.”
I hadn’t even noticed any artwork, so I tipped my head back and took in the decorative bronze above my head, each square with designs in them. All of woodland creatures, leaves, and trees.
“No wonder it was so bright when we first stepped in here,” I commented, as I took the time to move around the room and really look at each image.
“Who needs artificial light when you have something like this to amplify all the beautiful sunlight streaming in?” Leocommented as he headed for the bench, while Maverick stepped up to the counter like he intended to help me.
“I’ve got it,” I said, waving him off.
“Fine, but only if I get to make the crepes in the morning.”
“You know I never turn down your crepes.”
“I love crepes,” Leo declared, ice still pressed to the back of his head. “I’d ask if I was still passed out and dreaming, but I don’t ever remember feeling pain in a dream, so I’m fairly confident that this is actually happening.”
“Oh, it’s real,” Maverick said as he leaned back to peer further out the window. “About as real as those wicked-looking storm clouds out there. Wow. We might want to turn on the fireplace and curl up with a movie after we eat.”
“Sounds good to me,” Leo said. “I’ve been dying to try out that fireplace since I saw the pictures of the cabins online.”
“Same,” I replied.
“Well then, it sounds like we have a plan for after we eat,” Maverick declared as I poured the stock in a pot to boil before I added the rice.
With nothing left to do but wait, I slid onto the bench across the table from them and took my time studying Leo.
“What? Do I have something on my face?” He asked, scrubbing at his cheek while squirming beneath the scrutiny.
“Nope, sorry, it’s a cat thing; we tend to get fixated when we’re curious about something, or in this case, someone,” I explained. “I’ll try not to make you uncomfortable.”
“No, it’s okay; I was just worried that I had a bit of something stuck to my cheek after hitting the floor.”
“Not with as immaculate as the cabin was before we started making ourselves at home,” I said. “It was as meticulously clean as we like to keep our kitchen. I just wish we’d thought of installing a ceiling like this in the front of the shop. Betweenthe bronze and the bay window, our display cases, and all the goodies inside would truly shimmer.”
“Who says we can’t?” Mav said. “Let’s get with Dyllan after we get back and see what he thinks and what his schedule looks like. If he can pencil us in during our down week between winter and spring, we’d have something truly eye-catching when we open back up.”
