“In the fridge!”
“Oh, I bet you’re right.” Together, they retrieved the eggs, Caroline handling the carton. It amazed Tessa how easily she could relinquish control to someone with the ability to make the biggest mess. Caroline stumbled a step before the counter, but she cradled the eggs like a running back with a football and kept herself upright.
“Thanks, sweetie.” Tessa took the carton, opening it for Caroline to see. “We have to first check that none of the eggs are cracked.”
Caroline scanned and pointed to each one. “All good!”
“Let’s set them on the counter so they can warm up. We want them at room temperature.”
“Why?”
“Because eggs mix better with batter if they’re warmed up a little.”
“Really?” Caroline’s eyes widened in fascination.
“They rise better, too.” Tessa couldn’t hide her smile, growing by the second. She wasn’t sure how much of today’s lesson Caroline would retain, but maybe her niece would grow up to be a baker or chef.
“What’s next?” Caroline asked.
Tessa scanned the cupboard, already filled with most of the ingredients. Only a couple were missing. “We need salt. Why don’t you go check that cupboard by the fridge?” She watched Caroline search the cupboard for the canister. “It’s blue,” she told her from the counter.
The little girl had an aura of serenity about her. In her own kitchen, Tessa would be pushing someone else out of the way to get it herself. She swallowed, ashamed of that realization. Even the show portrayed her as a bear not afraid to take anyone down who got in her way.A freaking grizzly bear.
She hated bears.
“Is this it?” Caroline held up a small spice bottle with a blue and white label.
“No, sweetie. It’s bigger than that.”
As Caroline kept searching, Tessa carried a bowl of fresh blueberries to the sink to rinse them. She’d hardly turned on the faucet before she let out a scream. The bowl dropped into the sink, but her eyes were transfixed on the massive moose in the window staring back at her.
“Ed!” Caroline announced with way too much excitement as she abandoned her salt search and skipped across the kitchen to Tessa. The moose didn’t seem startled or even to mind. He just stared and blinked.
“Ed, huh?”This must be normal?Tessa narrowed her eyes at the creature, feeling bolder since a pane of glass separated them. Ed’s rack spanned wider than the window, so the chances of him breaking in were slim. “You owe me a new radiator, buster!”
Caroline scurried, grabbing her step stool. She bumped Tessa out of the way as she hopped up and unlatched the window too quickly for Tessa to object before Ed’s massive snout poked through.
Tessa yanked Caroline back from the sink, holding her tight with both arms as her heart raced. She didn’t think Ed could break in, but that long nose of his could travel a pretty fair distance before his antlers stopped him. She wasn’t about to let Ed harm her niece. “What are you doing, sweetie?”
“He wants blueberries.” Caroline squirmed in her arms, apparently unimpressed with her restraint. But Sophie would never forgive her if Ed scooped her up with those antlers and carried her away into the woods.
“Well, he can’t have any. Mr. Moose here is the reason my car is all banged up, aren’t you,Ed?”
“Don’t blame the moose.” Shivers raced through Tessa at the unexpected sound of Liam’s voice. Without any warning to prepare, he could do that to her. It annoyed her to no end.
Ed didn’t seem interested in car repairs. He lowered his nose toward the sink and licked up the stray blueberries, pushing the bowl around the stainless-steel sink in the process. “What are you doing back here?” Tessa asked Liam since no one seemed concerned about the moose sucking up blueberries through the window.
“Forgot my shop keys.”
“Right.” That reminded Tessa she needed to stop by later to see whether her necklace was in the car, because it definitely wasn’t at the lodge. She’d gone through her things twice more last night before finally relenting and letting sleep take her. Either her necklace was in the car or it was on the private road.
“Ed’ll go when he decides there’s nothing left,” Sophie said from the doorway. The moose continued to sniff the sink, occasionally licking the side. But the blueberries—from what Tessa could see—were gone. “What are you two girls up to?”
“We’re making scones!” Caroline announced, squirming her way right out of Tessa’s arms to run to her mom.
“Are you now?” Sophie gave her sister an approving smile.
“Yeah!”
