“Why didn’t you just attend the breakfast?”
She stayed quiet and decided to move on.“So, everyone got home safely yesterday before it started to snow?”
“Yes, and everything is locked and I can handle everything until the snow thaws.”
“Do you know when it will thaw?”
“Not a clue,” Lord said.
“Do you want some breakfast?”she asked.There was no point in being petty.He was the boss, and they still needed to eat.
“I’m starving.”
She would take that as a yes.
Opening the fridge, she saw she had a lot of breakfast sausage.She hadn’t paid attention, so she was going to have no choice but to cook it all and freeze it into packages.
“I bet you’re wishing you had come to one of those breakfasts,” he said.
She glared at him.“Why don’t you just enjoy your coffee?”
He took a sip.“I ever tell you this creamer is delectable?”
No.He never complimented any of her food.
She scanned the fridge and knew she could deal with all the extra meat without wasting a single thing.
First, she got a handle on the breakfast as Lord sat in the kitchen, watching her.Every now and then, he was on his cell phone, but for the most part, he watched her.She made them both a burrito, using different ingredients from the day before.Rather than have rice, she used some refried beans she had made herself.There was of course cheese, and she added some pico de gallo as well.All made by herself.Toasting up the burritos, she served them both and put lids on the pans, as she would finish them all after her own breakfast.
She poured them both a fresh coffee, with the creamer, and it was utterly delicious.The burrito was filling as well.For a good thirty minutes, neither of them talked, and she could forget about their troubles.
The truth was, every time she thought of the word “convenient,” she felt it like a slice across the chest.It hurt.Before she heard him tell Blake that, she’d been planning their wedding and their future, imagining him as her husband.It had all been lies.She had just been the only willing female there.
After breakfast, she got up and started to assemble the burritos.It was going to make a lot, but she had plenty of room in the freezer.It would make a convenient breakfast—there went that word again—for when the ranch hands returned.She was happy to make them in advance.
Lord didn’t leave.
“Are you going to spend the whole time in the kitchen?”Lord asked.
“Like you said, I didn’t come to one of those breakfast announcements, and I bought a lot of food, and I don’t want it to go bad.I’ve got to finish preparing it.”She continued to wrap, and was shocked as Lord came to join her.
He was wiping his hands on a towel and had rolled up his flannel sleeves.“Where do you want me to start?”
“You don’t have to do this,” she said.
“I know.I’m the boss.What I say goes, but right now, I want to help you, so let me help you.”He winked at her.
She nibbled her lip but then nodded.“Okay, okay.”She hesitated for only a split-second, because she needed all the help she could get.
She spread out the pans in front of them, showed him how to build and wrap, and they also secured them in aluminum foil.After, she placed them in a bag and labeled them.Next, she placed them in the freezer.With Lord helping, they were able to get through the breakfast sausage fast.This meant moving onto the other meat.
This was a little easier to deal with, as she didn’t have to cook the chicken.She got Lord to divide it into portions as she worked on a quick citrus-spice marinade.They went into the freezer as well.
Lord kept asking after each one, if that was it, and of course, it was a full grocery shop, with the intention of feeding the ranchers for a good, long time.
Next was ground beef.So, they worked on meatballs, Salisbury steak, and then seasoned a whole bunch of it as taco meat.With Lord’s help, they were able to get through most of it before lunchtime.
“Fuck me, that is a lot of work,” Lord said.
