“Ah man!” Dallas and Cody cried in unison.
He shooed the boys out of the kitchen with Noah between them. “And keep an eye on Noah this time.”
As Debbie took something out of the oven, and Savvy headed to the sink with her brushes, he opened the front and back doors to air the house out. He needed to put distance between him and Debbie. The domestic scene was something he could get used to, without the panic of missing kids and screeching smoke detectors, of course.
“Oh no. It’s still frozen in the middle,” Debbie said as he stepped back into the kitchen.
Savannah turned from the sink. “What is it?”
“Lasagna. My mom’s recipe. I don’t understand why it’s not done.”
A hint of garlic and tomato finally permeated the burned cookie smell, and Austin’s stomach rumbled. He wanted to echo Cody’s sentiment of,“I’m starving.”
Debbie studied a pink 3 x 5 card. “Shoot, I was supposed to bake it at 425 degrees, not 350.”
“Can’t you just put it back in and bake it a little longer?” Savvy asked.
“I can, but it could take a long time to finish baking. The kids are hungry now.” Debbie tucked the foil back around the pan. “I’ll stick it back in and finish baking it. We’ll eat it tomorrow and I’ll come up with something else for dinner tonight.” She opened the oven again.
Austin opened his mouth to tell Debbie he’d take his kids home and feed them, but her gasp stopped him. He stared as the foil pan in her hands buckled and folded. Noodles, sauce, and meat spilled across the open door and into the bottom of the oven.
“Oh my he— I mean, good grief. What else can go wrong today?” Debbie dropped the deformed lasagna pan back on the stove top and beckoned to Savannah. “Hand me some paper towels please.”
Austin grabbed the garbage can he’d spotted earlier in the pantry and brought it over to the oven. “Do you want me to clean it up?”
“No, I can do it.”
With her hands clad in bulky oven mitts, Debbie wadded up the paper towels and reached into the oven to wipe sizzling sauce off the element.
“Be careful, don’t burn yourself.”
“I am being careful.” Irritation tinged Debbie’s voice.
The paper towel she touched to the element burst into flames. Debbie shrieked.
Savannah screamed.
Austin’s heart leaped to his throat. He reached out to help Debbie then froze. He didn’t have oven mitts.
Debbie looked up wide-eyed, her face full of panic.
“Throw it in the sink!” he yelled.
Debbie turned with the flaming paper towel toward the sink where Savannah stood frozen.
“Move, Savvy!” Austin swung his arm as if the motion would make his daughter move faster.
The flames in Debbie’s hands grew larger.
Savvy gaped at Debbie for two long seconds before lurching sideways.
Austin sighed when Debbie dropped the paper towels into the sink and doused them with water.
She turned with the oven mitt pressed to her chest and looked at him and Savvy with wide eyes. “First the cookies and now that. I promise I’m not always this big of a disaster in the kitchen.”
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The fire alarm screamed again, and Austin burst into laughter.
