My brothers’ enthusiasm had waned an hour later when I revealed the crumbly, dry biscuits.
“This tastes like metal,” Davy said, spitting his out.
“I don’t understand. I’m a scientist. I should be able to make biscuits. Cooking is chemistry.”
“Maybe we can just eat eggs and sausage.”
“You said we could have fried chicken!” Henry whined.
After the biscuit disaster, I didn’t even want to attempt fried chicken.
“I’ll just bake it.”
“No!” my little brothers wailed.
The security system beeped.
“There’s someone at the front gate,” my brother Otis said in excitement as he looked at the screen.
“Who is it?” I said distractedly as I scraped the burnt biscuit off of the pan.
“Otis already let her inside,” Isaac complained.
“You know you’re not supposed to let strangers in without asking,” I scolded.
“She’s not a stranger,” he insisted. “It’s the biscuit lady.”
I opened the front door to see Sadie sprint down the driveway. I grabbed an umbrella and ran to meet her.
“Oh, hi!” she said. Her smile was a balm to my soul; all the annoyance and irritation dissipated. I wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close to me.
“Where is your car? Are you okay?”
“I was drunk and thought it would be a good idea to walk here and return your jacket.” Sadie wrinkled her nose.
I tamped down a laugh, then it came out. Sadie started giggling, and we laughed in the rain.
“Why? I could have gotten it from you on Monday.”
She shrugged.
I tilted her chin up. I desperately wanted to kiss her. Unfortunately, we had an audience. My little brothers crowded at the front door.
“Would you like to come inside and dry off?” I offered.
“Are you here to help cook?” Ellis asked excitedly.
“What? No,” I said, shoving my little brothers out of the way. “She’s just dropping off my jacket.”
“But maybe she could help you,” Ellis insisted.
I shot him a warning look.
“Help you with what? I love cooking!” Sadie said brightly.
“Nothing. I’m just making them lunch. They’re going to have baked chicken.”
“But you said we could have biscuits!”
