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“Because the spaghetti will clump together after it’s cooked if you don’t.”
“You see? How in the world will I ever learn all these little tricks?”
“It takes time. You won’t learn to cook overnight.” Although she wished he would, so her job would be done. She grabbed the bottle of oil and passed it to him. “Just a little.” After he finished, she continued and said, “It’s time to put the spaghetti into the water and turn the heat down to medium.”
Completing the task, he stood back and eyed the pots on the stove. “What’s next?”
Julia held up her finger, glanced over her shoulder and said, “Girls, do you want to come on in here, instead of lurking in the doorway, and set the table?”
“How did ya know we were here?” Paige appeared from the right side of the entrance.
“Yeah, Mommy, we were being extra quiet.” Ellie shuffled into view from the left side and positioned herself next to her friend.
“I could have super hearing, but in this case I heard two little girls giggling rather loudly a moment ago.”
“Are we gonna be able to eat the food?” Paige entered the room and clasped the back of a chair at the table.
“Do I detect doubt in my daughter? This is gonna be the best spaghetti y’all have ever had. Isn’t that right, Julia?” When she didn’t say anything right away, a stricken look descended on his face. “You’re supposed to stand behind your pupil. After all, isn’t that a reflection on your teaching ability?”
She had her doubts since she realized she should have had Evan throw out the water he had salted and just start over.
“Girls, I’m going to let you be the judges. A teacher shouldn’t. I don’t want to discourage the pupil.” Julia removed four dinner plates and glasses from the cabinet and placed them on the table.
While Paige and Ellie set the table, they kept peering back at Evan and Julia at the stove and whispering between them, which immediately caused several giggles to erupt.
Julia leaned close, lowered her voice, but not too low so the girls couldn’t hear and said to Evan, “I think my next teaching job is to show Paige and Ellie how to load the dishwasher and clean up. I don’t think six is too young to learn that.” She winked at him.
“Mommy, I’m five. I won’t be six for a couple of weeks.”
“Oh, right. You think Evan and I should do the dishes then?”
Ellie nodded, a serious expression on her face. “You’d better. I’m still too young.”
Julia couldn’t suppress her laughter any longer, its sound sprinkling the air. She spun away from her daughter in time to see the water boiling over. Quickly, she snatched the pot from the stove. A burning smell floated to her as she dumped the pasta into the strainer in the sink.
“A word to the wise, don’t let little munchkins distract you from your cooking,” Julia said as she switched off the heat on both burners. “Is the table finished?”
“Yep.” Paige pointed to the nearest place setting, her shoulders thrust back, her chin held high.
Next to the little girl, Ellie imitated her friend’s stance. “We did good.”
Other than the six pieces of silverware at each plate, Julia had to agree. “Then let’s eat. Bring your plates over to the counter and take the spaghetti you want.”
Five minutes later with dinner served, Julia took the last vacant chair next to Evan and sat. “Who would like to say grace?” she asked when she noticed Evan reaching for one of his three forks to eat.
He stopped and looked at her. “Oh, yeah. I will.” He bowed his head. “Father, please bless this food and the people at this table. If You can find the time, You might help me learn how to cook. I could sure use Your help. Amen.”
When Julia murmured amen more enthusiastically than usual, he shot her a look, similar to the one she had seen Marge give him. She tossed him a grin and a wink.
“What did you think of me riding today?” Ellie shoved her fork into the pile of spaghetti. “I’m doing it by myself. Pretty soon we can all go riding together.”
Julia paused in bringing her glass of water to her lips. “Well, honey, there’s just one thing wrong with that. I don’t know how to ride.”
“Mommy! You don’t? I thought every grown-up knew how.”
“We can take care of that. The next time I give you a lesson, I can give your mother one, too.”
Ellie clapped her hands. “That’s perfect!”
“No, it isn’t. You might like to ride those big animals, but I don’t think I want to.”
Ellie’s eyes grew round. “Why not?”
“I…” Up until June, she’d lived her whole life in Chicago, and hadn’t even once been to a farm.
“Yeah, why not? Scared to let me be the teacher?”
Evan’s dare taunted her as he knew it would. Julia bristled for a few seconds and said, “Okay, I’ll learn, and I’ll learn how to ride faster than you’ll learn to cook a simple dinner by yourself.”
“I’ll take you up on that challenge.”
“Daddy, when are you gonna give Ellie her next lesson? Next weekend?”
“I can’t. I have to set up for the school carnival Friday afternoon and evening and then work it on Saturday.”
“So do I.” Julia finally took a long drink of her cold water. Instead of staying away from the man, she found herself planning ways to be with him. Probably not a good idea, but she didn’t know how to get out of it gracefully and not disappoint her daughter.
“Then we can do it next Sunday after church.”
“Fine, and I’ll give you your second cooking lesson. We’ll make pizza.”
“Only if you give me a list of ingredients to buy.”
She inclined her head. “That’s fair. I will before I leave tonight.”
“Pizza! I love it, Daddy.” Paige finally took her first bite of the spaghetti and scrunched up her face. She quickly swallowed her food, then took several gulps of her milk.
“What’s wrong, princess?”
“Nothing.” Evan’s daughter stared down at her plate.
He slipped a forkful of his creation between his lips and surprise flashed into his eyes. When he got the spaghetti down, he coughed. “Maybe we can drive into town and get some hamburgers at Prairie Springs Café. My treat.”
Since it looked fine, Julia was curious how bad the food tasted and put a small amount into her mouth. A salty taste exploded against her tongue and she washed it down with a long drink of water. “Just how much salt did you put in the water while my back was turned? You said it wasn’t a lot.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t think it was. I like salt.” Gesturing toward his food, he grinned. “Obviously, it was more than I thought. I must have been distracted.”
A blush stained her cheeks. “Now you know why salt goes a long way.”
“And then some,” he said and rose, taking his and Julia’s plate to the sink. “The good news is I don’t think the sauce tasted too bad.”
Julia crossed to the stove, dipped the wooden spoon into the red mixture and nodded. “Not bad at all. There’s hope for you. I’ll save this in your refrigerator. There’s enough here for another meal. You can pick up some more spaghetti while you’re at the grocery store. Just don’t put too much salt in the water when you cook the pasta.”
“You’re gonna trust me to do that without your watchful eye?”
“I’ll write the instructions down with your grocery list. I think you can follow simple directions.”
“I’ll help ya, Daddy.”
“You’ve got yourself a date, princess.”
Paige threw her arms around his waist and hugged him.
A lump formed in Julia’s throat. She’d wanted that for her daughter—a father who loved her. Instead he’d vanished one day, leaving only a brief note telling her not to bother looking for him, that he wanted nothing to do with being a father or a husband.
Evan pounded the nail into the board. The noise level was already loud, as the elementary school gym was crowded with parents helping to set up for the carnival the next day. But no Julia Saunders. He should know. He would catch himself looking around every few minutes, expecting to see her, then get mad at himself, more determined than ever to focus on building the booth he’d been assigned to by Olga. Then something would catch his attention and before he knew it, his gaze would wander to look for Julia.
Yes, they’d all had a pleasant evening last Sunday, enjoying a nice meal at Prairie Springs Café before going their separate ways. When he’d returned home, he didn’t even have anything to clean up. Julia had insisted on doing it before leaving for the café since he insisted on paying for dinner. He’d tried to talk her out of it, but she was one stubborn woman. She’d informed him she paid her own way and did her share of the work, always.
It was as if she was determined not to take anything from him. Why? Had she been burned like him? That had to be it or she would have been married to Ellie’s dad. Curiosity bubbled to the surface, but he immediately squashed it down. Two wounded souls had no business getting together.
“The carnival is tomorrow, not next weekend, Evan.” Olga planted herself in front of him, blocking his view of the rest of the gym. “And we only have eighteen hours until the doors open.”
“I’ll have it finished within the hour.”
“Good, because I’ve decided to add a petting zoo, especially after the success of the Show and Pet at the church picnic, and you can be in charge of it. Isn’t that perfect for a rancher?”
No, he thought. “In where? Here? There’s no room left to put another activity.”
“I listened to the weather today and tomorrow it’s supposed to be beautiful, so I thought outside, but you’ll need to make some temporary pens for the animals.”
Evan rose from kneeling on the floor and stretched. “Where are the animals gonna come from?”
“Where else? Your ranch. You have tons of them.” She flitted her hands near his face, her large turquoise bracelet with silver beads tinkling.
“I don’t have enough for a petting zoo.”
“How can you not? You have a ranch with horses and cattle.”
“Which aren’t easy for kids to pet. They’re too big.”
She tapped her finger against her jaw. “Then I will contact a few people I know who have some interesting animals and have them bring them first thing tomorrow morning. Can you get here by nine?”
He nodded, remembering the fiasco of her “Show and Pet” at the church picnic last week and all the incidents that Olga had conveniently forgotten. At least this time he was in charge from the beginning and hopefully could control the situation.
“That’s great. I will have an assistant for you. You will not be alone.”
As Olga scurried away, he thought the woman was too late. He was very alone. And that wasn’t likely to change anytime soon. That was the way he wanted it. Much safer.
He began to turn back to the booth he was constructing when he caught sight of Julia entering the gym. He paused and studied her. Her long brown hair appeared mussed, as though she had been running her hand through it repeatedly. Worry furrowed her forehead and dulled her eyes.
Before he realized it, his legs were chewing up the space between them.
Something was wrong.
Chapter Four
E van stopped Julia before she had time to step more than a few feet into the gym. “Hi. Is everything all right?”
Her concerned gaze fell on him, and she swallowed hard. “No. I was at the office when I received a call from Dr. Nora Blake, the heart surgeon that performed little Ali’s operation. His grandfather, General Marlon Willis, was just admitted to the hospital. He’s had a massive heart attack, and it doesn’t appear he will make it. Dr. Blake called me because Ali would be without a guardian if he dies. I’m the social worker assigned to his case.”
“Ali has gone through so much. I hope the general makes it. He hasn’t had a chance to get to know his grandson for long.” Evan moved closer. “Is there anything I can do?”
Julia shook her head. “It’s wait and see time. I thought after I finished here, I would go to the hospital and check on what’s happening. I want to be there for Ali. If his grandfather dies, he’s going to feel so alone.” Sadness jammed her throat. She knew what it was like to be alone without family for support.
“Doesn’t Sarah live next door to the general? I saw her earlier in here. Do you think she knows?”
“Probably not if she’s been here. It just happened. From what Nora told me, the general had come to the hospital to see Ali when he had his heart attack. In that sense, he was lucky. He was able to get help quickly.”
Evan turned toward the crowd in the gym and searched it. “That little boy has been through so much in his short five years. He’s already seen too much death. Ah, Sarah’s over there.” Evan pointed toward the far corner.
“I’d better have a word with her. Where will you be?”
With a flip of his hand, he gestured toward a half-finished booth under a basketball hoop. “And if I don’t get back there and complete my job, Olga will be breathing down my neck. She’s already informed me that I need to step it up.”
“After I see Sarah, I guess I’d better check in with her and see what she has planned for me.”
As if hearing her name, or else realizing Evan had stopped working, Olga approached, asking, “Is your booth finished?” Her gaze leveled at Evan.
“Almost.”
“Well, hop to it. That petting zoo won’t get set up by itself.” While Olga shooed him away, she turned to Julia. “I’ll need you to help him with the zoo. You two are a great team.”
Team? Olga was definitely working overtime as a matchmaker. “Where is this petting zoo going to be?” Julia asked, scanning the gym for a space big enough to house the animals.
“It’ll be outside.”
“But it’s been raining a lot lately. Do you think that’s a good idea?” And while we’re on the topic of good ideas, I don’t think Evan and I should team up. That means I’ll have to spend practically the whole weekend with him.
“We cannot have it in here—there’s no room.” In her usual dramatic way, Olga swept her arms wide to take in the whole gym. “After the way the children responded to the pets at the picnic, we need to have a zoo. It will be a hit.”
“Fine,” Julia said, seeing no way of getting out of assisting with the petting zoo. She sure hoped Olga found another couple soon to play matchmaker with. “I’ll help Evan, but I have to speak with Sarah first.”
“But—”
“I won’t be long.” Julia hurried away, leaving a frustrated Olga by the entrance.
Julia made a beeline for the redheaded teacher, who was putting the finishing touches on a booth. “Sarah.”
