“Look Mom, you can go outside right through here,” Trevor opened the French doors she hadn’t even noticed and stepped outside before she could even gather her thoughts.
“Trevor be careful,” she said and rushed after him. She breathed a sigh of relief when she noted the railing around the porch. Her son was safe. The porch wrapped around the entire back of the house. She saw another set of doors and wondered where they led but didn’t want to be nosey. It was probably another guest room or a hallway.
“Let’s unpack our suitcases and then head back downstairs. We don’t want to keep Mr. Anderson waiting on us,” she finally said.
“Yeah, then I can see the puppies,” Trevor said, before running back into the room and across the hall to his own room.
She quickly put her few things away and then headed over to Trevor’s room, where he was cramming his clothes into the dresser. She liked to let him do things on his own but knew she would have to redo the clothes later.
Emily collected Trevor and they began the journey back down the stairs and followed the hallway towards the sound of voices. She heard a loud laugh and stepped through a doorway into an inviting room. A warm fire blazed in the fireplace and Joseph was sitting on a comfortable looking sofa.
Emily was surprised by the room. It was set up far more for comfort than as a showpiece. She noticed a similar theme around the area of the house she’d seen so far. Expensive artifacts, displayed behind glass decorated the house and yet there were simple touches making it look homey and inviting. Fresh flowers were placed throughout and the furniture was comfortable.
“There you are. Did you get settled in?” Joseph asked, as he spotted them.
“Yes we did, thank you.”
“Can we see the puppies now?” Trevor asked.
“Trevor wait until Mr. Anderson offers,” Emily admonished him.
“It’s perfectly okay Emily. I understand Trevor is excited. Let’s go,” he said and led Trevor from the room.
Emily followed them down the hallway into the kitchen. She stopped and looked around in complete rapture. It was the most heavenly kitchen she’d ever stepped foot into. There was every known gadget she could imagine. She completely forgot about the puppies as she wandered around the massive kitchen, looking in the cupboards and the fully stocked industry sized refrigerator.
She realized what she was doing and looked up guiltily at Edward, who was smiling from the doorway. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have started getting into things,” she said to him.
“This is your area; I’m more than pleased to see you’re happy with the accommodations. On average you’ll be cooking for about twenty men a day, five days a week. It can get a bit overwhelming,” he said.
“This kitchen is a dream come true and I love cooking for large crowds. Please tell me they like to try new things and not just beans and ham,” she begged.
Edward laughed out loud. “I think if you’re doing the cooking, the men would eat worms.”
“You’re far to flattering,” she said with a smile. Emily could tell she and Edward were going to be great friends.
“Why don’t you spend as much time as you want in here and get used to it. Your son is in puppy heaven right now and will be perfectly fine,” he said and then slipped out the door.
Emily walked over to the large patio door and spotted her son and Joseph sitting on the covered porch, with six black puppies crawling all over the both of them. Trevor threw his head back and laughed with pure joy as one of the puppies stretched out across his body and licked him right across the face.
She knew her son was in good hands. She headed back to the kitchen and became familiar with the location of everything she would be using. Taking inventory of what food was there, she found paper and pen and began making up a menu for the next couple days. She couldn’t wait to start preparing a meal.
Emily looked up as her son and Joseph came back into the room and then noticed the clock. She hadn’t realized over an hour had already passed. She felt terrible she hadn’t checked on Trevor the whole time. She couldn’t believe how secure she was already feeling in the new place.
“What do you think about the kitchen?” Joseph asked her.
“Oh, it’s absolutely perfect. I can’t wait to get started on dinner.”
“You don’t have to start tonight you know. You can wait until tomorrow.”
“I don’t mind starting tonight at all. I honestly love to cook and this kitchen is more equipped than a five star restaurant. My hands are itching to get started.”
“Only if you insist. I’m sure the guys would much rather have a home cooked meal than the microwave dinners they were going to eat,” Joseph said.
“What time do they normally eat?”
“In the summertime, around seven and in the winter, five. We really only have two seasons on a ranch,” he said.
“I better get started then.” She went over to the fridge to grab some things. “What time should I have breakfast ready?”
“The guys like to usually come in around nine for breakfast. They’ve already been up and around a few hours by then and are pretty hungry,” he stated.
“That sounds perfect.”
“Do you mind if I take Trevor to look at the horses in the barn?” Joseph asked her.
“You really don’t have to do that, Mr. Anderson. He can hang out in here with me and color,” she told him, not wanting her son to be a burden.
“He’s no problem, Emily. I enjoy hanging out with the lad and no boy wants to hang around the kitchen until the food is all done. Come on Trevor, you can pick your favorite horse to ride. The boys love training young ones. We have to let the men know when dinner is ready anyway,” Joseph said. He led Trevor out of the room, before Emily had a chance to protest any further.
She knew Joseph wasn’t the type of guy who was told ‘no’ too often. She figured if he got frustrated with her son, he’d bring him back in. She started humming to herself as she began several large pots of chicken and dumplings with fresh bread.
Mark was in an unbelievably bad mood as he returned to his hotel room, which was unusual for the normally happy go lucky guy. Anyone who knew him knew he was far more likely to crack a joke than ever raise his voice.
He threw his cowboy hat onto the bed and stared at the blinking light on his phone indicating he had a message. His business deal fell through since the guy he’d been speaking to over the last several months had neglected to tell him the ten thousand head of cattle he was trying to sell were on the brink of death.