What's Cooking (5 page)

Five

Carolyn watched Hank as he stood back from what could be loosely described as a sculpture and studied it in silence.

She couldn't tell if Hank liked it or not. Carolyn couldn't tell if she liked it, either, because she couldn't tell what it was supposed to be.

Mitchell would have said it looked like someone had an accident with a welder after a long day at the factory.

Carolyn squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to think of what Mitchell would have thought, but she couldn't help it. She was bored out of her mind.

At the market, she'd looked at everything imaginable with Mitchell—handicrafts, fruits and vegetables, jewelry, and items of every possible description. Mitchell had an amusing comment about nearly everything. She'd almost bought a little bunny ornament that had fascinated Mitchell because of its lifelike nose. In the end, she didn't want to buy anything that reminded her of Mitchell.

But now, even the bunny was preferable over the twisted metal that substituted for art.

When she thought she would fall asleep on her feet, Hank surprised her and took her out for dinner at an exquisite restaurant she'd never been to, which she supposed was an elaborate way of making up for the miserable time she'd had at the art gallery. Of course, that wasn't Hank's fault. He meant well, and she appreciated the thought.

She enjoyed Hank's company, as she always did, but when he took her home, she was glad the day was over and she could relax.

She didn't invite Hank in, so he left her with a chaste kiss on the cheek at the door.

The first thing she did was kick her shoes off her aching feet. Carolyn stretched and wiggled her toes, then headed to the kitchen to make a pot of tea. On the way, the flashing light on the answering machine caught her attention.

When she hit the button, Mitchell's low voice greeted her.

“Hi, Carolyn. I see you're still not home yet. I wanted to say that I just got back from the evening service at my church, and I was thinking that it sure would have been nice if you could have been there with me. Bye.”

Carolyn stared at the machine long after the beep, not knowing quite what to make of Mitchell's message.

She didn't want to wonder about Mitchell and his life outside of her classroom or how many times a week he participated in church activities. After his sister's wedding, which would be before the last class, she would never see him again.

She refused to let the knowledge cause her any regret. Instead, Carolyn sat in the kitchen with her tea, opened a cookbook, and started looking for chocolate dessert squares.

❧

Carolyn jumped at every little noise in the hallway. As usual, she'd come in early to set up for her class.

“Hi, Carolyn.”

The box of rice nearly fell from her hands. “Hello, Mitchell.”

He walked straight to her and removed the box from her shaking fingers, then stood much too close. “I missed you on Sunday.”

Although she hadn't exactly missed him, she did feel his absence after spending Friday evening and all day Saturday with him. With his odd message on Sunday, she'd expected him to call on Monday, but he hadn't.

She took the box of rice back from him. “You didn't call me yesterday,” she mumbled.

“I had to work late yesterday.”

“I don't know what it is you do for a living,” she stammered.

“I'm a dispatcher for a commercial carrier. Monday is always a busy day, and the other guy phoned in sick on top of it, so it was nuts in there.” As he spoke, he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. “I bought this for you. It's not a big deal, but I hope you like it.”

Carolyn heard a little tinkle.

“Hold still,” he muttered. “Let me do this before anyone walks in. I saw the cow stuff in your kitchen, and when I was in the mall today, I saw this. You can't decorate the high school kitchen with cows, but this little moo-moo can travel with you-you.” She craned her neck and watched as Mitchell pinned a brooch of a small cow, complete with a mini cowbell, onto the bib of her apron.

“Thank you, Mitchell. It's so cute. I don't know what to say.”

“You said thank you, and that's enough.”

She kept her head lowered and studied the little cow. It was something small and rather silly but very much “Mitchell.” She ran her fingers over the little black and white cow, tinkled the bell, then looked up at him. “Why are you doing this?”

He smiled and reached to touch her fingers, still resting on the cow in the corner of the bib of her apron. “Why do you think a man buys a gift for a woman?”

She didn't want to think about that. She didn't want his gifts, and she didn't want his attention. It was all wrong. It was flattering when one of her high school students had a crush on her, but those always faded quickly before she had to take steps to deal with it. This, on the other hand, was different. Mitchell was too old to be thought of as merely one of her students, but too young to be taken seriously as a suitor. Not that she could consider Mitchell a suitor, but she didn't know why he was going to so much trouble to get her attention.

Footsteps echoed on the tile floor in the hall, and Mitchell backed up, letting his hand drop to his side. He grinned, then winked. “I can't wait to see what we're going to make today.”

Instead of answering, she stood with her mouth open and watched Mitchell walk to the back row and sit without further comment. Last week he had been center front, where she couldn't help being keenly aware of his presence. She had thought he would do the same this time, but as usual, he never did what she expected. Now that she knew the true scope of his cooking skills, he should have been sitting center front to get the most out of the class.

When everyone had arrived, she started the lesson. Every time she moved, the tiny cowbell tinkled, reminding her where it came from. Now she didn't even have to be looking at Mitchell to be reminded of him.

When it came time to go to the kitchenettes, all the ladies smiled and giggled at his efforts. Carolyn didn't think Mitchell meant to be amusing, but she had to give him credit for accepting everyone's teasing about his ineptness in the kitchen with a smile.

By the time the class ended, even though he'd made progress, he still struggled with most of the basic skills.

There was only one solution.

Mitchell Farris needed more remedial help.

❧

Mitchell glanced at the different cow decorations all over Carolyn's kitchen as she paged through one of her many cookbooks. He'd found a message from Carolyn on his answering machine, telling him he still needed more help with his cooking skills. He didn't know what he'd done so wrong this time, but he was glad for the opportunity it gave him to see her again so soon.

“I know I said I wanted the same squares for dessert as the coffee shop's, but if it's going to be hard, I can always pick something else. I think I'm already in over my head.”

“They're really not hard to make. I saw a recipe the other day for something similar. I just can't remember which book it's in.”

Mitchell plunked his elbows on the table and rested his chin in his palms, then crossed his ankles under the table. “I can take you out for coffee, and we can bring another piece home and use that for a sample.”

She flipped another page. “Nice try, but you came here for help with your cooking. We're not going out. The only time I go out on Wednesday night is to Bible study, which I'm obviously missing tonight. I couldn't live with myself if I skipped Bible study to go out for coffee.”

“Yeah. Tonight is my home-group meeting, too. Tell you what. Why don't we do the cooking tomorrow, and we can go to the study meeting together? You've already met Gordie and Roland. Jake will be there, as well as my sister, Ellen.”

“I'd rather go to my own,” she mumbled under her breath, barely loud enough for him to hear, as she flipped another page.

“You would? Well, okay. That would be nice. I'd love to meet your friends.”

She froze with the page in midturn, still sticking up in the air. “Meet my friends?”

Mitchell stood. “Yes, that sounds good. Maybe next week you can come to my study meeting, but for this week, I accept your invitation. That was a great idea.”

“But—”

“I parked behind you in the driveway, so we can take my car. You'll just have to give me directions.”

“But—”

“And then how about if after it's over, we go out for coffee on the way home, and I'll buy an extra chocolate dessert thingy so you can compare pictures.”

“I. . .” Her voice trailed off, a loud sigh escaped, and her whole body sagged.

Mitchell tried to contain his smile.

“All right,” she mumbled. “Did you bring your Bible?”

“Nope—left it at home. I hadn't expected this, but it's a nice surprise. I'll just sit beside you so I can peek over your shoulder.”

“You can borrow one of mine,” she said, then checked her watch. “We should leave now. Let me get the Bibles and my purse.”

When they arrived, a hush fell over the room. Mitchell felt all eyes on him as they walked into their host's home.

Carolyn smiled graciously when she introduced him around, and they sat together on the couch until the leader began.

Mitchell enjoyed what the leader had to say, and it gave him a new perspective on the section they read. He wished he had his own Bible with him so he could have made notes.

When the study ended and it was time to mingle, he could tell everyone was trying to figure out his connection to Carolyn and why they were together.

Mitchell wanted to know the answer, too. He knew how he felt about Carolyn and what he wanted their connection to be. His biggest problem was to get her to take him seriously, but he didn't know how to do that—short of getting down on one knee and proposing, and they were nowhere near that stage in their relationship. He wasn't even sure what they had could be called a relationship.

After consuming too much coffee, Mitchell slipped away to use the rest room. He was just around the corner on his way back when he heard Carolyn's voice.

His feet skidded to a halt. He didn't want to eavesdrop, but he also didn't want to embarrass Carolyn by dropping into the middle of the conversation, especially if it was about him. He stayed where he was, out of their sight.

“It sure was a surprise to see you walk in with another man,” a female voice said in hushed tones. “What's going on?”

“Going on? Nothing is going on. Mitchell and I are just friends.”

Mitchell held his breath for a second. He wanted to be much more than just friends, but he supposed that being “just friends” was better than being “just a student.”

The other voice hushed even more. “What about Hank?”

Mitchell heard a shuffle on the carpet, indicating someone else was coming. Not wanting to be caught listening, he stiffened, gathered his courage, and continued walking. The lady with whom Carolyn was talking blushed profusely at the sight of him, causing Carolyn to turn around and acknowledge his return.

Carolyn turned to him. “Are you ready to go?”

His ego made him want to slip his arm around Carolyn's waist to show what kind of friend he wanted to be, but Mitchell didn't think she would take kindly to that. And contrary to Carolyn's words that nothing had changed, everything had changed. Whoever Hank was, he now had competition.

Not long after they'd first met, he'd asked her point-blank if she was going to marry Hank, and all she said was that it wasn't any of his business. Her reaction gave him the impression first that the answer was negative and, most important, that she wasn't in love with Hank.

Now it was his business.

He smiled politely at the woman whose name he couldn't remember. “Thank you for opening your home. You and your husband have been gracious hosts. Please tell him I enjoyed his teaching and I hope to be back again soon.”

Before either she or Carolyn could say anything, he hustled Carolyn out the door and to his car.

After they were seated at the coffee shop, Mitchell did his best to make cheerful, meaningless conversation, but he really wanted to bring up the subject of her relationship with Hank. Just when he was despairing of ever getting more information, Gordie and Roland walked in, straight to their table, and sat down.

“Would you care to join us?” he said as sarcastically as he could, not caring that he was being rude.

Gordie ignored him and turned to Carolyn. “You know, I finally figured out where I've seen you before. You're the home economics teacher at Central High. My brother is in your class this year. Steven Reid. Do you know him?”

Carolyn's eyes widened and her face paled. “Yes,” she mumbled, “I know him. He's a nice kid.”

Mitchell's favorite dessert turned to a lump of cardboard in his mouth. The last thing he needed right now was for Carolyn to be reminded that he and his friends were young enough to have a brother in her high school class.

He kicked Gordie under the table, but Gordie kept talking. “Steven has quite a crush on you, but I guess you know that.”

The color in her face changed from a sickly gray to a deep blush. She picked up her coffee cup and stared down into it. “Yes. It's very flattering, but soon Steven will forget about me and focus on one of the girls his own age.”

The word
boys
echoed in his head. Mitchell thunked his cup to the table and ran one hand through his hair. “Steven's a lot younger than we are.”

“Yeah,” Roland said. “I think you started teaching the year we graduated, right?”

Gordie closed one eye and started counting on his fingers. “Yeah. Too bad I didn't take cooking that year.”

Mitchell gulped down the last of his coffee. He wanted to leave and get away from his friends, but Carolyn still had coffee and half her dessert to finish. He turned and made glaring eye contact with each of his friends. “Don't you two have someplace else to go?”