Page 18 of Rescued By the Rebel

“Going good.”

We head into the kitchen, and I move over to the fridge.

“Have you eaten yet?”

“No, not yet.”

“Want to cook with me?”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I might destroy it,” she warns, and I smile.

“It will be fine. Come on.”

I grab her hand and lead her around the kitchen island. I set a cutting board and knife in front of her and she takes a deep breath.

“What are we making?”

“How about a simple stir fry?” I ask her, and she grins.

“I like the simple part,” she jokes, and I laugh.

“Come on. You can start by cutting up some broccoli while I peel the carrots.”

“Alright.”

We work together in comfortable silence for a few minutes. I finish the carrots and add some rice to my rice cooker. Once she’s done with the broccoli, I pass her the peeled carrots and grab a wok.

“What should I do with the carrots?” She asks.

“Just cut them like this,” I say, grabbing the knife and slicing it into thin circles.

“Got it.”

“Tell me about the animals that you took in today,” I say, and she smiles as she tells me about the three dogs she brought to the sanctuary today.

She’s so full of passion and excitement as she describes the pups and I smile along with her. This job, running the sanctuary and caring for the animals, is absolutely what she was meant to be doing.

I grab a new cutting board and cut up the chicken, adding some oil to the wok and then tossing in the chicken.

“Come here. I’ll teach you how to cook everything,” I say and she seems nervous, but walks over to join me at the stove.

I pass her the wooden spoon and tell her to stir the chicken as it starts to sizzle. I watch as she stirs until it’s evenly cooked. I pass her the broccoli and carrots to add in and she seems more confident now. I open a can of baby corn and bamboo shoots and add them while she continues to stir everything.

“Now some teriyaki sauce,” I tell her, passing her the bottle.

“How much?”

“I would do all of it. The bottle isn’t very big,” I tell her.

She nods, pouring in the sauce.

“You did it,” I tell her with a wide smile.

“It smells good,” she says in wonder.

“It will be good.”

The rice cooker goes off, and I grab two plates. I add rice and a hefty spoonful of the stir fry to each plate.

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