Page 78 of Wicked Dreams

“We’re home, Len,” Robert calls. “Your cooking smells wonderful!”

She rounds the corner wearing a bright-red apron. “I’m glad you’re back! You’re just in time.”

“For what?” It’s barely three o’clock. Caleb will be picking me up for the game in two hours.

“For you to help me.” She pulls something from behind her back, holding it out to me.

“Is that… my own apron?”

It’s light blue, with embroidered butterflies across the chest.

“Yes, it has your name on it and everything.” She taps the stitchedMargoon the top left, nestled between the butterflies. “Come on, before I burn everything.”

My throat closes.

No one has ever gotten me anything like this, and I’m not sure I’m processing it.

I drop my bag and follow her into the kitchen, where there are a million bowls. Okay, more like six, butstill.

“This is…” I gulp.

“Overwhelming?”

She helps me put the apron on. The loop over my head, the strings wrapping behind me and tying in the front. She leaves me to knot it, then stands back with a big smile.

“It’s your color,” she declares. “Okay, so we take this one veggie at a time. I’ll show you how to chop an onion without crying and then we’ll move on to easier stuff.”

“There’s a way to cut an onion without crying?” I shoot a glance at Robert. Where was this tip when I had tears and snot running down my face?

He holds up his hands in surrender. “Oops.”

Lenora chuckles. She shows me the proper way. Not surprisingly, she’s as good of a teacher as Robert. Maybe that’s why they’re happy together? Or why they don’t get muddled?

She seasons chicken while the oven preheats. We work in silence for a few minutes. Besides the onions—bigger chopped pieces—we have squared yams, half-moons of zucchini and yellow squash, and broccoli.

“What are we making?”

“We’re going to cut up some chicken and bake all of this together with some salt and pepper,” she says. “I’ll get the chicken going. Here’s the dish.”

She sets a glass dish next to my cutting board. I slide the cut veggies into it, then move on to the broccoli. She demonstrated how to cut it without getting the little bits of green everywhere, and I toss them in.

Lenora cuts the chicken and adds it. She drizzles the garlic-infused olive oil over everything and gives it a toss with her tongs. We cover the whole mixture with a bit of salt and pepper, and then we’re done.

“That was easy.”

“And it’s almost guaranteed to taste good.” She washes her hands. “I’ll put it in the oven. Rob mentioned you’re going to the hockey game tonight?”

I pause. “Yeah. Is that okay?”

“Absolutely! It’s part of the reason why I wanted to prep so early.”

“Caleb is coming to get me at four.”

She tilts her head. “Caleb Asher? Isn’t he on the team?”

I lift my shoulder. “Yeah, but he wanted to drive me. I don’t know.”

“Okay. No worries, honey, I just wanted to make sure.”

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