Page 57 of Holiday Hire

Who gives a shit?I almost blurt it out but manage to keep it to myself.

In a cheerful voice, Phoebe answers, "Yes, he's fine. We'll be fine."

"We'll be fine." As if they're still together.

Panic sets in, causing my heart to race. I shift on my seat.

Phoebe smiles and asks, "Can we change the subject now?"

"Of course, dear," Mom answers.

Isabella pipes up, "Phoebe, can we make those turkeys and other decorations today?"

"Sure!" she answers.

The rest of the meal is spent in cheerful conversation with more holiday talk. By the time we finish breakfast, Lance is nowhere to be found, and there's no further mention of him.

Dad walks back to the corral with me, pats me on the back, and declares, "About time you admitted you needed a nanny."

I groan, realizing for the first time since breakfast, what just happened.

10

Phoebe

The Next Day

The Cartwright kitchen buzzes with excitement. Ruby, her daughters, and Georgia help prepare vegetables and meat for the beach party.

After Lance left, I felt a weight had been lifted from my chest. Shortly after breakfast, Ace earned the final star for the beach party, so I suggested we have it today.

The kids were nearly jumping out of their skins with excitement. It must have been contagious because Alexander surprised me and suggested the entire family participate, especially since Ruby and Jacob leave for their mission trip tomorrow morning.

My little beach party soon became a big event. Within hours, a tent with tables, chairs, and a sound system was put up next to the lake. Alexander and Sebastian dug the leftover ashes out of the fire pit and reconstructed it for the hobo dinner I suggested we make. Georgia and Paisley went to the store and bought allthe ingredients I requested. And Willow, Evelyn, and I spent hours with the kids, finding or creating everything we needed for games and making decorations for the tent.

Georgia asks, "Phoebe, how does this work? Do we toss everything in the can, or is there a specific order?"

I answer, "Meat first, then vegetables. Then we pour the beer and water over it. The corn on the cob will go in the basket insert."

"Gotcha." She picks up the smoked sausage and tosses it in. The rest of us add the green and purple cabbage, parsnips, turnips, radishes, red potatoes, and rainbow carrots.

Paisley positions the steamer basket filled with corn inside the can, and states, "I still can't believe we've never heard of this."

Evelyn declares, "I just don't know how it's possible Georgia's never heard of it! She always knows everything about cooking."

Georgia laughs. "Not everything!"

"Yeah, right," Ava adds.

Georgia shrugs. "I never went camping, but I'm excited to see how this turns out."

"You're going to love it," I claim, feeling nostalgic. When I was a kid, my family used to camp in the mountains. My dad would always take a metal garbage can, and we'd fill it with all the food, cooking it for hours over the bonfire. I haven't done it since I was ten, but the idea came to me this week when I was thinking about what we could do for the beach party. When I told the Cartwrights about it, the kids thought it was cool to cook and eat out of a garbage can, and the adults all rallied around the idea.

Ruby says, "Let me get someone to come get this can." She opens the back door and shouts, "Alexander! Mason! Can you come help?"

Within minutes, they step into the kitchen. Alexander grasps a handle, glances into the can, and says, "Never thought we'd be eating out of a garbage can."

"It's going to be delicious!" I declare.

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