Page 23 of Wounded Cowboy
Abby wrinkled her nose.“It wasn’t supposed to harden so quickly!”
“Oh, no! That’s terrible.” Imagining the scene, Kelsey struggled to suppress a laugh.“What happened then?”
“Grandma Priscilla tried everything to get it out, but nothing worked,” Abby sighed, tugging at her short hair.“The hairdresser cut it all off. My hair was longer than April’s, too.”
“Was not!” April retorted.
Kelsey placed a reassuring hand on Abby’s shoulder.“Well, I think your pixie cut looks fantastic. It’s the perfect hairstyle for summer. And I’ll find us some less sticky science experiments to try together.”
“Really?” both girls asked in unison, their faces lighting up.
“Absolutely,” Kelsey confirmed. “Want to know a trick for telling teaspoons and tablespoons apart?”
The girls both nodded.
Kelsey continued, “Take away the ‘spoon’ part of the word, then ask yourself which is bigger: a cup of tea or a table?”
“A table is bigger,” Abby said immediately.
“Right. So the bigger measuring spoon is the tablespoon, and the smaller measuring spoon is the teaspoon.” Kelsey beamed at them. “Now, let’s get back to making these pancakes. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting hungry.”
She guided them step by step through the remaining steps for making the pancake batter. While Kelsey greased and heated the griddle, the girls took turns stirring the mixture, their faces filled with determination. It was freaking adorable to watch.
“Okay, now we’re ready to cook,” Kelsey announced when the griddle reached the perfect temperature.“I’m going to do this step. I don’t want either of you to burn yourselves.”
As Kelsey poured the first ladle of batter onto the skillet, April and Abby watched intently.
“See how the bubbles are popping and the edges look set?” Kelsey pointed out after watching the batter cook for two minutes.“That means the pancake is ready to flip.”
“Wow!” Abby breathed as Kelsey expertly flipped the pancake, revealing a golden-brown underside.“It looks just like Daddy’s pancakes.”
“Thanks.” Kelsey grinned.“I’ve had lots of practice.”
When she’d cooked the first few pancakes, she let each of the girls try their hand at flipping the next two. Their first tries were predictably disastrous, with raw batter pouring off the top of the half-cooked pancake.
Kelsey patiently scraped the spilled batter off the griddle and urged them to try again. They had more than enough batter to ruin a pancake or four.
The second and third tries went better, once the girls got the hang of handling the spatula and flipping the pancakes quickly to avoid the runny batter issue.
“See?” Kelsey said, retrieving the spatula from April’s grasp after her successful fourth try.“You guys did great. You’ll be expert pancake flippers in no time. Maybe you can help your Aunt Summer and Uncle Brock at the diner in another year or two.”
“Uncle Brock makes the best macaroni and cheese!” April declared.
Abby nodded vigorously.“I like his popcorn chicken, too.”
“All right, girls, I hope you’re hungry, because we’ve got a mountain of pancakes here,” Kelsey announced ten minutes later, when she’d used up all the batter.
The girls cheered and clapped as she carried a platter heaped with stacks of pancakes over to the dining table.
“Now, let’s set the table and find some syrup to go with these beauties.” Kelsey gathered up the papers Spring had left there.
April and Abby eagerly scampered off to grab plates, forks, and napkins while Kelsey pinned the emergency contact list to the fridge door with a magnet. She shoved the useless timetable sheets to one side of the dining table.
While the girls set the table. Kelsey dug in the fridge and found a container of butter spread and a nearly empty squeeze bottle of syrup.
A quick check of the pantry didn’t reveal a replacement bottle.“Uh oh,” Kelsey murmured.
“No syrup for our pancakes?” wailed Abby.
