Page 161 of Conveniently Wed
Turning back to look in the pot Leah was stirring, Miriam watched the gooey bubbles for a moment. “So tell me more about your life. Were you friends with the mayor’s wife and special people like that?”
“Well…I did attend many of the same dinner parties as the mayor’s family, but I’m not sure I would say any of those ladies werefriends. We were all trained to be so proper and poised, never saying what we actually thought. And most of them were so snooty they wouldn’t step out in the rain, even with an umbrella.”
Miriam’s eyes took on innocent confusion. “Surely you must have had friends. Weren’t there girls your own age?”
Leah nodded. “I would consider those girls acquaintances, really. My dearest friend was my companion, Emily Alders. She was several years older than me, but one of the kindest people I’ve ever met.” Memories of Emily brought a familiar sting to the back of Leah’s throat. Time to change the topic. “Is the jelly supposed to have foam on the top like this?”
Miriam peered into the pot. “Yep, that’s normal. We just need to scrape it off. And it looks ready to pour into jars now. Can you do that while I start the beef for dinner?”
“Of course.”
As she ladled jam from the pot into jars, she watched out of the corner of her eye as Miriam extracted a hunk of beef from the barrel in the corner. She placed the meat in the other pot and added enough water to cover, then moved it onto the hot part of the stove.
Leah cringed at the sight. Surely there was a different way to cook meat that wouldn’t make it so tough it would wear longer than the leather soles of her boots.
Her mind filtered back to those afternoons spent in the Townsend kitchen. What had Cook done with meat? She remembered seeing the maids pounding the stuff with an iron mallet, but what would that do? Shape the meat? She didn’t remember seeing any beef dishes with unusual shapes. Maybe it helped to soften it. That might be worth a try.
“Miriam, I remember our cook in Richmond use to pound on the meat with a mallet after it was parboiled but before it was fried. Would it be all right if we try that?”
Miriam raised her brows, but shrugged. “Fine with me, but I don’t have a mallet in here. I could go see if I can find something in Gideon’s tools.”
Leah looked around the room. “What if we try a frying pan instead?”
By the time they’d pounded and fried the meat, boiled and mashed the potatoes, mixed gravy in the frying pan, and arranged all the food on the table, exhaustion weighed her entire body. But she was more than a bit anxious to see if their experiment would yield any benefit in the texture of the beef.
Miriam must have noticed Leah’s fatigue, for she finally pointed to Leah’s chair. “Sit.”
Her leg ached too much to resist, so she sank into the chair with painful deliberation.
Gideon came in not long after and took his normal place at the table, only nodding in response to greetings from both women. Leah’s chair was across from him, and she reached out a hand to offer Drifter her normal welcome.
After Gideon said his simple blessing over the food, then loaded his plate, Leah tamped down her apprehension as he began to eat. She casually moved the food around on her ownplate, trying not to appear obvious she was watching Gideon for a reaction on the food.
After half the meat on his plate was gone, he raised his head to look at his baby sister. “Meat’s good.”
Miriam dabbed her mouth with a napkin. “Why thank you, big brother. Leah actually taught me a new technique. Makes the beef tender, don’t ya think?”
Gideon’s glance flicked to Leah, then back down to his plate as he nodded. “Seems so.”
And apparently that’s all he was going to say, for his fork dove back into the beef, using it to sop up mashed potatoes and gravy.
Something about this man both frustrated and drew her. Why was he so reserved? Why couldn’t he open up and talk to them like any other person? It wasn’t as if either of them were strangers anymore. Maybe she should try an experiment.
Clearing her throat, she began, “So, Gideon. How were the animals today?”
“Fine.” He didn’t even look up, just loaded potatoes and gravy on a slice of bread.
“Have there been any new calves born in the last few weeks?”
“Two.”
“Oh, I’ll bet they’re precious. All the babies and mamas are healthy?”
“Yep.”
Leah wanted to shake the man, but kept her poise instead. Perhaps all of Emily’s training had been for this moment.
She needed to make sure she phrased her questions so a one-word answer wouldn’t suffice. Horses were his favorites, so maybe that subject would get him talking. “So what are you working on with Trojan these days?”
