Page 51 of Red Mountain Burning
“I’m so sorry,” Emilia said.
A woman named Ivy, who was a newcomer to the mountain, jumped in. “Relationships in general just aren’t easy. I don’t know whether to divorce my husband or strangle him and bury him in the backyard.”
Everyone smiled, but Margot started to think Ivy was serious.
“After work,” Ivy continued, “he plops his lazy butt down on the chair in front of the television and waits for me to bring him a beer and dinner. As if I’m a fembot who’s supposed to switch on the moment he walks in the door. He can go eat a bag of Fritos for all I care. I’m done putting in all the work.”
Having endured a brutal first marriage herself, Margot totally understood where Ivy was coming from. “And this,” Margot said, “is why we come here. We need a place to vent.”
* * *
After teachingthe class how to make the perfect pizza sauce, Margot led them outside, where carafes of red and white wine waited under strings of lights on the patio a few feet away from her pizza oven, which sent a nice warmth into the brisk evening. The sun was bobbing on the horizon now, and the temperature was falling. Margot peeked inside the oven and saw the flames of the burning applewood licking the brick above. As the women laughed with each other, she fired her infrared temperature gun onto the bottom tiles of the oven. “Brava! We’re ready to go.”
Margot asked everyone to gather around as she stood in front of the outdoor counter and took her first ball of dough. Talking as she went, Margot worked the dough ball into a disc and then began stretching it. “Throwing pizza in the air is fun but not necessary at all. The secret to forming a circle is starting with a perfect ball. And if you’ve nailed the elasticity, and if the dough is the perfect temperature, it won’t break on you.”
Once she’d reached the desired thickness, Margot flung a handful of semolina onto the pizza peel and then set the pizza carefully on top. She painted the dough with her uncooked sauce and finished with slices of fresh mozzarella.
The women clapped as Margot slung the pizza into the oven with ease.
As they broke up into smaller groups, Emilia appeared with a handful of fresh basil from the garden. “Is this enough?”
“Oh, you’re a dear. That should do it.” Margot set the handful of basil on the cutting board and retrieved one sprig. As she began to tear off the leaves, she asked Emilia, “You couldn’t talk your mom into coming?”
Emilia shook her head. “I tried. She appreciates the invite but isn’t quite ready to venture out.”
“I totally understand.”
“She says she liked you a lot.”
“That’s sweet of her.”
Emilia looked into the oven. “How are things with Carly? Jasper was afraid to go back home.”
Margot frowned. “It’s been challenging.” She glanced at the pizza and saw the edges closest to the fire blackening a bit. She rotated the pizza with the peel. “Another minute or so, and we’ll have our first pie.”
“Let me know if there’s anything I can do for Carly,” Emilia said. “Jasper and I have asked her to hang out, but I don’t think she’s interested.”
Margot thanked her. “We’ll get through it. As you and I both know, being a teenager isn’t easy.”
“No, it’s not.”
Addressing everyone on the patio, Margot said, “Okay, first one is done. Let’s see how we did.”
They broke away from their side conversations to watch Margot pull the pizza out.Oohsandahhsrose up into the night as she slid the steaming pie onto a wooden board. Margot arranged the basil leaves across the surface and then brushed the beautifully bubbly crust with Tuscan olive oil and sprinkled it with sea salt. Taking her long pizza cutter, she rocked the blade back and forth, slicing the pie into eight pieces.
“Who wants to be the guinea pig?” Margot asked, holding up the cutting board and trying to ignore the tempting scents.
“The chef has to do the honors,” one woman said.
Margot shook her head. “Sadly, I’m on a strict diet. No pizza for me tonight.”
The ladies sighed collectively in disappointment.
“Hey,” another woman said. “We’re all on diets. Tonight is about breaking the rules.”
Margot’s eyes bulged as she shook her head. “If you only saw the dress I need to fit into in September, you’d know there is no cheating.”
“Oh, let it go, Margot,” another said.
