Page 1 of A Flower for Angus

Chapter 1

Angus Sangster studiedthe dinner plate before him with a judicious eye. His son watched him with a warning gaze while his daughter-in-law held her breath. He finally picked up his fork and speared a piece of the suspicious looking meat wallowing amid carrots and potatoes in a greasy looking gravy. He hesitated.

Angus tried to avoid dinner with Ben and Dorothy at all costs, but he hadn’t been able to plead that his boss was slave driving him this time. Staunchly he took the bite of roast lamb off his fork and began the lengthy process of chewing it down enough that he could swallow it. That had been his experience thus far with Dorothy’s cooking. After some time under Lucerne’s tutelage, you would think Dorothy would have learned a bit more about the fine art of tenderizing meat, but alas, he hoped in vain.

When the fire hit the back of his throat, Angus started choking and reached for his tea. “Cripes! What in the name of Hades did ye put in the meat?” He finally choked out after drinking half his glass in one shot.

Dorothy beamed at him, her rounded, angelic face with her halo of blonde curls defying the demon he was sure lurked beneath her fair hide.

“I took yer advice, Dad,” she replied with enthusiasm. “Ye said I needed some spice in my cooking, so I added a few things to my stew this time. Do ye like it?”

“It’s certainly spicy,” he admitted reluctantly. “Is that red pepper ye put in it?”

She shook her head. “Nay, it’s habanera peppers. The recipe called for one pepper finely chopped, but I figured I might as well add a handful with them being so small.”

Angus groaned silently. The lass was so pleased with herself he couldn’t bring himself to disappoint her. “Where did ye get the recipe?”

“I got it from Lucerne,” Dorothy gushed. “Roasted habanera lamb stew she called it. I had never heard of it so I just had to try it.”

When Angus’s cell phone went off, he sent a thank you heavenward and grabbed it from his shirt pocket. “I got to take this; it might be Darro needin’ somethin’.”

Ben smirked as Angus shot up from the table like an explosive had been lit under him. He threw his son a killing glare as he virtually ran to the living room to take the call. It was Darro MacCandish, lord of Heaven’s Gate, or Neamh in the Scottish translation, and his boss.

As prearranged.

“How are ye enjoying yer dinner tonight?” Darro’s deep voice tinged with amusement, flowed across the air waves and into his ear.

“Ye need me back at Neamh?” Angus grunted, raising his voice slightly so Ben and Dorothy could hear from the kitchen. He ignored the humor in Darro’s voice.

“Aye, Lucerne has extra lasagna and some peach cobbler she wants to have eaten before it goes to waste,” Darro replied, chuckling.

What was left of Angus’s burnt mouth watered. His boss’s wife could make the angels sing with her cooking. Dorothy was supposed to be taking lessons from her, but so far, Angus hadn’t seen any evidence that it was working. Ben visited him on a regular basis and he would share Lucerne’s leftovers with him when he was lucky enough to get some.

“I’m surprised she has any left considering yer appetite,” he growled low into the phone. He looked up when Ben came into the room.

“Everything all right, Dad?” Ben smirked again, a knowing gleam in his eye. “I’m guessing ye are wanted back at Neamh?”

“Ye guessed right.” Then he lowered his voice. “Don’t ye be dumpin’ those leftovers into the chicken yard or ye may ruin yer laying hens fer the rest of the season.”

Dorothy caroled from the kitchen. “Ben, darling, aren’t ye going to eat?”

Ben cleared his throat. “Aye, honey, I’ll be right there. I’m just going to see Dad out.”

Dorothy appeared in the doorway, wiping her hands on her apron. “Would ye like me to pack ye some to have later tonight, Dad?”

Angus nodded. “Aye, that would be nice, honey. I have to get goin’ though, sorry I can’t stay. Ye’d best hurry.”

Dorothy really was a beautiful lass with her nicely rounded curves and cherubic face, but his son was going to starve to death if he didn’t do something. The lass was death on steroids in the kitchen. He shook his head as she hurried back to her task.

“Be sure to give Dad the lion’s share, darling,” Ben called back to the kitchen. “He doesn’t have anyone to cook for him like I do.”

“Lucky for ye I’m so understandin’, lad,” Angus growled.

Ben scoffed. “Understanding my arse,” he replied cheerfully. “Ye can’t bring yerself to hurt her feelings any more than I can.”

“Why don’t ye just hire a housekeeper to cook for ye? After all, Dorothy is doing full time work on her computer from home. It’s not like she has a lot of time to be cookin’ and washin’ yer drawers fer ye.”

“We can’t afford that, Dad. Better yet, why don’t ye just hire a housekeeper and we’ll take our meals here with ye every night? After all, I’m working our spread while ye are working Darro’s.”

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