Page 15 of A Flower for Angus

Starting his truck, he backed out and came around front. When he pulled up to the flagstone walkway, Macy was just coming out of the house and Dorothy was just pulling in. He got out and went around to help the women into his truck. It was pretty high and neither of them had much height on them. They’d be lucky if they were 5 feet tall with a few more inches. “Yer chariot awaits, lass.” He grinned at Macy and opened the door, then picked her up by the waist and set her on the seat before she could lift a foot.

“Oh,” Macy gasped. “T-thank you, but I could have climbed in...I think.”

“It’s a tall step fer a wee mite like yerself,” he replied with a teasing grin, enjoying the blush that was stealing up her throat. He decided he liked throwing her off kilter.

“Hey, Dad,” Dorothy greeted as she rushed up. Her blonde locks were slightly out of order and her face was pink.

“Ye didna have to get in such a hurry, lass, I would have picked ye up,” he scolded gently.

“I didn’t want to be a bother,” Dorothy replied.

“Can ye scootch on over, Macy? Dorothy needs a lift into town today and mayhap ye lassies can discuss haggis lessons from Lucerne and do yer market shoppin’ together whilst I get Darro’s supplies.”

At first, Macy looked like she was going to object, but then she moved over and Angus picked Dorothy up and set her on the seat beside Macy.

“Hey there, Macy,” Dorothy greeted cheerfully. “Have ye tried to make the haggis on yer own yet? I tried the other night and I thought it was awful. Ben was sweet to say it wasn’t bad, but even I didn’t like it. I just don’t understand how Lucerne cooks like a champion. I do the same thing she does but mine never turns out the same.”

Dorothy chattered on and Angus rolled his eyes as he went around the truck to get in. His daughter-in-law was right, her cooking never tasted anything like Lucerne’s. He wasn’t a cook and never claimed to be, but some of the flavors that ended up in Dorothy’s food had yet to be defined.

Two weeks ago, he’d warned Ben about throwing out the leftover habanero roast lamb to the chickens, but Ben hadn’t caught Dorothy in time to prevent it. Since Angus could scramble eggs quite easily, and often did for a supper with his beans on toast if he didn’t eat with Darro, they supplied him with fresh eggs.

Two days after the spicy lamb meal, the fresh eggs he’d received had the weirdest color of yolks he’d ever seen. Instead of the nice orangish yellow color he was used to, they looked to have a deep pinkish hue. He’d shown them to Darro who promptly said it was probably the hot peppers tainting them to a salmon color. Needless to say, he’d elected to throw them out instead of eating them.

Apparently, Ben wouldn’t eat them either. He’d told Angus he could have sworn the cake Dorothy baked around that time had a hot spice in it. One bite and he hadn’t eaten any more of that cake.

Idly, Angus wondered how long before the rose-colored glasses wore off and Ben was finally ready to take his little wife to task?

***

SITTING SO CLOSE TOAngus was messing with Macy’s breathing ability. Occasionally his elbow would brush her arm when they hit a bump in the road or went through a dip. They weren’t more than two inches apart but she could feel him next to her as if she were a teenager in the thrall of a date with the football quarterback once again. One thing it did do for her was make her realize how lonely her life had actually been with Julian.

Julian, Andrea’s father Sam, and Macy, had all met in college. Sam and Julian had immediately been in competition for Macy’s interest, but it was Sam she’d fallen in love with. Although Sam didn’t have the money and family that Julian had, he’d graduated in financial investments and stock analysis and had done well for their little family. Andrea had been their only child, much to the despair of both of them. And then tragedy had struck.

“What do ye think, Macy?”

Macy was brought back to the present with a start. “What? Oh, I’m sorry, Dorothy, my mind wandered. What was the question?”

“That’s easy to do with country like this around ye, Macy,” Angus inserted, patting her left knee. “It’s a beauty that takes yer breath away.”

“Yes, it does,” Macy hastily agreed. It wasn’t the countryside that was taking her breath away at the moment, the touch of Angus’s hand on her leg was more than enough to do that. She regretted wearing shorts now. With every hair on the left side of her body seeming to be begging his attention, she was very uncomfortable. Were her hormones just out of whack? Was she going through menopause already? What the heck was making her feel like a dopey meme with hearts for eyes every time she got near the man?

“Aye,” agreed Dorothy with a chuckle. “I asked ye if ye’ve tried haggis yet?”

Macy shuddered. “That’s on the agenda for tonight. Lucerne is going to make some and show me how she does it. Then the next time we have it, I’ll make it. Are you coming for the lesson tonight?”

“Nay, I’ve already had that lesson...three times,” she replied with a deep sigh. “I just can’t seem to get it right.”

The peep Dorothy shot her from the corner of her eye made Macy slightly suspicious. Was there something more going on than Dorothy failing to learn from her cooking lessons? Lucerne told her she’d been giving the girl classes for the last year. Cooking simply wasn’t that hard. The art of making simple, hearty, stick-to-the ribs foods were just basics every woman should know just from watching their mothers cook through the years.

“Did you do much cooking as a teenager at home, Dorothy?”

A sudden pink flush crept up Dorothy’s throat. “I-I didn’t do much. My mum preferred to cook for the family.”

Macy took pity on her. “Do you have a big family?”

“Uh...nay...not really. Just two sisters and a brother, plus me, Dad and Mum.”

“Does your Mum work,” Macy asked, now even more curious.

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