Page 3 of A Flower for Angus

“What did Dorothy make that was so bad this time?” Lucerne asked.

Angus pointed his fork at Lucerne as he helped himself to a heaping plate of the tantalizing lasagna and garlic toast. “I blame ye for that disaster, lassie,” he scolded.

“Me?” Lucerne was aghast. “What did I have to do with it?”

“Ye told her about some hellfire recipe called habanero roast lamb. She decided to make it,” he growled. “I’m lucky to have any gizzard left, it was so hot. My throat still hasna recovered either.”

Lucerne couldn’t help but giggle. “Well, ye told her she needed to spice it up a bit, so it’s a good recipe for that. But it’s not that hot, unless ye have a weak palate,” she teased.

Angus glared at Darro. “Don’t ye need to be takin’ yer wee lassie in hand? She’s insultin’ my educated palate.”

Darro hooted. “Is that what ye call that bottomless pit of a stomach?”

“Now, ye are showin’ yer ignorance lad. Palate is yer tastebuds and mine are very well educated. If the lass hadn’t thrown in a handful of them habanero things, it might not have created meat hot enough to take the paint off the barn door. She figured to cook by thein for penny, in for a pound ruleand overdone it.Like I keep sayin’, the lass can’t cook.” He sat down at the table with his prize and dug in.

Lucerne dissolved into helpless laughter. “Oh no—tell me she didn’t!”

“Oh aye, she did,” Angus reassured her between a mouthful of lasagna and a bite of garlic toast. “I swear, if it wasn’t for ye, lass, I’d never get a decent meal.”

“Well, that may change soon,” Darro told him, taking a seat across from his second in command.

Angus actually stopped chewing. “What? Why? What have ye done to Lucerne?” he finally asked suspiciously.

Lucerne sat down by Darro with her hot chocolate. “He hasn’t done anything to me,” she replied, her eyes twinkling. “Darro just wants me to have some help now that we are expecting our own baby by Christmas. With Delilah and Corey to look after, and keeping an eye on Dad running my housekeeper’s business, I’m picking up more responsibilities all the time.”

Darro chimed in. “So, I’m hiring a housekeeper to help her.”

Angus stared at Lucerne. “But—ye are going to keep cookin’, right?”

“Probably not as much as I have been, but aye, I’ll still be doing some cooking. There will be evening’s when I won’t be, but that’s what the housekeeper is for. And of course, I love baking and such, so I’ll still be doing plenty of that.”

Angus nodded and then surprised Lucerne with his sensitivity. “Aye, it’s a good thing for ye then. I keep tellin’ Ben he needs to hire someone, but he says he can’t afford it. Dorothy is very busy too and adds to the household income with her computer work. Ben is like me, can’t cook but can always find somethin’ to eat if we get tired of beans on toast.”

“Dad is sending her up for her first trial day tomorrow,” Lucerne replied. “I’ll be in the city most of the day after getting breakfast and sending the kids off to school, and Macy will be fixing lunch and supper. I should be home in time to eat so we can all see how well she cooks. Just don’t be expecting a first-class chef,” she scolded, shaking her finger at Angus. “As long as her food is eatable and healthy, the chores I leave for her are done, and the kids like her, that’s all I’m asking for.”

Darro snorted. “That’s all I was asking for too, but I couldn’t even get that.”

Angus pointed his fork at him. “That’s cause the other lasses weren’t here to keep house, they were here to play house,” he cackled.

Lucerne wrinkled her nose at Darro. “Well...I don’t think Macy will have any designs on ye, she’s closer to Angus’s age than ours. According to Dad, she is very nice and is eager to work. And, if we like her, she would agree to move in with us if we want her full-time. She said she doesn’t mind living in remote places.”

“What’s her name?” Angus asked curiously.

“Macy Kennedy.”

Darro stared thoughtfully. “That’s not a Scottish name. Sounds more American than anything else. Did he say where she was from?”

“She told Dad she’d just moved here from Canada. He doesn’t know any more than that.”

“Canada huh?” Angus picked up his plate and headed to the counter for seconds. “I knew a lass from Ontario once. Swore she was going to run a dogsled in one of them Adirondack races. Of course, I don’t know if she ever did.”

“Ye mean the Iditarod? The race that’s a thousand miles long?” Lucerne asked in disbelief.

“Don’t pay any attention to Angus,” Darro scoffed. “He used to know more women than ye can shake a stick at. How he ever met all of them when he never leaves the highlands is still a mystery.”

Angus shot Darro an evil eye. “I was a man of the world when ye were still a twinkle in yer daddy’s eye, so don’t go tellin’ me who I knew or didn’t know.”

Lucerne spluttered with laughter. The two men were always going at each other, but she knew they had a deep bond between them. “Well, now ye will meet one from Canada,” she teased.

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