Page 54 of Home Body
“Oh. Oh, of course,” Dalia stammered. “Please come in.”
“In case you’re wondering,” he said as he stepped over the threshold and drank in his lover’s face, “while you were busy at market today, Rose invited me over for supper. I suggested she ask her grandmother if it was okay, and here I am.”
“Of course I agreed. Welcome to our home. Let’s go into the kitchen.” Mamie waved at them to follow her. “Have a seat while Dalia and I finish fixing supper. Rose, honey, hand me your roses and I’ll put them in a vase. We’ll set them right on the table where you can see them. That was so thoughtful of you, Brody.”
Rose agreed. “Yes. That was very thoughtful o’ you.”
Dalia watched as great big Brody McIntyre melted when her little girl addressed him. She could tell Rose still wasn’t a hundred percent convinced he was okay, but the fact that she invited him over meant she was willing to test him out. Dalia had no idea how the man normally behaved around children, but the pink roses were a hit. So far, so good.
Rose and Brody sat at the table while Dalia went back to tossing the salad she’d been working on. “So,” she said, “this is why Mama insisted I comb my hair and put on a clean blouse after market today. I figured she didn’t want to eat with a slob. I should’ve become suspicious when Rose suggested I put on some red lipstick.”
Mamie arranged the roses in a pretty vase and set them on the table next to Rose. The little one giggled, looking up at Brody and innocently blinking flirtatiously.
When Mamie pulled a pan of lasagna out of the oven and set it on the stove, its steam rose to fill the room with the aromatic smell of Italian seasonings. She fanned it with a hot pad.
“Oh my word, that smells amazing.” Brody inhaled the heavenly scent. “Can I do anything to help?”
“No,” Rose insisted. “Grammy and Mommy like to do it their way.” She wasn’t willing to give up her new, albeit not entirely familiar, companion. “I helped set the table. I put down the plates. I did the spoons, too.” She held up her spoon as proof.
“Wow. You did an excellent job.”
“Thanks.” Rose guffawed as if embarrassed at the compliment. She still didn’t quite know what to make of this man.
There were only three place settings, so Mamie put out a fourth for Brody. “We didn’t want Dalia to know anyone was coming,” she explained. “There is one thing you can do, Brody.” She took a bottle of wine off the counter and handed it to him with a wine opener. “Would you do us the honors, please?” She set out three wine glasses, too.
Wine poured for the adults, a glass of milk for the little one, and salad and garlic bread on the table, they all dug in as if they hadn’t eaten in a week. When they finished their salads, Mamie placed the lasagna on a hot pad in the middle of the table and scooped it out in generous helpings. “I hope you like spinach,” she said to Brody. “It has a layer that adds a touch of zip.”
After one bite, Brody insisted it was the best lasagna he’d ever eaten. Dalia would have thought him merely placating her mother if she didn’t agree. Her mama’s cooking couldn’t be beat. Try as she might, she doubted she’d ever be as good.
Rose kept her vase of roses beside her, unwilling to let them get too far away. Rover lay at her feet, ready for the inevitable morsel she’d drop his way. From time to time, he’d get up and smell Brody’s shoes suspiciously, then, after deciding he could trust the dude, he’d go back to lie down by his girl.
The conversation revolved around the farm, the upcoming bakery, and being a deputy sheriff in a small town. They learned that Brody had come to Farmdale because no deputy jobs had been available in the city where he’d always thought he’d work like the other men in his family. The original plan was to work in Farmdale then move back home when a job opened up there. But after only a short time, he’d fallen in love with small town life. And he was only an hour away from his family. Enjoying this lifestyle had been a surprise to him.
Dalia couldn’t help but wonder if she might have something to do with that enjoyment.
When they finished their meal, he insisted on helping clean up. “With three boys and a husband in the house,” he explained, “my mom had strict rules about us doing our part. We were taught we weren’t ‘helping’ because we were boys, we were doing our fair share.”
“Sounds like my kind of mother,” Mamie said.
“Yeah,” Dalia noted, “because that’s just like you.”
The mood was light, fun. Mamie turned on the radio and they washed and dried dishes to her favorite oldies but goodies soul music. When she started to sway to the Temptations singingMy Girl,Brody took the dish towel out of her hand and danced her around the room. Mamie Blackburn floated in the young man’s arms, sheer joy on her face. Dalia took Rose’s hands in hers and they danced, too. Rover hopped around as happy as a puppy.
Throwing her head back and laughing when the song ended, Mamie picked up her towel and cheerfully swatted Brody.“Young man, that’s the most fun I’ve had dancing in ages,” she declared.
“Me, too,” he insisted.
Looking at him impishly, she said, “Well, we’re done here. It’s so much fun having a man in the house again. But Rose, love, it’s time for you to go to bed. And it’s my turn to read your bedtime story.”
Neither Dalia nor Brody missed the blatant set-up. Obviously, Dalia’s mother had evaluated this suiter over dinner and decided she wanted her daughter to have some private time with him, like an old-time courting arrangement.
“Um, Grammy, I, ah, don’t think so,” Rose said, faltering as her mind spun trying to make up an excuse. “It’s, ah, not my bedtime yet, I don’t think.”
“Little boo, look at the clock on the wall. Where is the little hand?”
“Um, it’s on the eight?”
“Correct. Where is the big hand?”
