Page 31 of Caleb's Cause
“Oh? Any particular reason? Not that I don’t want to see them, but it seems weird.”
“They were talking about their wedding, and everyone admitted it was a mishmash of small pieces of paper and needs to be organized. I volunteered.” She shrugged at his look of confusion. “It’s what I do, I love organizing things.”
“Got it.” They continued to eat, and she asked about his comment about the groceries.
“Oh, this cabin is usually left empty for guests. Just the basics are here. It’s too late in the year, but plans are being set in motion that come spring, one or two gigantic gardens will be put in and all the vegetables grown will be later canned and put into what everyone is calling the community panty.” He shook his head when it looked like she was going to say something.
“I have no clue. All I know is that Uncle Ry is in charge of building it. I do know that I’ve been told that anytime I’m out and about, I should pick up some canning jars. I also know that this pantry will have an industrial size walk-in cooler as well as a freezer.”
“Like restaurants have?”
“So I’m told. Then there will be shelves for the things preserved from the gardens. I also know that Pru provides eggs for everyone, and twice a year, she takes her meat chickens to the processing plant and everyone chips in for that fee in order to get chicken in their freezer. Erin does the same thing with her beef.”
“Oh, wow.” She cocked her head to the side and frowned.
“What?”
“What if we helped pay for the feed to feed the chickens?”
“I never thought of that, but I’m sure we could help with that.”
“Okay, I guess I have a lot to learn. I’m not saying I’m going to be here forever, because I’m just hiding out, but I do want to help wherever I can while I’m here.”
“You wouldn’t want to stay after everything you’re going through is over?”
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly and finished eating. After she finished she looked at him from beneath her lashes. “I have a silly question or two.”
“No question is silly.”
“This one might be. You said that there’s going to be a garden or two in the spring. I understand that, but what about in the meantime? Do people go to the grocery store?”
“Of course, sometimes one person goes and it takes all day because they buy for everyone. Other times if someone’s in town, they pick up what they need. Don’t quote me on this, but I believe the community pantry will be for what is harvested from the garden, as well as anything extra people buy and don’t have room in their homes, but want to have them on hand.”
“Like what’s in our pantry?”
“What do you mean?” Caleb asked in confusion and watched as she stood and went over to a door and opened it. “What the hell is all that?” Caleb asked in confusion when he saw two shelves full of canned goods. He rose to go and inspect it then looked at Katherine with a scowl. “Why on earth would someone store peas and green beans here?”
“Because,” came a gruff voice from behind them. “Pru hates peas, and I store them here so I can eat some. The green beans are for Reid. Erin hates them, he loves them. We keep them here so when we want some, we come and eat a can, then we’re good for a couple of weeks. We keep them here out of respect for Pru and Erin.”
“Got it,” Caleb said, and started clearing up the mess from their dinner. He didn’t say a word when Ryan grabbed a can of peas, opened it, drained it, then took a spoon and ate right out of the can. He looked at them with a grin.
“We had meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I wanted peas.”
The others smiled and finished cleaning up. By the time he was done, Pru had joined them, and instead of having coffee that late, they all opted for water or iced tea. In minutes Katherine was hunkered down with a pad of paper, pen, and a list of questions in her head. She asked what they both wanted, took notes, then told them she would get back to them in a couple of days. She wanted to go through everything first to get it all straight in her head. She promised that she’d have everything ready by Sunday afternoon, then sighed when Caleb reminded her they had to go with Duane and Laurie. No one said anything as to why, and Katherine didn’t say anything. By ten o’clock she was climbing into her bed and hadn’t realized how exhausted she was because she never remembered climbing into bed, let alone laying her head on the pillow, or covering herself.
CHAPTER 12
Sunday afternoon foundKatherine and Laurie laughing as they walked the halls in the mall with their bags of new clothes for Katherine. It felt like it had been years since she’d been so carefree, and as they saw Duane and Caleb in the distance, both women sighed at the sight of them.
“Did you find what you needed?” Duane asked as both he and Caleb reached for the bags.
“Yes,” both women answered at the same time, and shared a laugh. “Sorry,” Katherine said. “It’s just that it’s been so long since I’ve done something like this. I mean no offense, but Laurie reminds me of Mom when she was carefree.” She shook her head sadly. “Back before Larry came into our lives.”
“Got it,” Duane didn’t know what else to say, so he kept quiet. When they reached the SUV the four of them had arrived in, Katherine laughed.
“When are you meeting your friend? I’m starving.”
“Yeah, I’m getting hungry too. We just have to drive over to the restaurant.”
