Page 1 of Admiring His Omega
Chapter 1
April
“Welcome to another episode ofSimply Living.” Malcolm Reed smiled at the camera attached to the top corner cabinet of his kitchen. “Today, I have two lovely assistants.”
Van smiled widely, cheeks dimpling, and hip-bumped him. “Hello. I’m Vanessa and this is my daughter Bianca. We’re keeping an eye on this terror today.”
Mal gasped dramatically, pressing his hand to his heart. “Terror? Me?”
Bianca chuckled, then smiled shyly at the main camera. The sixteen-year-old was very self-conscious, and Mal thought being part of his show might help boost her confidence. His viewers were generally good-natured and fun.
“You are a troublemaker for sure,” Van continued, rolling her eyes. “Now, what are we making?”
“Oh, right.” Mal bounced on the tips of his feet. “So, it’s April here in Maine, and the weather conditions were perfect for one of my favorite pastimes – mushroom foraging. By now you all know I’m a mycophile.” He wrapped an arm around Bianca’s shoulders. “Usually foraging here in the spring is tricky, butyesterday, my youngest assistant spotted the biggest patch of morel mushrooms that I’ve ever seen.”
Bianca flushed and the freckles on her pale cheeks stood out even more. “We, umm, we’re in central Maine and just got a really good rain. Mal told me that the soil has to be super wet and at least a little warm for mushrooms to grow. This year’s spring has been much warmer than usual.”
“She’s my precious, little budding mycophile. Best assistant ever, right?” Mal smirked.
“Hey, I cleaned the mushrooms,” Van protested.
Mal laughed. “Yeah, yeah. The easiest job.” He stuck his tongue out at her, then looked back at the camera. “We have fresh, hand-gathered morels, so today we’re going to make a simple morel studded pasta. It’s both vegetarian and easy to make.” He gestured around the small kitchen of his fifth wheel camper. “RV living doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself to outdoor grilling. We have a full kitchen here, just a little less space, so it’s just as easy to cook from scratch using fresh ingredients as it is to toss hotdogs on a grill.”
“Easyhe says,” Van said, snorting. “Boy, you’re delusional.”
Mal shrugged. “It does take more planning, but your tummy will thank you. Fresh ingredients generally taste better and are healthier. Don’t limit yourself just because you have less space and appliances. Plus, if you think about it, part of the joy of choosing the RV lifestyle is so you can explore and find interesting places. Over the past five years, I’ve found so many little gems. One such place here in Hobson Hills, Maine, is a cute little store called Farm Fresh.”
“I love it there,” Bianca said, tucking a strand of curly brown hair behind her ear. “The whole place smells like baking bread, and they sell fresh veggies and fruit.”
“It’s really a good place,” Mal agreed. “Good prices too, which is always welcome. Yesterday, I bought so many deliciousingredients. Here’s fresh butter and heavy cream – they even have a picture of the cow it came from on their packaging.” He grinned. “Her name is Pooka, by the way.”
“They do have the freshest and tastiest veggies there,” Van said, holding up a cutting board. “Here’s some freshly minced garlic and shallots that Mal bought as well.”
“The pasta we’ll use is some of the garganelli I made and froze from three episodes ago.” Mal gave Bianca an encouraging look.
She cleared her throat nervously, then listed out the other ingredients for the dish they were making while Van and Mal smiled proudly.
The show went on as they bantered back and forth, and Bianca slowly loosened up, smiling and laughing freely.
The girl and her mom had a special place in Mal’s heart. He had spent the past five summers in Hobson Hills’ RV Park, close to the small house that Van and Bianca lived in. Van quickly became a good friend, and Bianca felt like his daughter from another life.
A long-haired, grey tabby with one eye jumped onto the counter and Bianca blocked him from the stove. “No, Truffle. We’re the assistants today.”
Mal’s cat meowed loudly and gave them a dark look before hopping back to the floor.
“Yes,” Mal said, smiling sweetly. “Today’s dish doesn’t require any Truffle hair.”
“So many of your dishes do,” Van said, snickering. “Whether you like it or not.
A short time later, the episode concluded with three plates of steaming pasta. Mal cut off the cameras and urged Van and Bianca to take the two seats at the small bench table separating the kitchen from the living area. His RV had a simple floorplan– living area in the middle, a step up to the kitchen on the right, and a step up to a bathroom and bedroom on the left.
“You two did so well,” he said, sprawling on his small couch. Truffle instantly jumped up and settled on his lap. “Thank you for helping out today.”
“No problem,” Van said, mumbling around a mouth of food.
Bianca snickered. “What Mom means to say is ‘thank you for the free dinner.’ This is so much better than anything we make at home.”
“I swear it’s on par with Rueban’s cooking at the pub.” Van took another bite, a look of bliss covering her face.
