Page 111 of Tumbleweed Temptation
*****
MR. MCKAY SLEPT MOSTof the way home in the passenger seat of Austin’s Jeep, but once he got home, he needed help getting into bed, so Austin stayed a bit until he was situated in a way that would make it easier on his family. Austin thought, maybe, he’d have time to make it to the contest, take over for Ginny after all the hard work she’d done, but once he got Mr. McKay into bed and briefed both Mrs. McKay and Con on what to expect and how to react, Mrs. McKay followed him out of the room.
“Can we have a word?”
Honestly, he just wanted to go. The day had been ridiculously stressful, Mr. McKay’s anxiety presenting itself in his temper, and shortness with Austin, who had already dreaded the time they had to spend together. Austin walked with him into the treatment room, both as moral and medical support as he learned about the procedure. Once that was done, Austin escaped the hospital and headed to a coffee shop, tried to catch up on some paperwork, tried to get his mind off of what Mr. McKay was going through, all the while anticipating receiving the same caustic treatment on the drive home.
He just wanted to see Ginny, help her with the contest so she would be happy with him again.
But...Mrs. McKay needed his help. “Sure, of course. What can I do for you, Mrs. McKay?”
He was prepared for the same treatment from her that he’d received from her husband. He understood. They were scared. They were in unfamiliar territory when they were used to being in charge of their lives.
She led him into the living room, which had better acoustics than the foyer. “I need to get stronger,” she said, leaning her weight on one hand on the back of the sofa. “I am not—I’m not going to be able to help and I don’t want to put too much on Con. I need to get stronger. Can you—I don’t think I can do it unless I lose the weight, and I just don’t know if I can lose the weight.”
He saw the vulnerability in her eyes, something he wasn’t used to seeing from her. He wanted to touch her arm in reassurance but didn’t know how she’d receive that level of intimacy.
“I can examine you, next time I come out, check out your blood pressure and other vitals. I don’t want to make a plan until I have a better picture of your overall health, and I don’t have my instruments with me.” He should have brought them, though. He needed to get in the habit. But for now, he was glad to have the excuse so he could get to the contest.
Her expression fell. “I don’t know how to help until then.”
“Well.” He drew in a deep breath. “First of all, I’d look at your habits. I mean, are you snacking? Are you overeating? Or is it your food choices? Both of those can be addressed without an assessment. Start keeping a food diary, of what you eat every day. Keep track of that for a week, and when I come back out, we’ll go over it, and I’ll examine you at that time.”
She nodded, her expression somber.
“And if it’s snacking, well, try to change your habit. If you’re used to eating while you’re watching TV, say, thinking about choosing another habit, one that occupies your hands. A craft, maybe. Crochet or knitting. One that occupies your hands and your mind. Just, you know, look into something like that, and keep that diary, and then we’ll look at some simple exercises you can start to do to build up your strength and some muscle.” He walked toward the door as he spoke, and put his hand on the doorknob, determined to try to make the competition. “Please call if you need me.”
Even as he said it, he could envision his gas bill rising with all the trips he’d be making out here. They may as well make him a room to be on hand. At least right now he didn’t have any other urgent patients.
“Thank you, Austin, for being so good to him.” The words were an apology, but they seemed forced from her throat.
But he’d take it with grace, like his mama would want him to do. “Yes, ma’am,” he said, and slipped out of the house.
*****
“OKAY, THANKS FOR COMING, and welcome to our second cooking competition.” Ginny grimaced and backed off the microphone as her greeting blasted through the evening air. “Tonight’s competition is how to make a fast meal that’s still healthy. What do you usually make when you’re in a hurry?” she asked, pointing the microphone to Destiny Nazareth, sitting right in the front row.
“Macaroni and cheese and chicken with barbecue sauce poured on top.”
That sounded pretty good, actually. Ginny hadn’t eaten all day and currently wanted all the carbs. “What about you?” She turned to Rita Pence.
“Spaghetti and meatballs.”
She consulted her notes and took a deep breath. She would work behind the scenes all day long, but she did not like speaking in front of a crowd. And despite the cold evening, the place was crowded. “Well, tonight, our cooks are going to use these ingredients to show you some new ideas for a quick and easy meal. We have black beans, tomatoes, edamame, quinoa, brown rice, spinach, olives, panko crust, chicken, pork, chili sauce—not salsa, something hotter—and our cooks are going to make their choices to serve up a quick and easy meal that you can make if you have these ingredients on-hand.”
“I’ve never heard of half of those things,” Destiny said.
“Okay, well, quinoa is a grain, healthier than white rice. Panko crust is instead of breading your meat with flour. Chili sauce is more for Asian inspired food.”
“Are we going to be able to get these ingredients?”
“We are.” She forgot to raise the microphone to her lips, corrected the mistake, and repeated herself. “We are, and Mrs. Lopez has agreed to stock them in a special section in the store, so you can pick them all up at the same time.”
The audience murmured its approval.
“I don’t know if my boys would eat any of that,” Melissa said.
“Well, you don’t know unless you try, and maybe you can modify these recipes into something you think he might eat.” The kitchen popped up on the big screen TV as Patrick stepped in to operate the camera. He panned to the first contestant. “Okay, so first we have Meredith Drexler, who has selected the chili sauce, brown rice and panko crust with her pork chops.” Meredith waved at the camera, laughing, before Patrick turned to Josephine Crowley. “And over here, Mrs. Crowley has selected chicken, black beans, corn, tomatoes and chicken broth. Oh, that sounds good for a chilly night. Next we have Mrs. DeWinne, who selected chicken, spinach, low-fat cheese and canned tomatoes. And finally, we have Mrs. Sanchez, who’s going to give the brown rice a try, with chicken, peppers and low-fat cheese.” Ginny turned away from the screen to the audience. “We’ve added another fun aspect to this competition. To show you that it’s possible to make something quick and healthy, each of the contestants has a timer that will let you know, start to finish, how long each dish takes. Isn’t that a fun element?”
