Page 45 of Goodbye Paradise
So far, I’d been entrusted with making toast, and buttering it. I could also make coffee.
But I’d watched Maggie scramble eggs a few times, and I thought I was ready for the challenge.
“I can crack eggs two at a time, because I once worked for a pastry chef.” She’d had a bunch of short-term kitchen jobs in California. Her last one was at a hotel which Daniel’s dad owned. That’s how they met. “You should crack one egg at a time, though. And check for bits of shell.”
I set out four eggs, and got down a bowl to crack them into. The first egg I hit too lightly against the bowl, barely cracking the shell. When I pulled it apart, I ended up fishing lots of bits of shell out. The second egg I hit too hard, making a bit of a mess on the side of the bowl.
Who knew this could be so hard?
By the time I’d broken all four successfully, the butter in my pan was smoking. So I cranked down the heat and turned on the overhead fan.
I scrambled the raw eggs with a fork, just like Maggie did. Then I poured them into the hot pan, remembering too late that she said to add a dollop of cream to the mixture.
Whoops.
The eggs sizzled, and I tossed them around with a rubber spatula. “Any idiot can cook an egg,” Maggie had told me. “Heat them to a certain temperature, and the proteins harden. It’s that simple. Many a bachelor has survived on eggs.”
She wasn’t wrong. Because this idiot’s eggs began to look very nicely scrambled. They weren’t as pretty as Maggie’s, because the butter had darkened. But they smelled like the real thing.
Just as I took the pan off the heat, Josh came in the door. “Wow! Look at you!” he said, hanging his work jacket on a peg.
“I know,” I said. “I’m awesome.”
Josh kicked off his mucky boots and went into a cabinet for plates. “What else do we need?”
“Forks…” I grabbed a loaf of bread off the counter and opened the bag. “And butter?” I dropped two slices into the toaster and hit the button. My timing wasn’t perfect, but this was the first meal I’d ever cooked.
By silent, mutual agreement, we ate breakfast standing hip to hip at the counter. It would have been weird to sit down at the table without Daniel and Maggie.
“This is great,” Josh said, forking eggs into his mouth.
“They got a little brown,” I hedged.
Josh winked. “No, they’re perfect. And I like finding you half naked in the kitchen, making me breakfast.” He touched a hand to my bare back before picking up his coffee mug.
I gave him a big, silly smile. Because right then? I had everything I needed in the world.
The outer door banged open in the mudroom. “Hey guys!” Daniel’s voice called through to the kitchen.
By silent, mutual agreement, Josh and I leapt away from one another before Daniel made it into the kitchen.
“Hey! Josh called. “What’s the news?”
Daniel stepped into the room, grinning. “Baby girl. Seven pounds, two ounces.”
“Oh!” Josh’s face lit up. “A girl! Do you have a name?”
“Chloe. Maggie was determined that it wouldn’t be biblical.”
That cracked me up. “That’s awesome. She’s sticking it to our Divine Pastor.”
“Exactly,” Daniel agreed. He looked exhausted, actually.
“I think it’s pretty,” Josh said loyally. “When do we meet her?”
“Probably tomorrow,” Daniel said. “I just came home to shower and check on the animals.”
Josh pointed his fork at Daniel. “I’ve been in that barn all morning, and the cows are in much better shape than you are.”
