Then we should use it for something special, she said. What if we make stew for dinner tonight? Would you help me? Mera's whole face lit up. Really?
You'll let me help with mama's stew? If you teach me how she made it? I've never made stew in this kitchen before. I'll need a good teacher. The little girl practically vibrated with excitement.
I know where she kept her recipe box. I'll show you after breakfast. By the time the boys returned, all dressed now, though Matthew's shirt was inside out, and Nathaniel had managed to button his vest wrong, Eliza had produced a passable breakfast of scrambled eggs, toasted bread, and fresh coffee that actually tasted like coffee instead of mud. It wasn't fancy, and it certainly wasn't the feast these children were probably used to from their mother, but it was hot and plentiful, and no one complained. Well, no one complained out loud.
The look Matthew shot at his eggs suggested he was mentally cataloging every way they failed to meet his standards, but he ate them anyway, which Eliza counted as another small victory. Bo returned as they were finishing up, his hat dusty and his boots caked with mud from the fields. He paused in the doorway, taking in the scene. Children fed and dressed, kitchen more or less clean. Eliza at the stove washing the last of the pans.
"Miss Morland," he said, surprise evident in his voice. "You're up early. " "The rooster was very insistent about that," Eliza replied, drying her hands on a towel that had definitely seen better days. "The children have eaten. There's coffee if you'd like some, and I can make you a plate. " "No need. I ate before dawn.
Bo removed his hat, running a hand through hair that was showing the first threads of silver at the temples. But thank you. How was How did everything go? His eyes flicked to his children as he asked the real question underneath the polite words. Did they make it impossible?
Did they break you already? We managed just fine, Eliza said. Meera was very helpful in showing me where things were kept. And we're planning to make stew for dinner tonight, if that's agreeable to you. Something complicated crossed Bose's face at that.
Pain maybe, or memory. Catherine's stew was always my favorite, he said quietly. Then we'll do our best to make it as good as she did, Eliza said, meeting his eyes steadily. Meera tells me her mother kept a recipe box in the pantry. Top shelf.
Bo was quiet for a moment, then seemed to shake himself. I need to head back out. There's fence line that needs mending before the cattle find the weak spots. James, you're with me. Matthew, I need you to feed the chickens and collect eggs.