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After a thorough look through the pantry, I agreed that we needed most of the basic things on the list. I didn’t understand the need for a stand mixer, but perhaps it would be a good olive branch right now. If she wanted to make cookies, who was I to stop her? No one else used the kitchen, and there were a few frozen meals in our freezer specifically in case I worked late and needed a late-night snack. They could be easily made without having to call Moroni back to the lodge, originally, but now I figured they would be a good way to eat late without having to endure a lecture from Miss Pennington.
I quietly hoped that she wasn’t going to be the worst kind of chef in my lodge: the kind who would make sure that no one could eat if they weren’t on time for the meal.
Once I had gathered everything I could in the pantry that was on her list, I checked the levels. We only had a few of the spices on her list, though some had expired a few months ago. I also found a mostly empty bag of flour in the very back of a cupboard. Also expired. Moroni had loved to make easy bread that required a lot of flour, but this bag had clearly been forgotten, and we hadn’t restocked for the season yet. At least flour was cheap. Simple.
I gave Rick the list of food and added a stand mixer.
“A stand mixer?” Rick raised an eyebrow. “So, we’re doing it? We’re going to get all the fancy equipment you’ve been holding back on ordering?”
“No,” I snapped before catching the sarcastic glint in Rick’s eye.
He nudged me jokingly. “Just teasing. Stand mixers aren’t fancy. Even my mom has one.”
I frowned. I honestly didn’t know if there was a mixer in my parents’ kitchen. I’m not even sure if they knew. “Just a decent blender and a stand mixer for now. We’ll probably need mixing bowls separate from the stand mixer, too,” I said. “Look… just as an olive branch to Miss Pennington right now. I don’t want us to have fights all week; training her is going to be hard enough while I’m trying to open the lodge. I don’t want this to get any worse.”
Rick nodded.
“Got a budget for me for the whole trip or just for the appliances?”
“Just the appliances for now. I figure if we can closely match that list this time, she might realize that I’m just trying to understand why she wants to change what has worked for the years I’ve been in charge.”
Chapter nine
Laurel
After hearing the door slam from down the hall, I made my exit from the lodge as soon as possible. I couldn’t understand why Mr. Delaney was being so obstinate when it came to the kinds of foods that were to be served in the lodge. Getting away from people, finding the hidden gems of nature, wasn’t that what this lodge was all about? In my mind, part of the hidden gems of nature was experiencing fresh meat and vegetables prepared in delicious ways. Or was he more concerned about making sure that the repeat customers who came here primarily to fish were going to be happy and continue to come back?
As I walked around the lodge grounds, I couldn’t help but ponder this question.
And if his reasoning wasn’t because he wanted to keep the repeat customers happy, was it because he didn’t make the money to justify each of these dishes? While ingredients and their prices were certainly an influence on some of the dishes I wanted to make, dishes like cookies could still come out great even if someone decided to use the cheapest materials possible. While some ingredients weren’t incredibly cheap – such as meat, which I could understand the hesitance to buy – I didn’t understand why he would so easily buck up for the materials that he had already been buying when some of what I wanted was the same product in a different format.
Like a whole, honey-glazed ham instead of the store-sliced sandwich ham. What was the big difference other than I had to cook and slice it, which I could easily do?
“Why did I come to Idaho again?” I muttered to myself as I walked around. Despite it being early spring, it was still rather cold.
I’d had to double up on my jackets since I hadn’t been able to locate my winter coat. I also was beginning to wonder what I was supposed to do during the winter. Did the lodge simply shut down and everyone left for the winter? Or did he stay onsite to take care of it while the rest of his employees went and used their time off to see family or travel? Since the lodge was also my home, would I be able to stay or would I have to move out?
I pulled my jackets closer to my body and zipped up the top one as I thought.
“Excuse me?”
A new male voice cut through my thoughts, and I stopped in my tracks. As I turned around to look for who was talking to me, I found another man walking over to me. He wore a fleece jacket that looked rather warm, but not incredibly heavy for the time of year. He had the right idea. I vaguely recognized him as the man Bailey had called ‘Rick’ earlier.
“Laurel Pennington? I’m Maverick Shelton; I’m one of the other employees here,” he said as he walked over to me.
The name, Maverick, hit me in the face like a truck.
“Are you named after the gas station chain?” I furrowed my brow. “There’s a whole chain of them from here to Shoshone.”
He let his head hang there for a moment before he let out a loud, heavy sigh. My face paled. Had I said something wrong? However, my weight shifted from the entirety of my feet to the balls of them almost automatically.
After what had happened with Mark, I’d gotten way more jumpy around men. Even the conflict with Mr. Delaney earlier had shaken me, and I’d done most of the yelling. I’d thought that getting out in the woods would calm me down, but now I wondered where I could run if I’d accidently made Maverick angry. The sigh he had heaved had set off my flight-or-fight response accidentally. Or, at least, I hoped it had been accidental.
“I go by Rick,” he said. “Rick.”
“Oh. Sorry. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rick,” I said.
When he finally looked me in the eyes, he didn’t appear to be upset at me. Perhaps he had just heard that comparison too many times to count while he had been working here. Whatever the case, I was glad I could relax now.
