his glasses all the time. Winnie, thanks for bringing us up to date. Are you settled in your room?” Nell asked.
“Not yet. I think Rev left my suitcase on the doorstep before they went home. They foisted me off on you so fast I didn’t even have time to unpack there.”
“Not foisted. You will be a great help to us.”
“Yes, keep the pathetic newly divorced woman busy.”
“Not pathetic either,” Adam interjected. “I’ll get that bag for you.”
He stretched as if he’d been in one place far too long. The exercise showed off the wall of his chest muscles, the flatness of his belly, the bulge of his biceps and calf muscles. Both Winnie and Nell watched with rapt interest.
Finished with his stretches, Adam said, “So how many are you having over for Super Bowl Sunday in a couple of weeks?”
“My family, and that’s a lot of people, the old guard—Connor, the Rev, Calvin Armitage, Asa Dobbs and their kids, Howdy and Cassie and theirs. Why?”
“Two whole roasted pigs should do it. I want to build an umu oven for you.”
“And he cooks, too,” Winnie murmured.
“I’ll just bet he does,” Nell agreed.
Joe frowned. “You can use my Cajun microwave. It will do a small pig.”
“No, this will be better, a real Samoan feast. Can we get taro root or breadfruit here to bake with the pig? Coconuts, plantains?”
“The last two, yes. Maybe we could wrap yams and baking potatoes in foil to take the place of the first two.” Nell jumped in with both feet. “Everyone brings a side dish and a dessert. We won’t lack for food.”
“Sounds like Cajuns and Samoans have much in common. We will need banana leaves, too, lots of them, and lava rocks.”
“Hey, I usually grill.” Joe interrupted the island feast plans.
“And so you shall, dear. The children will still want hotdogs and hamburgers. Won’t this be fun, Winnie?”
“It sounds spectacular!”
“Let’s get your suitcase, and I will tell you how I make my oven.” Adam and Winnie left wrapped in plans if not each other’s arms.
“Now that’s an original pickup line. He’s showing off for Winnie, and you did not have to enjoy the display so much, Tink.” Joe wrapped a possessive arm around his wife.
“As you often say, I’m married, not dead.”
By the coy way Nell smiled, Joe knew she reveled in his mild jealousy. “While the kids do their homework, why don’t we go upstairs? I’ll show you how I like to cook.”
Chapter Nine
Winnie lay awake on the queen-sized bed under a comforter patterned in lilac blossoms. The feminine, lavender bedroom with the lacy border was intended for Lorena when she could be parted from her brothers. Nell figured that day would come quickly now that her youngest daughter had begun school. Soon, she would start seeing herself as a girl rather than a triplet and want her own space, not a single bed across from her brothers’ bunks.
In the meantime, Winnie could enjoy the luxurious space so different from the cramped bedroom entirely filled by a king-sized mattress because the newly minted Douglas Hopper, M.D., dermatology, insisted he needed one. By the time she figured out Doug cheated on her, she came to appreciate that big space in the middle of the bed that neither crossed for months before either called it quits.
He’d said she was tired, bony, no fun anymore. She’d retaliated with adjectives describing him as unappreciative, self-centered, and disloyal. Maybe they were both right. Doug found his relief with a buxom, bubbly blonde. She quit working the double shifts that put him through medical training and noticed her energy return, her gauntness transform into slimness again. Taking after her thin mother and grandmother, Winnie doubted she’d ever put on much weight. Most women envied her because her quick metabolism ate up the calories in every brownie or slice of cheesecake. Cheesecake. Beefcake.
Her thoughts turned to Adam Malala who had been relegated to the cottage next to
“Not yet. I think Rev left my suitcase on the doorstep before they went home. They foisted me off on you so fast I didn’t even have time to unpack there.”
“Not foisted. You will be a great help to us.”
“Yes, keep the pathetic newly divorced woman busy.”
“Not pathetic either,” Adam interjected. “I’ll get that bag for you.”
He stretched as if he’d been in one place far too long. The exercise showed off the wall of his chest muscles, the flatness of his belly, the bulge of his biceps and calf muscles. Both Winnie and Nell watched with rapt interest.
Finished with his stretches, Adam said, “So how many are you having over for Super Bowl Sunday in a couple of weeks?”
“My family, and that’s a lot of people, the old guard—Connor, the Rev, Calvin Armitage, Asa Dobbs and their kids, Howdy and Cassie and theirs. Why?”
“Two whole roasted pigs should do it. I want to build an umu oven for you.”
“And he cooks, too,” Winnie murmured.
“I’ll just bet he does,” Nell agreed.
Joe frowned. “You can use my Cajun microwave. It will do a small pig.”
“No, this will be better, a real Samoan feast. Can we get taro root or breadfruit here to bake with the pig? Coconuts, plantains?”
“The last two, yes. Maybe we could wrap yams and baking potatoes in foil to take the place of the first two.” Nell jumped in with both feet. “Everyone brings a side dish and a dessert. We won’t lack for food.”
“Sounds like Cajuns and Samoans have much in common. We will need banana leaves, too, lots of them, and lava rocks.”
“Hey, I usually grill.” Joe interrupted the island feast plans.
“And so you shall, dear. The children will still want hotdogs and hamburgers. Won’t this be fun, Winnie?”
“It sounds spectacular!”
“Let’s get your suitcase, and I will tell you how I make my oven.” Adam and Winnie left wrapped in plans if not each other’s arms.
“Now that’s an original pickup line. He’s showing off for Winnie, and you did not have to enjoy the display so much, Tink.” Joe wrapped a possessive arm around his wife.
“As you often say, I’m married, not dead.”
By the coy way Nell smiled, Joe knew she reveled in his mild jealousy. “While the kids do their homework, why don’t we go upstairs? I’ll show you how I like to cook.”
Chapter Nine
Winnie lay awake on the queen-sized bed under a comforter patterned in lilac blossoms. The feminine, lavender bedroom with the lacy border was intended for Lorena when she could be parted from her brothers. Nell figured that day would come quickly now that her youngest daughter had begun school. Soon, she would start seeing herself as a girl rather than a triplet and want her own space, not a single bed across from her brothers’ bunks.
In the meantime, Winnie could enjoy the luxurious space so different from the cramped bedroom entirely filled by a king-sized mattress because the newly minted Douglas Hopper, M.D., dermatology, insisted he needed one. By the time she figured out Doug cheated on her, she came to appreciate that big space in the middle of the bed that neither crossed for months before either called it quits.
He’d said she was tired, bony, no fun anymore. She’d retaliated with adjectives describing him as unappreciative, self-centered, and disloyal. Maybe they were both right. Doug found his relief with a buxom, bubbly blonde. She quit working the double shifts that put him through medical training and noticed her energy return, her gauntness transform into slimness again. Taking after her thin mother and grandmother, Winnie doubted she’d ever put on much weight. Most women envied her because her quick metabolism ate up the calories in every brownie or slice of cheesecake. Cheesecake. Beefcake.
Her thoughts turned to Adam Malala who had been relegated to the cottage next to
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