Page 17 of Sweet Home
“Thanks,” he told her, meaning it. Some coffee would be just the thing to clear his head a little.
He poured himself a mug while she and Elizabeth poured the first of the pancake batter into a sizzling pan.
“It’s too little,” Elizabeth said.
“It’s not finished,” Dulcie told her. “We have to be patient.”
He headed over to the table, ignoring yesterday’spaper so he could watch his daughter interact with Dulcie.
“Here,” Dulcie said a moment later. “Look.”
“A heart,” Elizabeth exclaimed. “You made a heart.”
“It takes an extra minute, but they’re fun to do,” Dulcie said, glancing up at West, as if to make sure that it was okay to take the extra time.
As if he had been planning to do anything for breakfast this morning but pour out two bowls of cereal. He nodded, offering her a gentle smile so she would know it was really okay.
“Do you want to flip it?” Dulcie asked Elizabeth.
“Me?” Elizabeth asked.
“Sure,” Dulcie said. “But you can’t be sad if you mess it up becauseeveryonemesses up their first one.”
“I don’t want it messed up,” Elizabeth said firmly.
West knew that tone, and it was resolute. People might think little girls Elizabeth’s age were sweet and eager-to-please. But Elizabeth had a spine of steel. While she was normally very pleasant, if she dug her heels in, it was basically impossible to move her.
He stayed put, but prepared himself to intervene.
“Okay,” Dulcie said lightly. “I’ll do the first one. But if I mess it up will you be mad at me?”
Elizabeth looked a little surprised, but she shook her head.
“And you won’t yell at me?” Dulcie went on.
“No,” Elizabeth said, her eyes wide. “I won’t yell.”
“Good,” Dulcie said. “Because it will still taste good even if it doesn’t look as pretty, right?”
“Right,”Elizabeth said.
“Okay, then, I’m ready,” Dulcie said, licking her lips in concentration. “First I’m going to wiggle the spatula around until it’s under the pancake, like this.”
Elizabeth watched, rapt.
“Then, I’m going to slide the whole thing around, to make sure I’ve really got it and it’s not stuck to the pan,” Dulcie said, demonstrating.
“It’s not stuck,” Elizabeth said excitedly.
“Now, I’m going to flip it,” Dulcie said. “And this is the tricky part, because I have to do itfast.But I don’t want to do ithard,or I’ll wind up with a pancake stuck to the ceiling.”
“Theceiling?” Elizabeth asked.
Her tone was incredulous, but West could tell by the look in her eyes that part of her really,reallyhoped the pancake would stick to the ceiling.
“I’m telling you, it’s tricky,” Dulcie said, focusing on the spatula. “But if I do it right, it’s just a flip of the wrist.”
Naturally, she flipped the pancake over expertly. Elizabeth cheered, and West could only smile as he watched his daughter’s obvious glee.
