“She would have loved you. Anyone who was friends with her babies, she adored.”
“Sound like my grandma.”
“I think grandmas are the same in that regard.” I add the three whole onions I just diced up to the pan along with butter to start them. The garlic I’ll add in just a few minutes as I don’t want it to burn while the onions soften.
“Did your Nana teach you to cook?”
“She did and everything else I learned from watching The Food Network. I don’t watch it as much anymore, though. They have fewer cooking shows and more shows that go looking for restaurants or things like cooking in a parking lot. Not something you can learn from.”
“I’ve never watched it so I don’t know.”
“The one show I’d say to watch isWorst Cooks In America. It’s funny and you do learn a few things here and there.”
“My mom should be on that show. We’d have all starved if not for Dad. Mom tried to cook last time I was home and she nearly set the kitchen on fire.”
“At least she tried.”
“True and we did manage to get Dad to order takeout from the new Chinese place in town. They’re so good!”
“You know I’ve only ever tried one Chinese place I really liked and that was Rice Fun down in North Carolina. They didn’t just use one basic brown sauce. They had a different sauce for every dish. I loved it. I even thought about applying to school in Charlotte for that reason alone, but in the end, it was too close to where Joe went to school, so I came here instead.”
“I for one am glad you came here. I got a new friend out of it.”
“Me too.” I add the garlic and give it a good stir. “You ready with the first batch of veggies?”
“Nope. I was too busy talking.” She laughs and sets about chopping while I take the tofu and add it to a hot pan. I need to brown it and let it be in the mixture for as long as possible to make sure it soaks up all the flavors of the stew.
We work quietly for the next hour as we talk about anything and nothing all at once. Mostly to keep my mind off the phone call, but I appreciate the chit chat only meant to fill up the silence and keep my mind too busy to obsess.
“What now?” Christa asks once we’ve added in all the ingredients to the stew pot.
“We wait. It’s going to need to cook for a couple of hours at least.”
“Are you a Potter fan?”
“Uh yeah. Who isn’t a Potter fan?”
“Want to have a Potter marathon? I own them all on Prime Video.”
“Girl, yes. We can order pizza and chill. How long before the horde descends?”
“Probably another hour, two at the latest.”
“Then we’d better hurry and order…”
My phone rings.
Heart in my throat, I pick it up and recognize Cherese’s number.
“Hello?”
“Daisy. Good news. The papers were served and it was done privately as well.”
“I…”
“I know you’re freaking out, but this is a good thing. It gives us legal standing if he tries anything.”
“I know and thank you, Cherese.”
