What's Cooking (14 page)

“We're almost there.”

Carolyn blinked and started paying attention to where they were. They had traveled about ten minutes and neither of them had spoken, which she found odd because Mitchell tended to be chatty in the car.

Upon the arrival of the wedding party, Mitchell planned to introduce her to everyone she hadn't met, and then everyone would leave except Carolyn. Then, once she was alone, she would start setting out the food and make the punch and put everything that required heating in the oven. Since the rehearsal itself wouldn't be long, she would have barely enough time to get everything done before the wedding party returned, and then it would be time to eat.

“Are you as nervous as I am?” she asked as she smoothed a few imaginary wrinkles from her sleeve.

Mitchell slowed the car, and they pulled into the driveway of a large white house with blue painted trim and a cheery flower garden in front.

He killed the engine but made no move to exit the car. He remained seated, rested one arm across the back of his seat as he turned the upper half of his body to her, and gripped the top of the steering wheel tightly with his left hand. “Before we go in, there's something I neglected to tell you. I've been afraid to mention it, but I think you should know this before you meet my parents.”

Her stomach sank. She swallowed hard and listened.

“My mom and dad were only sixteen when she got pregnant. They got married when I was three. They became Christians when I was in kindergarten.”

She waited in silence, but he didn't say anything more. “Why are you telling me this?”

He stiffened and grasped her hands as he spoke, holding them firmly enough that it would be an effort to pull away from him. The tightness in her stomach worsened her fear of what he was going to say.

“Just so you'll be prepared when you see them. I should have told you sooner, but I didn't know how. I'm sorry.”

She stared at Mitchell, trying to picture an older version of him, which wasn't difficult, because she'd often tried to fantasize him into being older.

“It's okay,” she said, still not sure she understood why he thought the state of his parents' early relationship was her concern. They were Christians now and had been for years, which was all that mattered.

Mitchell straightened and tugged at his shirt collar, then ran his hands down his sleeves, straightening out the wrinkled fabric. “We'd better get moving. We have to get all the food inside and some of the work done before everyone gets here.”

Walking side by side, they approached the house. Instead of knocking and waiting, Mitchell rang the doorbell and opened the door. He poked his head inside, calling out that they had arrived, walked in, and shut the door behind them.

A couple approached from the stairs. The woman was blond, tall, thin, and absolutely beautiful. She wore fashionably snug jeans along with a loose, short-sleeved, cotton pullover sweater. Her right arm was bound in a cast, which was supported by a sling.

The man was about the same height as Mitchell and just as attractive in a different sort of way because of the maturity that enriched his handsome features. He smiled a greeting that would have melted any woman's heart. He carried himself with a combination of good looks and confident manners that gave him a timeless appeal, except he wasn't old enough to need to be timeless. He was drop-dead gorgeous. It took a few seconds for it to fully sink in that this chic couple was Mitchell's mother and father.

The resemblance between father and son was striking, and he sported a physique identical to his son's. They almost could have been brothers, except for the fact that since Mitchell's mother was standing beside him, Carolyn could see some of her features in Mitchell.

“Carolyn, these are my parents, Kim and Roger. Mom, Dad, this is Carolyn.”

Carolyn blinked, speechless. In a single instant, she understood the meaning of Mitchell's attempt to caution her about meeting his parents. She had friends the same age as Mitchell's mother, but that wasn't what hit her the hardest. Doing some quick math, she calculated that Roger was forty years old, only one year older than Hank—and closer to her age than Mitchell was by two years.

Carolyn felt sick.

His mother smiled. “So you're Mitchell's friend, the cooking teacher. We've heard so much about you. I'm so pleased to finally meet you.” With her arm in the cast, she awkwardly glanced down while Mitchell's father extended his hand. Carolyn responded with the limpest handshake of her life.

“Yes, pleased to meet you, Carolyn.”

The second his father released her hand, Mitchell slipped his around her waist and gave her a little squeeze, drawing both his parents' gazes to the obvious show of affection. His mother's eyebrows rose, but no comment was made. Carolyn should have parroted the usual polite reply, but for a moment she couldn't have formed words if her life depended on it. She didn't know how to address them. She had called Hank's parents by Mr. and Mrs. and besides, they were. . .older. If they were at school, she would have addressed a student's parents as Mr. and Mrs., regardless of the age difference, but in any other social situation, she would have greeted them using their first names.

In this case, she settled for, “Thank you. It's good to meet you, too.”

Mitchell's mother cleared her throat. “Ellen and Jake phoned to say they're going straight to the church. We should get moving, too, or we're going to be late. While Roger and Mitchell empty the car, I'll show you the kitchen and where everything is, and then we'll be off.” Carolyn followed Kim into the kitchen, but every word of explanation and directions went in one ear and out the other. Not only was Mitchell's mother a talented cook, she was gorgeous and slim. Carolyn wondered if her hair would go gray before Kim's did.

Thankfully, his parents left the house quickly, but Mitchell lingered.

“Are you okay?”

She wasn't, but she didn't know what to say. She nodded dumbly.

“We'll talk about it later.” Before she could think or move, his fingers tipped her chin up, and he gave her a light, lingering kiss. Very gently, he stroked her cheek with his fingertips, tilted his head, and brushed one more light kiss to her lips. The sweetness of his actions nearly made her cry.

He spoke so softly, she could barely hear. “Remember, I love you.”

Before she could collect her thoughts enough to respond, he turned and sprinted down the sidewalk, hopped into his car, and drove off.

Carolyn busied herself setting out the food on plates and preparing what needed to go in the oven. She didn't want to think about Mitchell, and she especially didn't want to think about his father. Instead, she paid an inordinate amount of attention to the exact amount of filling needed for each individual crab snap, and then put all her concentration on rearranging everything to make the most attractive display of all the food Mitchell had made.

Fifteen

Mitchell smiled politely at a joke that had the rest of the wedding party nearly rolling in the aisles with laughter. He stood where he was supposed to stand and waited while the pastor instructed everyone on exactly what to do and how to walk.

She never said she loved him back. The first time he'd said it casually, just dropping it into the conversation, but he'd never been so nervous in his life. He didn't know how she would respond, so he left her an opportunity to bolt, and she had. This time hadn't been much different except that he was the one who ran, using the excuse that everyone was waiting for him. But before he took off, he had hesitated. He'd seen the shock on her face.

Ever since the first time he met Hank, Mitchell had worried about how Carolyn would react to meeting his parents, especially his father. At the time it had hit him right in the gut to see how much older Hank was than Carolyn. It had been almost like looking at his father, and it shook him.

It had taken him a long time to deal with the fact that his parents had been unmarried teenagers when he was born. Both his parents had continued with their schooling, except that his mother had taken a year off and graduated one year later. His grandparents, whom he loved dearly, had helped and supported them until his parents graduated, got jobs, and married.

His family had struggled, but now, twenty-four years later, his parents were happily married and in a few years would be celebrating their silver anniversary. Ellen had been born a year after his parents were married, after they had become Christians. Their story had a happy ending, unlike the story of so many teenage pregnancies.

As much as his friends had always been impressed with his youthful mother and father, Carolyn was having exactly the opposite reaction, and he couldn't blame her. He should have found a way to mention it earlier so it didn't come as such a shock.

Mitchell turned his head and stared blankly at the wall, ignoring the noise and clamor around him. He could only imagine Carolyn's misgivings about getting involved in a relationship with a man whose parents were only seven years older than she was.

Mitchell buried his hands in his pockets and continued to stare at the wall. He desperately loved Carolyn with all his heart and soul, but now there was nothing he could do. He had to leave it in God's hands and trust that if this was the woman God wanted him to have, then it would be so. If not, he would have to let her go.

He pulled his hands out of his pockets, stood the way he'd been told, and turned around to watch Ellen's friends walking down the aisle one at a time. Today they were all wearing jeans, but on Saturday they'd be in long dresses.

He looked at Jake, who was now standing beside him. Jake's hands were shaking as he watched the proceedings. For now, Jake rammed his hands into his pockets and grinned like an idiot trying to appear unaffected, but Mitchell wasn't fooled.

Mitchell thought back to when Jake announced his and Ellen's engagement. After he'd gotten over the shock that his best friend really was going to marry his sister, Mitchell had teased Jake about getting tied down and having to answer to someone else for almost everything he did.

Mitchell now knew differently. Jake was happy. He had the commitment, companionship, and love of a woman for the rest of his life—if he didn't do anything foolish enough to break that trust. Mitchell wanted the same.

He wanted to be Carolyn's soul mate for the rest of their lives. When he gave her the promise ring and then kissed her at the school, he hoped that she could love him and see a future with him.

Now, he wasn't so sure.

From the change in Jake's expression, Mitchell could tell it was Ellen's turn to walk up the aisle. As she hung on to their father's arm, Ellen was grinning from ear to ear, staring at Jake.

Jake was smiling, but his eyes were getting glassy, and even though it wasn't very macho, Mitchell envied his friend. He also wondered what it would be like on Saturday when everyone was all dressed up, the wedding march was playing, and everything was for real.

Once Ellen arrived at the front, the pastor talked to Jake and Ellen about their vows, exchanging rings, and signing the marriage certificate. When the pastor announced Jake would then kiss the bride, Jake grabbed Ellen around the waist and bent her backward. Ellen squealed in surprise and grabbed Jake's shoulders, and Jake kissed her fully while everyone else hooted and cheered.

Mitchell wanted to kiss Carolyn like that—willingly, before friends and family and before God.

When Jake and Ellen finally separated, the pastor directed the wedding party to pair up and exit the sanctuary as they would when the ceremony was over. As best man, he stepped out before the other attendants and escorted Melissa down the aisle immediately following Jake and Ellen.

Once they all stood in the lobby, the official rehearsal was finally over.

He wanted to be the first one back at the house to see Carolyn, but he had to wait while his mother talked to the pastor. He stood impatiently by the door, and soon his dad joined him.

“My baby girl is getting married tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” Mitchell wished his father's son was getting married, too, although the more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed that it would happen.

“That sure was nice of your friend to offer to help you with the food instead of hiring a caterer. We'll have to think of some way to thank her.”

His friend. He wanted Carolyn to be more than just his friend. “Yeah, we should do that.”

“I could be mistaken, but you appear to think of Carolyn as more than a friend.”

Mitchell stared at his father. He figured it was a little late in his upbringing to be talking about the women he dated.

“How old is she, Mitch?”

“She's only thirty-three.” Mitchell turned to his father, daring him to say anything more about Carolyn's age. He wanted to defend her, to justify to his father that it was okay for him to be dating an older woman and that Carolyn was more suited to him than any woman he'd ever met in his life.

“Is she a Christian?”

“Yes.”

“You're in love with her, aren't you?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then I guess that's all that matters. I wish you God's blessings, Mitch.”

Mitchell rammed his hands into his pockets and stared blankly out the window. “I don't know how she feels about me. The difference in our ages bothers her.”

His father nodded and rubbed his chin with his index finger and thumb. “I've seen a few couples where the woman is three or four years older, but it doesn't usually go more than that. Women usually go for older men.”

Mitchell's heart sank another notch. Up until now, Carolyn's preference had been for older men—something he didn't need to be reminded of. He couldn't do anything about his age, so he'd been trying to win her heart in other ways, although all he could do was simply be himself, and he wasn't sure that was enough.

His mom finally appeared, and his dad left his side to help tuck his mom's jacket over her cast, then give her a small peck on the cheek.

“We'd better hurry. By now everyone's already at the house.”

Mitchell gulped and swallowed hard. It was time.

❧

Carolyn smiled cordially at Gordie and Roland, who were the first to arrive. Fortunately, Jake and Ellen pulled in immediately after them, allowing her the chance to hide in the kitchen to wait for Mitchell. After that, she planned to stay only for as long as she needed to in order to be polite, then leave. She already had most of the food out and only needed to finish a few of the hot hors d'oeuvres. Then she would be free, and Mitchell could drive her home.

Silently, she kept busy doing things that didn't need to be done rather than standing around doing nothing while more and more people arrived. Just as she slipped on the oven mitts and was pulling the first tray of crab snaps out of the oven, she heard a female voice behind her.

“Miss Rutherford? Is that you? What are you doing here?”

The hot tray nearly dropped from her hands. She fumbled with it, letting it drop with a clatter to the top of the stove, and whirled around to see Melissa Roberts, one of her students from a few years ago, standing in the doorway, gaping at her.

She pulled the oven mitts off her hands and held them tightly. “I'm helping with the snacks, Melissa.”

“I knew you were teaching night school, but I didn't know you were doing catering, too.”

“Carolyn isn't here as the caterer, Melissa. She's here as my date.”

The sound of Mitchell's voice nearly made her drop the oven mitts. Mitchell appeared behind Melissa, his face strangely pale, and his lips tightly drawn.

“Oh. Sorry.” Melissa shrugged her shoulders and disappeared back into the living room, where the sound of laughter and conversation droned on.

Carolyn tried to force a smile and knew the effort fell flat. “You're the last one to get here. I was beginning to worry about you.”

In the blink of an eye, Mitchell strode across the room until they were standing toe to toe. She would have backed up, except it would have sent her into the hot oven door, which was still open. He grinned, making his dimple appear. At the same time, the color returned to his face, and he rested his hands on her shoulders. “Did you miss me?”

“I wouldn't go that far.”

It would have been impossible to miss him because even though he no longer lived in his parents' home, there were signs of Mitchell everywhere. She hadn't meant to snoop, but on her way into the kitchen after Mitchell and his parents left, she couldn't help but notice three eight-by-ten framed portraits prominently placed on the living room wall. One was his parents' wedding picture, with Kim and Roger in their wedding attire and a small child standing between them holding a ring bearer's silk pillow. Mitchell had been a beautiful three-year-old, and he'd grown into an equally handsome man.

The other two portraits were Mitchell's and Ellen's high school graduation pictures. Over the past six years, he hadn't changed all that much, except that time had matured his features.

After worrying about it, Carolyn had been relieved that Ellen hadn't been one of her former students, but Melissa had, and, of course, Melissa recognized her. She wondered if all the bridesmaids were former students.

She lowered her voice to a whisper to make sure no one suddenly appearing would hear. “Melissa was one of my students. What am I doing here?”

“You're here because you're with me. Don't worry about Melissa or any of Ellen's friends.”

His hands moved from her shoulders to her cheeks. He lowered his head and kissed her gently, then dropped his hands and backed up.

The oven mitts she was holding landed on the floor. She quickly picked them up, brushed them off, and turned to close the oven door. “If I don't get those crab snaps out, they're going to be so cold, no one will be able to tell they're baked. You'll want to show them off when they're at their best.”

Together, they began transferring the crab snaps to a platter.

“I don't think I'm going to tell anyone I've done all the food until most everything has been eaten. I want it to be a surprise. Besides, a few of the people here wouldn't touch anything if they knew I did the cooking.”

“I think you're exaggerating.”

“Unfortunately, I'm not. I'll go put these on the dining room table, and then I have to help Dad with something. I won't be gone long, but it might be a good idea to join Ellen's friends and just talk to them. You know, to bridge the gap. They're all in the working world now. I think it's just hard for them to think of you as anything besides their former teacher. You know, like teachers aren't people or allowed to have a social life outside the school. Unless you show them otherwise, they're going to keep thinking that way.”

“I don't know. . . .”

He smiled and touched her shoulder, then lightly brushed one finger against her chin. “I'm serious. Show them the person you are outside of school.”

Nervously, she glanced toward the doorway leading into the living room, as if by simply passing through it, things could be changed.

Most of her friends were her own age, but she thought of the people at her church, where the age gap was wide. There were women there who were in their mid to early twenties who addressed her by her first name, and to them, the age gap meant nothing because they had not previously known her. Likewise, she addressed ladies older than herself by twenty years or more by their first names, and the age gap meant nothing except more life experience. They were all equal in God's eyes as Christian sisters.

Again, she glanced to the doorway. “All right. I'll make the first move.”

“Great. I'll catch you later when I'm finished with Dad.” Mitchell picked up the tray and disappeared through the doorway, leaving her alone in the kitchen.

She didn't immediately follow him. First, she needed a few minutes to compose herself and work up her courage.

After multiple deep breaths, Carolyn ran her fingers through her hair, straightened her glasses, stiffened her back, and began the long journey into the living room.

Mitchell's older relatives sat on the couch and love seat, and the armchair remained empty. Ellen and the three bridesmaids stood in a small circle near the doorway, holding plates and nibbling at the goodies, totally engrossed in conversation. They didn't see her approach, giving Carolyn a chance to try to place them before she broke into their little circle.

She had never seen Ellen before, but Melissa had been in her homeroom a few years ago, and she recognized the other two as having attended her regular home economics class, but she couldn't remember their names.