Chapter 45
Melody
By the time Melody made her way downstairs, breakfast was already in full swing. There was a cacophony of voices coming from the dining room, but she barely glanced in their direction, choosing instead to make her way over to the kitchen.
She walked into the large, farmhouse style kitchen to find Cathy in front of the stove, expertly making simultaneous batches of pancakes and French toast. And was that eggs Benedict? Melody wasn’t sure what all Cathy had put together, but it smelled divine.
She was just about to speak, but Cathy beat her to the punch.
Turning around with a spatula in hand, Ben’s mom smiled at her and gave a little wave with a flour-covered hand.
“Good morning, my dear. As you can see, breakfast is served.” She made a sweeping gesture to all the pots and pans around her.
They made it apparent that far more food than what Melody could see had already been prepared.
“Can I help you with anything?” Melody offered. She scanned the space to see how she might best be able to help. “I’m sorry I slept in. It was my intention to help out much sooner than now.”
Cathy waved off her concern. “There’s no need to worry. I have breakfast well in hand,” she said, flipping a perfect golden pancake onto an already hefty stack. “Maybe you could just take this into the dining room for me?”
“Of course.” Melody walked farther into the kitchen and grabbed the plate Cathy held out. “Should I come back and grab anything else? Or help you with the dishes?”
“Thank you,” Cathy said as she turned back to the stovetop to check on a pan of sausages, “but I have a nice flow going. Benjamin will be back in to take the sausages out in a few minutes. Healthy that boy may be, but God himself probably couldn’t stop him from indulging in farm-fresh links when he can get them.
” Cathy angled her head to shoot a warm, motherly smile over her shoulder before tilting her head to shoo Melody off in the direction of the dining room.
Happy to do as she’d been directed, Melody turned on her heel and headed to the dining room. The pancakes were so heavy that she found herself using two hands to support their weight.
Melody’s eyes widened. Every possible surface of the large wooden table appeared to be covered in trays of food. Pancakes. French toast. Jams. Preserves. Bacon. Hash browns. A fruit salad. Jugs of milk and juice. She didn’t know where she could possibly fit the platter she carried.
As if hearing her thoughts, Ben came up beside her and grabbed the plate she was carrying. “Here. Let me take that for you.”
He proceeded to pick up the mostly emptied plate of pancakes on the table, flip the remaining pancakes onto the fresh ones, and return the now extra-full plate to the table before placing the empty one onto a sideboard.
“Better?” Ben asked with a warm smile.
“Much better. Thank you,” Melody replied as she returned his smile.
Is this what it was going to be like to have Ben as her boyfriend? Constant support from a man who seemed to want nothing more than to make her life better and easier? Melody sighed happily. Sign me up.
Shawna was the first of the diners to spot her. “Good morning, sleepyhead,” she greeted with what Melody feared was the beginning of a mischievous smile.
“You were so quiet when I left the room this morning,” Shawna continued, a full smile now lighting her lips, “that I wondered whether you would ever make your way down.” Shawna’s eyes sparkled with secret knowledge. “You seemed gone to the world.”
Yes, “gone” because Shawna knew perfectly well Melody hadn’t spent the night in their room. Which would, of course, lead her to the correct conclusion that Melody had spent the night with Ben.
Shawna picked up her glass of orange juice and gave Melody a barely perceptible cheers before bringing the glass to her lips and taking a healthy sip.
Not wanting anyone to think too long on Shawna’s choice of words, Melody turned to Ben but spoke in a way that made it clear her words weren’t only for him. “It’s quite the feast your mom has put together,” she said as she met the eyes of everyone at the table and smiled an unspoken good morning.
Eric’s gaze scanned her in a way she couldn’t quite interpret before he flicked it briefly over to Ben. “I’ll say,” Eric said after a few beats of silence she doubted anyone noticed but her. “This is so good.”
Perspective given, Eric shoveled an enormous bite of pancake into his mouth. His eyes fluttered closed as he chewed his food, a satisfied sigh escaping him. It was almost tragic he was such a horrible cook when he loved food so much. At least he knew how to savor it when others made it for him.
“I agree,” Brendan enthused. “This breakfast is bang on. I normally like some afters and a mug o’ scald after a nice big meal, but this is fierce.”
Melody wasn’t always completely sure what Brendan meant when his Irish slang came out, but it was clear he was enjoying the food, too.
“I’m a lucky man,” Bob said, as he leaned back from the table and laid his hands over his stomach in the way people do when they’re nice and full. “We’ve been married for almost forty years and my wife still spoils me.”
“Does she always cook like this?” Richie asked, his tone incredulous as he turned to face Ben’s dad.
“Well, no,” Bob admitted with a gentlemanly laugh.
“Cathy does things up extra special around the holidays, but she’s still kind enough to keep me well fed throughout the year.
” He smiled as he glanced in the direction of the kitchen, his love and appreciation for his wife more than apparent to anyone who cared to notice.
“And what do you think, Alexei?” Melody asked since he was the only one at the table who hadn’t spoken since she arrived. It was only then that she noticed he was eating turkey leftovers alongside everything else.
When he glanced up from his plate, the look on Alexei’s face was practically blissful. “I love Thanksgiving,” he said with undisguised sincerity.
“Does this mean we were able to live up to your holiday hopes?” Ben asked, possibly aware of how close he’d come to spoiling Thanksgiving for their Russian import with his American history lesson last night.
“If there is any other way to celebrate Thanksgiving,” Alexei said with conviction, “I do not want to know.” And with that, he returned his attention to his pumpkin pie.
Companionable laughter greeted his assertion.
“Ben?” Cathy called out from the kitchen. “The sausages are ready!”
“I’ll be right there, Mom!” Ben called back, loudly enough to be heard but not so loudly as to be impolite.
Melody tilted her head up to look at him. “Do you want me to grab them?” she asked.
He leaned into her until their bodies were gently touching and placed a soft kiss on her cheekbone.
“That’s okay, sweetheart. You sit down and enjoy.
” He paused before adding, “You’re right over there, beside Shawna.
” He smiled, his affection for her lighting his eyes, before grabbing the empty pancake plate and sauntering into the kitchen to collect the sausages.
Melody took a moment to admire his retreating form before turning to find her seat.
“You’re so screwed,” Shawna muttered under her breath.
Melody shot her a quizzical look.
Shawna’s only response was to make a slow, sweeping gesture in the direction of Melody’s plate.
Melody stepped around Shawna until she was standing in front of her place setting. It was only now that she was standing directly in front of it, free of visual obstruction, that she could see a bar of her favorite chocolate, wrapped up in expertly curled ribbon.
Melody touched her hand to her lips and released an appreciative sigh. “Ben?” she asked Shawna on a whisper.
“Yup,” Shawna responded, gently popping the “p” for extra emphasis. “He knows you usually like to have chocolate for breakfast and he didn’t want you to feel forced to eat a full farm breakfast if you would rather just have your usual.”
Melody felt her heart melting. Shawna was right. She was totally screwed if she thought she had any hope whatsoever of not falling completely and totally in love with the sweet, kind, and thoughtful Benjamin Logan.