Chapter 44
Chapter Forty-Four
F rankie took her seat near the end of the table where Kyle was seated at the end. Mitch was at the other. On Frankie’s other side was Lucas, then Harper. Across the table from Frankie was Willa, then Beryl and Joyce. Ruthie was napping in her crib, the soft sounds of ocean waves playing on her sound machine to keep her company.
Frankie looked at everyone settling into their places. “This is so nice. Like a big family dinner. I haven’t been part of one those in a while.”
Beneath the table, Lucas reached over and took her hand. “It’s great.” He looked at Mitch. “Thank you for the invitation. It’s a real honor to be included.”
Frankie nodded and dropped his hand to raise her glass in a toast. “Agreed. Thank you so much for inviting us all. And here’s to Beryl, who’s only just arrived and already feeding us!”
Everyone laughed and smiled and lifted their glasses.
Beryl smiled and somehow managed to look a little embarrassed and pleased as punch. “You’re all too kind. But we should eat while the food is hot.”
Joyce nodded. “Yes, let’s.”
As plates and platters were passed, Kyle spoke up. “Joyce, can you tell us what we’re eating? Some of it is pretty self-explanatory, but is this all traditional?”
Joyce nodded. “It is. Everyone has their own dishes they serve for this meal, of course, but we’ve stuck to the tried and true. Roast beef with gravy, roast potatoes—which we always called roasties—along with some roasted parsnips, then the peas, carrots glazed with honey, and Yorkshire puddings. You Yanks might be more familiar with those as popovers.”
“It’s an unbelievable feast,” Mitch said. “Thank you both for doing this for us. I know it was a lot of work.”
“Not that much,” Joyce answered. “But you’re welcome. Now let’s get stuck in.”
Mitch held the platter of roast beef so Harper could help herself, then handed it down to Lucas, who held it for Frankie.
She took a slice for herself, then put two slices on his plate.
Round and round the food went until everyone had a full plate. Then the eating began in earnest. Mitch had put some easy jazz on as background music and for several long moments, the only sounds were the music and the clink of utensils on plates.
Frankie had a bite of roast beef with gravy, which wasn’t like any gravy she’d had before. It was thick and rich and layered with flavors, some of which she could guess and some she couldn’t. Then she cut into one of the roast potatoes.
The outside was golden brown and crispy, but the inside was soft, like a baked potato. She ate a piece, immediately expressing her pleasure at the taste with a soft, “Mmm.” She swallowed. “Those potatoes are so good. Why have I never had them like that before?”
“Great question.” Lucas shook his head. “Why don’t we make potatoes like this here? And this gravy. I really need to know what’s in it. It’s not often I eat something this good that leaves me stumped, but I can’t quite figure out what’s giving it that certain umami taste.”
“U-what now?” Beryl said.
He laughed. “Umami. It’s one of the main tastes, like sweet, salty, sour, bitter.”
“I don’t know about all that,” she said. “But what you’re probably tasting is the Marmite. That’s my personal secret for the best brown gravy. Not too much. Just a half-teaspoon or so, depending on how much you’re making. If you don’t have that, you can just use Worcestershire sauce.”
Lucas leaned forward. “Thank you for sharing your secret with me. It’s fantastic.” He sat back, glancing at his plate. “I must say I feel very inspired to invite you both onto my show to do a whole episode about how to prepare a proper Sunday roast dinner. I was already planning on asking you to join me for a baking show, but after this meal, I want to do the Sunday roast instead.”
Frankie nodded as she popped a honey-glazed carrot into her mouth. “Do it. This is too good not to share.”
Willa, seated next to Beryl, spoke up. “Have you ever seen Lucas’s show? It’s great. You and Joyce would be so good on there.”
“What kind of a show is this?” Beryl asked.
Joyce answered her. “He has a cooking show on YouTube. You know, I’ve sent you the link a few times.”
Recognition lit Beryl’s eyes. “Oh, my stars, that’s why you look familiar. It must be the jet-lag. I didn’t realize. You’re Lucas Prime! You’re famous!”
That got them all laughing, Lucas included. “Not as famous as our host, but I do have a following. What do you say? Would you and your sister like to come on and teach my audience how to prepare a Sunday roast?”
Beryl looked at Joyce. “Do you think we could?”
“Of course we could. So long as I can have a day off.”
Everyone looked at Mitch, who was lifting a bite of roast potato, dripping with gravy, to his mouth. He stopped, noticing the eyes on him. He put his fork down. “Clearly, I missed something. Sorry, I’m a little obsessed with these potatoes.”
Howls of laughter peeled from all around the table, and it was a moment before anyone could get words out. Finally, Harper wiped at her eyes, then put her hand on Mitch’s arm. “Joyce needs a day off so she and Beryl can be on Lucas’s show to teach everyone how to make those potatoes.”
Mitch nodded, still looking a bit confused. “Sure. That’s a great idea.”
“Great,” Lucas said. “Joyce, Beryl, let’s talk after dinner and see if we can find a date that works for all of us.”
They went back to eating, and the conversation ran the gamut from Mitch announcing he had a new movie deal to European soccer to Ruthie and babies in general.
Frankie loved every second of it. Even more so because this was her new life. It filled her with a sense of happiness that felt on par with when her children were born. She leaned in toward Lucas. “I’m having the best time.”
He nodded. “So am I. We should do this more often. All of us, I mean. In fact…” He tapped the edge of his knife against his water glass, getting everyone’s attention. “I have a proposition to make.”
They all looked at him.
“What do you say we do a dinner like this once a month? All of us. We can rotate and have it at a different house every month. I volunteer to host the next one. What do you say?”
Mitch nodded, glancing at Harper, then Kyle, then back to Lucas. “Great idea.”
“I love that,” Harper said.
Frankie grinned. “I’ll be your kitchen help.”
“Perfect.” Lucas winked at her.
“Are you including me?” Joyce asked.
“Of course I am. And Beryl, too.”
“That’s very kind of you,” Joyce said.
“I might have to come back for that,” Willa said. She looked a little forlorn, knowing she wouldn’t be here then.
Frankie smiled sympathetically at her daughter. “We’ll be sure to have a dinner whenever you come to visit.”
“I hope so.”
The meal wound down with a lot of sighs and happy noises about how everyone had eaten too much.
That’s when Joyce got to her feet. “I hope you have a little bit of room left. Beryl’s made sticky toffee pudding with a lovely butterscotch sauce. I’ll just put some decaf on and we’ll clear the table, then we’ll get dessert served.”
Frankie pushed her chair back. “Joyce, you are not clearing this table. You and Beryl have done enough work. Harper and Willa and I will clear.”
“You’re guests,” Joyce argued.
But Harper was already up. “Nope, my sister’s right, Joyce. We’ll handle the table.”
Ruthie started to cry from her bedroom, where she was in her crib. Kyle got to his feet. “That’s my cue. Coming, Ruthie!” He went off to take care of the baby while the rest of them got to work.
With the three of them, it didn’t take long to make progress. Food was put away, what was left of it, and dishes were either washed or put in the dishwasher.
Frankie dried her hands on a dishtowel. “There. That didn’t take much work.” She looked around. Joyce and Beryl, having already got the coffee going, were setting out coffee cups along with creamer and sugar on the table.
Mitch had taken Lucas into his office to show him something. Willa seemed to have disappeared, too.
Frankie glanced at Harper. “Where’s Willa?”
Harper tipped her head toward Mitch’s rear deck. Frankie looked through the sliding doors and saw Willa holding Ruthie against her shoulder, rocking her back and forth. Kyle stood with her. They looked deep in conversation.
“Interesting.” Frankie caught her sister’s attention again. “Is that nothing or something?”
Harper snorted. “I think it’s just a young woman’s natural affection toward babies.”
“Maybe.” Frankie thought back to dinner. She hadn’t noticed any flirtation between Kyle and Willa. Could just be Willa wanting to hold Ruthie. Willa had always talked about having kids of her own, so her interest in babies was nothing new.
Even so, Frankie had to wonder if there was a little something more going on. Kyle was an attractive young man and Willa was unattached.
Frankie took one more look at them but couldn’t detect any signs of flirtation. She shook her head and went to see if Joyce needed help with the dessert.