Time to Laugh Romance Collection

by Wanda E. Brunstetter

  Mitchell took the flashlight and retrieved his radio from the garage, where he used it when he was working on his car. He turned it on and tried to find a good station as he headed back to the kitchen.

  “Do you keep everything you own in the garage?”

  “Not everything I own fits in the pantry.”

  She sighed then turned to study the stack of bowls and utensils he’d spread over the counters. “I don’t know what to do. We could do this at my house, but by the time we get there, the power could be back on. Besides, all the ingredients are in your fridge, and I have a real aversion to opening the fridge when the power is out, just in case it doesn’t come back for a long time.”

  Out of habit, Mitchell shone the flashlight on the battery-operated wall clock. “It’s been out for twenty minutes already. I guess this serves me right for leaving the crab snaps until the last minute.”

  “Not really. Most of these things have to be prepared within a few days of the event. They get freezer burn quickly because of the individual-size portions. Besides, I doubt you have suitable storage containers.”

  He still had a couple of plastic containers he’d forgotten to give back to his mother the last time she sent him food, but other than that, whenever he had leftovers worth storing, he kept them in one of the two empty margarine containers he hadn’t thrown out. Somehow he doubted Carolyn would consider those proper. He simply shrugged his shoulders, and her cute little sigh told him he was right in not replying.

  “You shouldn’t keep a seafood filling longer than overnight before serving. It would be best to make the pastries on Thursday, and then you could mix the filling and keep it in the fridge overnight and stuff them Friday before you have to go.” She looked around the dark kitchen. “You really shouldn’t prepare any of what you’re going to serve until Wednesday or even Thursday. What else were you planning on making? Maybe we should go over your menu.”

  “I was going to make a few of the recipes we made in class and one of the things we did together. I really liked those rolled-up cheesy things that were dipped in the smashed-up nuts.”

  Carolyn sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Did I ever tell you that you have a unique way of describing these gourmet treats we’ve been making?”

  “Many times. If we’re not cooking, I guess we really don’t need a lot of light.” As if on cue, the beam of the flashlight faded, becoming slightly yellow. “It doesn’t look like this battery is going to last much longer. I’d better get a candle.”

  He started toward the doorway when Carolyn’s voice stopped him.

  “Unlike your electric mixer, I can understand storing candles in the garage.”

  “Actually, I was going to the living room.”

  “I give up.”

  Mitchell soon returned to the kitchen. The smell of sulfur filled the air as he lit the candle and set it in the center of the table while Carolyn turned off the flashlight, which was almost dead anyway.

  Carolyn pulled his mother’s recipe book across the table. “What else were you going to make?”

  He pulled up a chair and sat beside her. “Just the crab snaps. I wouldn’t dare try to make anything else in there. I thought I’d stick to stuff I did in your class.” He reached to the drawer behind him, grabbed the stack of handout sheets, and spread them over the table. “I know how to do these things, within reason. I was thinking I’d make the ones I liked best.”

  “You’re just doing this now? You haven’t decided on your menu or done your shopping yet?”

  “I just bought what I needed to make the crab snaps because that’s what I thought we were going to do today.”

  She grumbled something under her breath while she paged through the pile and pulled out the recipe he’d referred to earlier.

  “Am I in trouble?”

  “When did you expect to do this? Do you have a pen and paper?”

  Mitchell found a pen, but he couldn’t find an unused piece of paper in the dark, so he reached on top of the fridge and gave her the envelope from the phone bill. Her eyes narrowed as she accepted it from him, but she didn’t say a word. He settled into the chair beside Carolyn and sat in silence as she skimmed the ingredients on the recipe he had selected and wrote out the shopping list in the flickering candlelight.

  She slid the pile of paper back to him. “Which other ones do you want to make? And what did you do with the recipe for the dessert squares that I gave you?”

  “It’s in the pile somewhere.”

  Mitchell gave her his best smile, but it didn’t ward off the annoyed sigh he knew was coming.

  Together, they began the process of selecting the best choices for the party, and Carolyn dutifully added everything to the grocery list.

  Instead of the romantic setting the candlelight was supposed to provide for the big moment he had planned, they now struggled to read by its questionable light; and instead of being receptive to him as he prepared to bare his soul, she was mad at him because he hadn’t done his grocery shopping yet.

  He couldn’t believe how long the whole process took, nor could he believe that by the time she was finally adding the last of what they would need to the list, the power still hadn’t come back on. The battery in his radio had expired during the wait.

  Carolyn continued to write while he tried to think of a way to change the subject from cooking to how he felt about her when Killer ran to the door.

  “I think your dog wants out.”

  “Killer would go to the back if she wanted out. She’s at the front, and she’s not barking, so that means Jake is home.”

  He heard Jake’s voice before he saw him. “Wow. You should see the extent of this power failure. Did you know that it’s dark all the way to …” His voice trailed off as he entered the kitchen. “Hello, Carolyn. It’s nice to see you again.”

  She laid the pen down on the table. “Nice to see you, too, Jake.”

  Mitchell couldn’t begrudge his friend’s arrival. After all, Jake lived there, too. However, Jake’s arrival had just disintegrated Mitchell’s last hope of trying to have that private talk with Carolyn—unless the power failure was going to last a lot longer and they went to her house. “Did you have the radio on in the car? Any idea how much longer before the power comes back on?”

  “They said about half an hour.”

  Carolyn stood. “That’s too late to start, and it would take at least that long to pack up and move everything to my house.”

  Mitchell stood, as well. “What about grocery shopping? We can do that, now that we have a list.”

  “Sorry,” Jake said. “Everything is out. They said on the radio that twenty-five thousand homes are without power.”

  Carolyn stepped toward the door. “Then I guess I’ll be going.”

  Mitchell clenched his teeth and followed her to the door. Today, power failure or not, right moment or not, he could no longer wait. If he didn’t give her the ring now, it would be another week before he could, and he didn’t want to wait that long.

  Since Jake’s arrival meant no privacy inside, Mitchell followed her outside to her car parked on the dark street.

  She reached for the handle, but before she opened the car door, Mitchell laid his hand on top of hers and gently pulled it to him.

  “What are you doing?”

  He massaged her wrist with his thumb. “I wanted to talk to you. I have to ask you something, and I don’t know how to start.”

  Her smile made his heart flutter—something he thought only happened to women.

  “It’s okay. I know what you’re going to say.”

  “You do?” He smiled back. That she had been thinking the same things was a positive and very encouraging sign about the growth of their relationship.

  “Yes.” She reached up with her other hand and gave his hand a tender squeeze. “I’m okay now. I’m not going to be seeing Hank anymore. It was a shock at the time, but I think I’ve known for a while that we weren’t suited for each other. I’m s
ure that one day God will put the right man in my path. You’re a good friend, Mitchell. I appreciate your concern.”

  “But—”

  He let his hand go limp, and she moved away. “It’s really late. I have to go home. The lack of electricity isn’t going to prevent me from sleeping. Good night.”

  “Wait!” Out of habit, he reached up to his shirt pocket, but it was empty. He squeezed his eyes shut, remembering that he’d left the ring in the living room, ready for the right moment.

  “I’ll see you at class tomorrow.”

  Mitchell dropped his hand from his shirt pocket. “Yeah. Class tomorrow. Bye.”

  Mitchell thunked his lunch pail on the counter and glanced at the clock, then at the calendar.

  Today was Tuesday. Class night. It was also three days before the rehearsal party.

  The power hadn’t come on until after midnight Monday, when the only stores open were the convenience stores. He needed to start cooking as soon as he got home from work on Wednesday. That left tonight to do his shopping.

  But tonight was cooking class. The last one he’d planned to take.

  The clock on the wall ticked audibly.

  He should have been shopping, not watching the clock.

  Last night Carolyn called him a friend. She’d also said that one day God would put the right man in her path.

  As far as he was concerned, God had put the right man in her path. She just didn’t know it yet.

  Mitchell grabbed his jacket and ran to his car. He didn’t care if he was still at the grocery store at midnight when it closed, but he was going to class.

  Chapter 13

  Okay, class, today we’re going to make some classic hors d’oeuvres, starting with stuffed celery, and then some meat and vegetable combinations. First you need to—”

  “Sorry I’m late. Excuse me.”

  Carolyn waited until Mitchell shuffled into the last empty chair, crossed his legs, and leaned back. All eyes settled on him, then slowly everyone returned their attention to the front.

  She sighed and carried on with the lesson, but her mind was no longer fully on the food preparation. Today Mitchell should have been doing his shopping, since the power hadn’t come back on in time to do it last night. She really hadn’t expected to see him, and his presence in the class rattled her.

  It had been difficult, but she’d come to a decision on what she was going to do about Mitchell. The times he had kissed her were seared into her memory for a lifetime. They didn’t have a future together, but she couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing him again. To keep whatever was happening between them as a platonic friendship was the best solution.

  Yesterday she’d done her best to summon her courage and tell Mitchell indirectly that she considered him a friend. Mitchell was an intelligent person. She knew he would understand her meaning. It was only the shock of Hank’s proposal that made her think she was in love with Mitchell, because the more she thought about it, the more she knew it wasn’t possible. Mitchell was twenty-four years old. He’d started his first job right out of high school as a warehouseman and worked his way into the dispatch office, where he now held a junior supervisory position. And he was happy with that.

  She had to either continue to see him as a friend or not see him at all. She couldn’t do that.

  When the food preparations were done and all the creations eaten, Carolyn continued to walk from group to group, chatting and answering questions while everyone cleaned up. As usual, she arrived at Mitchell’s group last.

  Part of the routine she had set up was that every week the cleanup duties rotated, and today it was Mitchell’s turn to wash dishes. He had his arms halfway to his elbows in the soapy water and his back was to her. She didn’t mean to eavesdrop as she approached, but neither did she want to be rude and interrupt him.

  “That’s right. My best friend is marrying my sister, and I’m going to be cooking up all the food for the rehearsal party, which is Friday. I kind of backed myself into a corner. I took this course so I wouldn’t have to eat crow.”

  Mrs. Finkleman started to chuckle. “That was a good thing. Crow would taste terrible.” No one else laughed at her joke, but she didn’t seem to notice.

  Lorraine nearly dropped the pot she was returning to its place in the cupboard. “You’re doing the cooking? You? The man who exploded an egg in the microwave trying to cook it faster?” She pointed her finger at him and burst out laughing.

  “That was an accident,” he mumbled while he scrubbed the last pan with far more force than necessary.

  Carolyn gritted her teeth at Lorraine’s barb and stepped into their little circle. “Everyone makes mistakes, especially when they’re still learning. Mitchell is going to do just fine.”

  All noise and action immediately ceased, not only in Mitchell’s group, but also the two neighboring groups. When the other two groups noticed the silence, they also suddenly quieted. All eyes turned to her.

  Carolyn stiffened and made eye contact with everyone except Mitchell as she spoke. “Next week is our last class, and we’re going to make a few dessert items. I look forward to seeing you all then. Good night, everyone.”

  She didn’t wait for a reply but turned and headed for her demonstration table to tidy her own mess as the ladies began to filter out.

  As usual, Mitchell was the last person besides her remaining in the room. This time, she really didn’t want to talk to him. She’d made a public display of defending him when he was perfectly capable of defending himself.

  Also as usual, he appeared at her side before she was finished cleaning.

  “I need to talk to you.”

  He continued before she could protest.

  “I have something for you, and this isn’t exactly the way I wanted to give it to you, but I’m going to do it anyway.” He patted his pockets until he found what he was looking for, pulled out a little blue velvet jewelry pouch, then handed it to her without a word.

  She took the pouch from him but didn’t check inside. “How did you know it was my birthday tomorrow?”

  He hesitated but recovered quickly. “I didn’t know it was your birthday tomorrow. If that’s the case, then I’m going to have to figure out something special to give you to mark the occasion. This,” he said, pointing at the pouch, “has nothing to do with your birthday. Quite honestly, I’ve been meaning to give this to you for a while and never got the chance.”

  Her heart started pounding, and she broke into a sweat.

  Her hands trembled as she opened it.

  When she saw what was inside, she couldn’t keep the tremor from her voice. “It’s a ring.”

  It was small and delicate and beautiful. A small, sparkling diamond in the middle of a gold heart glittered in the fluorescent light.

  He scooted around the table and was beside her before she realized he had moved. “Try it on.”

  Her hands shook so much, she was afraid she would drop it. Very slowly, she slipped it on. It was a little too big for her ring finger so she changed it to her middle finger, which seemed to minimize its statement. A promise ring.

  “I don’t know what to say. Why are you doing this?”

  He smiled that lopsided smile she was getting to know so well. When his dimple appeared, her throat went dry. “I’m courting you, Carolyn. Can’t you tell? If you can’t, I must be doing something wrong.”

  He had done nothing wrong, but until now, she had done a fine job of convincing herself that his constant appearances and the warm fuzzies she felt in his presence meant only friendship.

  “Don’t you remember that, as of tomorrow, I’m nine years older than you? You can’t court me. It’s not right.”

  “Age doesn’t matter, Carolyn. At least it doesn’t matter to me. You’re the special person you are regardless of your age or mine. We share lots of common interests, and we share a common faith. Nothing else matters.”

  “I think it’s a little more complicated than that.” She still wasn’t sur
e they had common interests, although they did enjoy their time together. While she’d always heard that opposites attract, she had a feeling she and Mitchell were too opposite for consideration. He was nothing like the man she had prayed for as her perfect mate. She almost shuddered visibly as she imagined Mitchell with all Hank’s sensible and mature character traits. She didn’t want another Hank. But Mitchell wasn’t right for her, either.

  While finding a woman with a strong faith in Christ seemed very important to Mitchell, she couldn’t see that she could ever be the fun-loving and active woman he needed. Ten years ago she had tried skiing, hiking, and other more strenuous activities. Not that she was anywhere near a couch potato, but about the time she turned thirty, her interests turned to quieter and less demanding leisure pursuits.

  “I don’t know if I can accept this. I don’t think this is such a good idea.”

  He picked up her hands then rubbed his thumb over the small ring on her finger. “The saleslady said it was a promise ring, and I am making a promise to you, Carolyn. But if you want to, we can start off slowly and call it a friendship ring.”

  “But it’s a heart. Hearts don’t mean friendship.”

  His hand rose to her cheek. Her eyes drifted shut as he brushed her skin with the backs of his fingers. “Then think of it however you want. All I want is for you to keep an open heart because I l–l–l … I like you a lot.”

  Footsteps echoed in the hall, drawing their attention to Mr. O’Sullivan checking the classrooms to make sure everyone had left the building for the night. No doubt he’d noticed that hers was the only car left in the staff parking lot and was dutifully checking on her.

  She cleared her throat and opened her eyes, resisting as hard as she could not to lean her head into his fingers. “I think it’s time to go home.”

  “I can’t go home yet. I have to go grocery shopping.”

  “Pardon me?”

  “I have to start cooking as soon as I get home from work tomorrow, so I’m going shopping tonight. The megastore is open until midnight, so I’ll have just enough time. Wanna come?”