here and have an evening out, with dinner and maybe dancin g, unless they drive for hours and want to spend a fortune,” Sara said after a moment’s contemplation, thinking of Bill and Carol Forgie, or maybe herself and Mitch.
“It might take a while to catch on, but I think a restaurant would be a great idea. I’ll bet people from farther away would start coming again for weekends, bringing their kids for a swim in the hot springs, if you got a reputation for good food, did some advertising.”
“That kitchen needs work, if we’re gonna start cooking for more than six or eight people,” Gram said practically. “The stove is older than I am and way more cantankerous and that’s goin’ some. But the place is plenty roomy, and the walk-in cooler works fine ”
For over an hour, excitement grew as ideas and plans evolved. The necessary changes would be expensive, but they didn’t all have to be done at once. Gram and Jennie would start serving meals on a small scale at first and gauge the rest from the response.
“We’ll have a limited menu, maybe a choice of two main dishes, and that way it won’t get too complicated,” Jennie was planning.
Gram snorted. “The heck with any choice. That’s what’s the matter with eating places today. A body gets worn-out just readin’ the dern menu, figurin’ out what in tarnation he wants. We’ll serve the kind of meals people used to eat back when I was a girl, good hearty dishes with plenty of homemade bread and greens, maybe give ’em a choice for dessert of pie or cake or pudding, if they need to make choices.”
Jennie and Adeline got into a heavy discussion about recipes at that point, and Dave was busy making calculations on several paper napkins.
Sara got up and began clearing the table. She was in the kitchen, putting dishes in the old enamel sink and covering them with hot soapy water when the telephone rang. Drying her hands on a towel, she picked up the receiver, resigned to the fact that it would be some veterinary emergency that would use up the rest of her Sunday.
“Sara?” The deep male voice was unmistakable. It was Mitch, and her heartbeat suddenly picked up speed. They went on for several minutes about what a nice day it was, and then Mitch cleared his throat and said nonchalantly, “I have to ride out to the west pasture this afternoon and check on some calves. I wondered if you’d care to come along? I’ll drive in and pick you up.”
“I’d like that, but why don’t I just drive out there and meet you? It’d be quicker that way.”
Mitch agreed, and Sara hurried in to tell her family where she was going.
“Why don’t you bring that young man home with you for supper tonight?” Gram was determined to check Mitch out, Sara knew.
“I’ll ask him, Gram. See you later.”
She was wearing fresh, faded jeans and a scoop-necked red T-shirt with short sleeves. She hurriedly pulled a brush through her curly hair, deciding to leave it loose on her neck. A touch of lipstick and mascara, and she hurried out to her car, a decidedly decrepit old Chevy.
The drive out to the Carter ranch passed quickly, and when she drove into the ya rd, she could see Mitch, a saddled horse on either side of him, walking up from the barns.
Sara pulled to a stop and swallowed hard, eyeing the animals Mitch was leading toward her.
When he’d suggested a ride, she’d assumed he meant in a truck. She knew the name and location of every single muscle and bone, every organ and sinew in a horse, and she loved working with the animals. She just didn’t enjoy getting up on their backs.
In fact, she’d only been on a horse twice in her entire life, and neither occasion was memorable.
Mitch, with a crooked smile that forced an answering smile from Sara, wrapped the reins around a post and came striding over to open the car door. The first thing he said was, “Where’re your hat and boots?”
Sara remembered the oversize gumboots in the trunk, considered
“It might take a while to catch on, but I think a restaurant would be a great idea. I’ll bet people from farther away would start coming again for weekends, bringing their kids for a swim in the hot springs, if you got a reputation for good food, did some advertising.”
“That kitchen needs work, if we’re gonna start cooking for more than six or eight people,” Gram said practically. “The stove is older than I am and way more cantankerous and that’s goin’ some. But the place is plenty roomy, and the walk-in cooler works fine ”
For over an hour, excitement grew as ideas and plans evolved. The necessary changes would be expensive, but they didn’t all have to be done at once. Gram and Jennie would start serving meals on a small scale at first and gauge the rest from the response.
“We’ll have a limited menu, maybe a choice of two main dishes, and that way it won’t get too complicated,” Jennie was planning.
Gram snorted. “The heck with any choice. That’s what’s the matter with eating places today. A body gets worn-out just readin’ the dern menu, figurin’ out what in tarnation he wants. We’ll serve the kind of meals people used to eat back when I was a girl, good hearty dishes with plenty of homemade bread and greens, maybe give ’em a choice for dessert of pie or cake or pudding, if they need to make choices.”
Jennie and Adeline got into a heavy discussion about recipes at that point, and Dave was busy making calculations on several paper napkins.
Sara got up and began clearing the table. She was in the kitchen, putting dishes in the old enamel sink and covering them with hot soapy water when the telephone rang. Drying her hands on a towel, she picked up the receiver, resigned to the fact that it would be some veterinary emergency that would use up the rest of her Sunday.
“Sara?” The deep male voice was unmistakable. It was Mitch, and her heartbeat suddenly picked up speed. They went on for several minutes about what a nice day it was, and then Mitch cleared his throat and said nonchalantly, “I have to ride out to the west pasture this afternoon and check on some calves. I wondered if you’d care to come along? I’ll drive in and pick you up.”
“I’d like that, but why don’t I just drive out there and meet you? It’d be quicker that way.”
Mitch agreed, and Sara hurried in to tell her family where she was going.
“Why don’t you bring that young man home with you for supper tonight?” Gram was determined to check Mitch out, Sara knew.
“I’ll ask him, Gram. See you later.”
She was wearing fresh, faded jeans and a scoop-necked red T-shirt with short sleeves. She hurriedly pulled a brush through her curly hair, deciding to leave it loose on her neck. A touch of lipstick and mascara, and she hurried out to her car, a decidedly decrepit old Chevy.
The drive out to the Carter ranch passed quickly, and when she drove into the ya rd, she could see Mitch, a saddled horse on either side of him, walking up from the barns.
Sara pulled to a stop and swallowed hard, eyeing the animals Mitch was leading toward her.
When he’d suggested a ride, she’d assumed he meant in a truck. She knew the name and location of every single muscle and bone, every organ and sinew in a horse, and she loved working with the animals. She just didn’t enjoy getting up on their backs.
In fact, she’d only been on a horse twice in her entire life, and neither occasion was memorable.
Mitch, with a crooked smile that forced an answering smile from Sara, wrapped the reins around a post and came striding over to open the car door. The first thing he said was, “Where’re your hat and boots?”
Sara remembered the oversize gumboots in the trunk, considered
Similar Books
