Gil James chewed his bite slowly, swallowed, and said, “Ma’am, this is better than my mama’s cooking. And my mama is an excellent cook.”
Lydia smiled brightly and said, “Thank you, Gil. That’s awfully nice of you to say.”
Robert Martin said, “It’s true, ma’am, Miss Lydia, I mean—Miss Webster. This is melt-in-your-mouth good. I hope you stay forever, ma’am.” Others voiced their opinions, and then they all ate.
As the meal progressed, Chance pointed around the table and introduced each hand to Lydia. Clayton was impressed that she made a point of speaking to each of them and using their name as she did so. Conversation picked up around the table, and she didn’t seem to have any difficulty drawing the shy ones out and getting them all talking to her. Lydia ignored Kade Parker when he made a couple of flirtatious comments.
“Make sure and save room for dessert.”
“Dessert?” George Kunkel asked, his fork midway to his mouth.
Jim Cappell paused in buttering a second slice of her freshly baked bread. “What’s for dessert?”
Lydia grinned and said, “I hope everyone likes banana pudding.”
Someone groaned in blissful delight.
By the time the meal was over, judging by their reactions, Clayton expected half of them to start making declarations of love to her, if not marriage proposals. Clayton wouldn’t have been surprised if one or two of them had licked their dessert bowl clean. Her cooking was phenomenal down to the last mouthwatering bite.
After the meal, the men carried their empty plates into the kitchen, and several insisted on staying to rinse the dishes and load the dishwasher for her. The table was cleared and the kitchen cleaned in a matter of minutes.
“Guys, I really appreciate all of your help in here, but don’t think you need to do that every night, okay? You all worked hard during the day and I have a helper starting tomorrow. Thank you for doing this, though. I feel very welcomed by you all.”
The men assured her they didn’t mind and hoped she liked it on the ranch and decided to stay. Clayton knew it was mostly their happy bellies talking but also thought he caught at least a couple pairs of puppy-dog eyes amongst the men.
Once it was just the three of them in the house, she leaned against the counter and said, “I’m beat. I think that was a good first meal and introduction.”
“I think so, too,” Chance said with a chuckle. “Half of them looked ready to propose after the first bite.”
Lydia giggled and rolled her eyes at Chance’s praise of her cooking. “I had a good helper this afternoon.”
Clayton smiled at Lydia and stroked her shoulder. “I enjoyed getting better acquainted, too.”
“Good,” Chance replied. “Think you’ll like it here? Missing Fort Stockton yet?”
Lydia grinned and said, “I love it here. Your kitchen is my dream come true.” Growing more thoughtful, she added, “I don’t miss Fort Stockton much, but I do miss my friends a little. LuAnn and Simone did a lot to make life more bearable for me.”
“You should call them and remind them the invitation to visit was sincere.”
“I will. I was up awful early this morning to get a head start on my day so if you don’t mind, I think I’m going to go upstairs, now that the kitchen is all done for me.”
Clayton said, “Lydi, we usually stay up until after the news is over, if you ever want to relax with us in the evening. This is your home, too, okay?”
Lydia smiled and nodded as she hugged Chance. “I’ll remember that. I’m just really tired.”
Clayton was a little disappointed because he’d wanted her to stay downstairs with them a while. There was a line between her eyebrows as she looked up at him with some emotion he couldn’t identify. He smiled at her, hoping she’d feel reassured as he hugged her without reservation and then released her.
“Good night,” she murmured.
They both stood in the kitchen doorway and watched her hurry up the stairs. Chance beckoned him into the kitchen and said, “How about a cup of coffee and another serving of that banana pudding?”
Clayton chuckled. “I was just thinking the same thing.”
Chance started the coffeepot, and Clayton retrieved the covered casserole dish from the refrigerator and said, “The guys didn’t leave much, did they?”
“They like Lydia’s cooking,” Chance replied as they served themselves from the dish, splitting what remained, and then put the dish in the sink. The decaffeinated coffee trickled noisily into the glass carafe as the coffeepot hummed and burbled.
“I think they like Lydia, too.”