“Kids do need food,” she said. “And attention, and sleep, and a routine. It probably doesn’t matter so much if their clothes aren’t ironed.”
“All stuff I’m not very good at,” Sam said.
“You’ll learn,” she said confidently. “And you already have the one thing Bobby needs the most right now.”
“What’s that?”
“You love him.”
She could see it in his eyes as he watched his nephew. Sam might be terrified at being thrust into this new role of being responsible for another person, but he loved that little boy. Seeing that made her fall just a little bit in love with both of them. And that definitely wasn’t meant to be part of today’s hastily devised scheme to get her grandfather off her back.
Sam was surprisingly content sitting on the porch step next to Carrie as kids raced around the yard, shouting exuberantly. While it was a far cry from the quiet, carefree existence he’d lived up till now, there was something alluring about the friendly competitiveness and the laughter that echoed through the air.
“I thought I’d heard that the two of you were out here,” a voice said from above them.
Sam looked around to see Nell on the porch, hands on her hips. Despite the scolding note in her voice, there was a twinkle in her eyes.
“Hi, Gram,” Carrie said, flushing. “Did you need something?”
“I need a little help from two people who missed their cooking lesson again yesterday with a bunch of flimsy excuses. I imagine you could both use some experience with getting pot roast for this crowd onto the table.”
Sam readily jumped to his feet. “What can we do to help?”
“Come with me,” Nell commanded. When Carrie stayed put, she frowned. “You, too.”
“Somebody needs to keep an eye on Bobby,” Carrie protested.
“There are at least ten responsible adults in the yard,” Nell countered. “Including Kevin. Tell your uncle to keep an eye on Bobby along with his own kids.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Carrie said dutifully.
In the meantime Sam followed Nell into the kitchen. She already had the bulk of the meal well under way, but she assigned him the task of making gravy.
“But I’ve never made gravy in my life,” Sam protested.
Nell chuckled. “Exactly why I’m here to teach you, young man.”
“Oh, gravy!” Carrie said when she joined them. “Gram’s gravy is the best.”
“It might be wise to avoid it today,” Sam said, a grim expression on his face as he stirred what looked to him like a glutinous mess.
Nell glanced over his shoulder. “Did you measure the cornstarch or just dump in half the box?”
“It didn’t look as if it was thickening at first,” Sam admitted. “So I added a little more.”
“Cooking is like a lot of things in life. It can’t be rushed,” Nell admonished. “It requires patience.”
“Something in short supply in this family,” Carrie commented.
“Unfortunately true,” Gram replied. “Let’s see if you’re any better at this than he was.”
She gestured toward another pan of drippings from the roast, then coached her through the steps and ingredients needed to make her smooth, rich gravy.
“Better,” she said approvingly. “You get a little red star.”
“Not gold?” Carrie asked.
“Is it perfect?” Nell asked.
“No,” Carrie admitted with a chagrined expression.
“Then you don’t get gold, do you?”
“How about Sam?” Carrie asked, proving that competitiveness existed everywhere with O’Briens.
“He gets to do it again at my house next Saturday till he gets it right. I’d make him try again right now, but we need to get this food on the table. Start dishing it up, Carrie. Sam, you can put it on the dining-room table.”
“Is she always this bossy?” he asked in an undertone that he meant to be overheard.
Carrie laughed. “Even Grandpa Mick and his brothers cower when she speaks,” she said.
“Now that I’d like to see,” Sam said.
“Stick around,” Nell told him, smiling. “My sons usually give me some reason or another to take them to task before the day is out.”
Somehow Sam found the thought of this wonderful, diminutive woman being able to handle the all-powerful Mick O’Brien very reassuring. Maybe he could follow her example and learn to hold his own with Mick—and even Carrie—when he had to.
“Have you watched her?” Susie was saying to Jess just as Carrie was about to walk onto the porch after lunch. Her cousin’s voice carried inside and something made Carrie come to a stop long enough to listen.