What did surprise him was that Annalise came from a good family. Her mother was a churchgoer, and they lived on a good estate. Her sisters were also quite wealthy, marrying into money.
Annalise was like the black sheep of the family. He didn’t get it. But he certainly wasn’t going to question her taking a job with them. He felt like he’d won the fucking lottery.
“Hi, I’m early, right? I hope that’s okay.”
“It’s six in the morning. I’m shocked. I expected you at nine.”
“Well, I asked a couple of guys that work for you and they said you’re always up early to handle jobs on the ranch, and I figured I would work to your schedule.” She bent down, and he noticed the brown paper bags.
“What’s all this?” he asked.
“I didn’t know what kind of food you’d want, and well, I want to make you guys a good breakfast. I got everything I could think of for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” he said. He couldn’t guarantee Gabe would even give her the job. He was the one who handled all of their finances. Archie still couldn’t figure out how they were able to buy this place, refurbish it all, and hire men to help.
The guy was a miracle worker. He was also five years old than him and Vinny.
Archie also had an inkling that Gabe liked Annalise. Whenever they went to eat at the diner, he was always watching her. Her body was quite distracting.
He hoped having someone Gabe was attracted to might sweeten the deal.
The only problem he saw was that he liked Annalise as well, and with his great powers of observation, he would put money on it Vinny had a thing for her as well. Not good. All three of them having a thing for the same woman. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.
“Let me grab those for you.” He grabbed the brown paper bags. “I’ll show you around, and then you can get started.”
They headed straight to the kitchen first. Putting the bags down, he pointed around him. “The kitchen.”
She chuckled.
He loved the sound and knew he wanted to make her laugh often.
“Come on. It’s a quick tour.” He showed her the whole of the downstairs. The living room, dining room, and the small library that was also Gabe’s office. He warned her not to touch Gabe’s desk at all. Even he got yelled at for touching the man’s desk.
With the downstairs done, he told her they would tour the upstairs later. First, she needed to actually pass the cooking test.
Gabe wouldn’t like anyone going upstairs, so that was strictly off-limits.
“Is there anything else you need?” he asked.
“Nope. I’m good. I can handle this.”
“Okay, great.”
“Are you nervous?” Annalise asked.
“Look, I don’t want to get your hopes up, but Gabe isn’t on board with the whole housekeeper thing. He’s the one doing the hiring. I … I just hope this goes well.”
“It’s fine. Honestly.” She shrugged.
“Why do you want to work for us?” Archie asked.
“I love this place, for one. I remember seeing Mr. Hollington in town. Every Wednesday he’d go to the cemetery. He had family there. He was such a sad man, but whenever he saw me, he’d give me this smile that said everything was going to be okay. When I saw your ad in the paper, I don’t know, I felt I had to come and help out where I could. Sounds silly.”
“Not at all. I appreciate it.”
“And, of course, I need a job and a place to stay, so this would be perfect.”
He put a hand on her shoulder and immediately let go. The attraction he felt for this woman was going to have to stay in check. Not once had Annalise ever given him the inkling she wanted anything from him. She was prim and proper to a fault.
Always sweet. Always kind. Always so very thoughtful.
Blowing out a breath, he left her to it and found Vinny in the barn.
“How did it go?” Vinny asked.
“I have no idea. She’s in the kitchen now. I hope she doesn’t burn it down.”
Vinny rested his shovel on the ground, leaning on the handle. “You’re really nervous about all of this.”
“Wouldn’t you be?”
“No, I know Annalise is a good cook. She’s a hard worker. Kyle has never once complained about her like he has the other waitresses.”
“Do you think she quit?”
“Don’t know. I only hope she has what it takes to impress the boss man.”
Archie was in total agreement.
****
Annalise loved the kitchen. It was her one place of solace that no one could take away from her. She tied her red hair back on top of her head, washed her hands, put an apron around her body, and got to work on preheating the oven.
This place would be a pleasure to cook in. The oversized windows looked out onto the fields. She had never felt so at peace and prayed they’d choose her for the job.
Checking through the cupboards, she found everything she was looking for.
After Archie had called her to let her know she had a trial to prove herself, she planned the menu for the entire day. Breakfast was a mix of sweet and savory.
The cinnamon buns were already waiting to be put in the oven, since she had started them last night, so they would be fresh today. This opportunity meant the world to her.
Unpacking her goods, she put everything in the fridge, and the ingredients that didn’t need to be cool, she placed on the counter.
She didn’t know their tastes, so had planned to do waffles, a mixture of sausage and bacon, eggs, and even a compilation of fruit. If she got the job, she would make it her mission to find out everything they enjoyed.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” she muttered to herself.
Annalise wanted this job so badly.
When the ad for housekeeper had first been made available, she hadn’t applied as she heard so many people had. Each one had been fired, and then she saw it had been removed. Seeing it in the paper once again, she had called and gotten Archie.
Now all she needed to do was get into the cooking.
It didn’t take the oven long to heat up. Then she had the cinnamon rolls cooking and the waffle batter resting. There was plenty of fresh maple syrup, and she poured some into a saucepan to heat up closer to the time.
She opened the door to allow some fresh air in.
By eight o’clock, she was ready to serve, and she got the timing just right as well as she spotted Gabe, Archie, Vinny, and a couple of their ranch workers headed that way.
Everything was still hot.
The scent of cinnamon heavy in the air.
“Score,” the ranch hands said.
Hands clasped together in front of her, she pointed out everything she had cooked for them before turning on her heel to leave. She had a cinnamon roll and cup of coffee waiting for her in the kitchen.
The temptation to go and check outside to see if they liked the food was strong. She had tried to offer her skills to Kyle at the diner, but he hadn’t been interested. He told her there was only one cook in his diner, and it would forever be him.
Cooking was a passion of hers. As a little girl, she imagined having a large family to cook for. Her home life had never been great. Immediately, a huge wave of sadness washed over her, and she quickly shoved it to one side. Now wasn’t the time to think about all that sadness. Her family had no place in her future. She hadn’t seen them in years, not that anyone knew the truth of the black sheep of the family, or in her case, the redhead.