Excited about the day ahead, Archie woke about an hour earlier than usual. Realizing God had answered many prayers for him, including bringing Tallie back to Outlandish, he felt compelled to stop and thank God. Rolling out of bed, Archie sat on his floor, crossed his legs, and bowed his head.
“Lord, I feel so grateful. You’ve taken my life from a state of confusion and brought some clarity to it. You’ve given me clear direction in the way of my calling, and You’ve given me hope for something I wasn’t sure was your will. I’ll admit, when I asked You to bring Tallie back to me, I doubted it would happen. It’s not that I don’t find You kind and giving. You are certainly both of those things. I only doubted my reasoning in asking You for it.
“Bringing Tallie back to Outlandish was a wonderful way of reminding me You are hearing my prayers and considering my desires. I now pray I might have the courage to trust You as You lead me down a very unfamiliar path.”
Archie ended his prayer with, “Thank You for my faithful, accommodating parents as well as my new and longtime friends. Thank You for allowing me to live in such a beautiful place, and for giving me a week with Tallie. Amen.”
Feeling especially energetic, and because his father was out of town, Archie decided to surprise his mother by making them both an omelet. Although his culinary skills were nothing close to his mother’s, he knew she would appreciate his effort, and he wanted an opportunity to spend some time with his mother.
When his father was out of town, his mother tended to sleep a little late, and Archie was happy for the extra time to prepare breakfast. Since he needed both hands to cook and needed to be able to move around the kitchen freely, Archie would need to wear his hat umbrella, which wasn’t his favorite thing in the world. It was a medium sized umbrella that sat right on top of his head and was held on with an adjustable band. The canopy of the umbrella was designed to be flexible so it wouldn’t pop off of his head when he accidentally nudged it with a cabinet door. He only ever let his parents see him in this contraption. He knew it made him look ridiculous, but sometimes he simply couldn’t avoid it.
He went about choosing ingredients for what he considered a deluxe omelet, although he knew he’d never be able to pick just the right combination of ingredients to match his mother’s perfect palate. He finally decided on eggs, clarified butter, Fontina and Gruyere cheeses, and a large portabella mushroom cap. To add flavor and to impress his mother, he would add fresh chervil, tarragon, and parsley.
He moved over to the counter where he cracked, mixed, shredded, and chopped; sautéed mushrooms; cooked eggs; and eventually assembled the first of the two omelets.
Just as he was about to remove the omelet from the pan, his mother stepped into the kitchen. Still standing a ways from Archie, she lifted her nose and inhaled. “I must have smelled that in my sleep, Archie. I was dreaming Anne Willan was in my kitchen making me breakfast.”
“Who is Anne Willan?” asked Archie.
“Who is Anne Willan? Archie! You can’t be serious. I’ve talked about her your entire life.”
Archie looked at his mother blankly.
“She’s a legendary chef of French Cuisine!”
“Oh yes! Anne Willan.”
Annella couldn’t tell if he really did remember or was just pretending, but she let him off the hook.
Archie added, “Well, I’m no Anne Willan, but I am making you breakfast.”
Annella walked over to Archie and attempted to kiss him on the cheek but gave up. “Oh, that hat!”
“I couldn’t think of a way around it.”
“Well, it smells delicious,” she said while inhaling deeply.
“Don’t get your hopes up.”
“Oh, but I am,” she said. “Did you already have your breakfast?”
“Actually,” he answered, “I’m going to be eating an omelet with you.”
“Really? You’re going to eat an omelet? Not your usual toast and prunes?”
“Yes, well, I thought I’d give it a whirl.”
“Lovely,” she said.
When his mother sat down and he put the plate in front of her, as well as a pot of tea, she took a moment to put her nose to the omelet. It was a common occurrence. She ate nothing without doing this first. She said it was “savoring it before tasting it” and it was “absolutely necessary for a chef.”
“Would you be offended if I chopped up some chives to throw on top?” she asked.
Archie threw his hands up in the air and said, “Of course. Chives! That’s what you always add with those three herbs. I couldn’t remember!”
“Oh, well, it’s almost perfect. I can tell by the aroma.”
“Stay there,” he said. “I’ll chop the chives.”
Archie hurried up about it so his mother would taste the omelet before it cooled. He took the cutting board over to his mother and sprinkled them on top.
“There. Now give it a try.”
Annella put her nose to it all over again and said, “Perfect.” She then cut a piece of the omelet off with her fork and took her first bite.
If Annella was dramatic about anything, it was food. She closed her eyes as she chewed, and once she had swallowed the bite said, “That’s really quite delectable, Archie.”
Archie smiled. Then he went back to the kitchen to cook his own omelet.
Once Archie and his mother were at the table eating together, she asked him, “So what are we celebrating this morning?”
Archie finished chewing his bite. “I wasn’t exactly thinking of it as a celebration, but I suppose it might be.”
“About what?”
“Well, about life in general. You encouraged me. Father counseled me. God has heard my prayers, and Tallie has come for a week. Those are enough reasons to celebrate.”
Annella smiled. “Yes. Those are very good reasons to celebrate. Will you be spending the day with Tallie?”
“Yes. I think I’ll be spending most of the week with her. She told me she would like to see all of Outlandish.”
“Well, with a whole week, that shouldn’t be too difficult. What are your plans?”
“I haven’t come up with any just yet. Tallie is pretty good at letting me know what she wants to do, so I think I’ll just make some suggestions and let her tell me.”
“Well then, there’s your plan!”
Archie and Tallie met in front of the Salt Boutique at ten o’clock.
“Good morning, Mr. Plumby,” she said cheerfully.
“Good morning to you, Miss Greenleaf.”
“So what are we doing today?” she asked.
“Well, what do you want to start with? Something spectacular? Something charming? Or something delicious?”
Tallie put her finger on her lip and pondered. “I just had a Pop-Tart, so maybe . . .”
Before she could finish, Archie said, “Wait. You ate a Pop-Tart for breakfast?”
“Well, I’m not staying at a real hotel you know, so they don’t serve breakfast. I just bought some easy breakfast food that doesn’t require refrigeration or cooking.”
Archie shook his head. “Not acceptable.”
Tallie walked with Archie. “Where are you taking me, Archibald?”
“Be patient now,” he said.
When they had walked a block and stood in front of The Lupine, he said, “Would you mind waiting out here for a few minutes?”
“Why? What’re you doing?”
“Just let me check on something. I’ll be right back.”
It had only been a few minutes when Archie walked back out the door. “How long will it take you to pack up your stuff?”
“What? Why?”
“If we walk back to your room, how long will it take you to pack your things?” he asked again.
“Um, only a few minutes, I guess. Why?”
“Because you’re staying at your favorite inn.”
“I am?”
“Yes, you are.”
“How? They said they were booked.”
“Well, they weren’t . . . at least not technically. They always have two rooms reserved for Outlandish business use. I’m qualified to reserve a room on behalf of the newspaper, though I’ve never done it before.”
Tallie said, “But I’m not here on business. Will I have to fake it? Because I’m not very good at faking.”
“No,” said Archie. “I would never ask you to do that. I just told them you were a photographer here to take some pictures of Outlandish for potential use. It was good enough for them.”
“See, you said I was here on business! I can’t, Archibald! It feels wrong.”
“Miss Greenleaf, are you going to be taking pictures?”
“Yeah, I’ll take pictures,” Tallie answered.
“And is it at least slightly possible you might use one at some point for the promotion or publicity of something or someone in Outlandish?”
“Well . . . it’s possible, I guess,” she said.
“Then I was completely honest, and you are perfectly entitled to the room, and if it makes you feel any better, it wouldn’t have been used by anyone else this week anyway.”
“I will pay though.”
“You can’t,” said Archie. “It’s a complimentary room. Several businesses in Outlandish offer services in exchange for the rooms. Stay Afloat is one of them. We give them free advertising in the paper. So you can’t pay. It’s not even an option.”
“But what if—”
“Tallie,” said Archie, “let’s go get your things.”
Of course Tallie was pleased to be staying in The Lupine Inn, but more than that, she was grateful to Archie for caring for her enough to work it out. After she took her bags up to the room and came back out to meet Archie, she hugged him and said, “You’re the best, you know.”
Archie scratched his cheek, looked squarely at Tallie, and said, “It seemed wrong for you to be staying anywhere but here. And Pop-Tarts! Ew!”
Tallie laughed. “Now remember, I’ve never lived with a chef, and I eat macaroni-and-cheese donuts for dinner!”
Archie rolled his eyes. “I can’t imagine.”
“Don’t you ever eat junk?”
“Yes. Sometimes. Well, no, not really,” he admitted.
“You should eat some junk with me while I’m here. It’ll be an experience!”
“I have always wanted to try funnel cake,” Archie admitted.
“Believe it or not, I’ve never had one, either,” said Tallie. “I mean, not many towns have street carts with funnel cakes year-round. I’ve only seen them at fairs and such, but I’ve never actually bought one.”
“Well, let’s just get that out of the way right now,” said Archie.
Tallie laughed. “Pop-Tarts and funnel cakes all before lunch. Are you ready to experience that version of Tallie?”
“I believe so,” said Archie.
“Well, okay then.”
The funnel cake cart was very near The Lupine, and it was just opening its window when they walked up.
“Good morning!” said the man behind the window. “What can I get for you?”
Tallie and Archie were staring at the menu on the side of the cart and looking a little overwhelmed when the man said, “Have you ever had a funnel cake?”
At the same time they both said, “No.”
“Well, you are in for a treat, my friends. You can order a plain funnel cake which comes with only powdered sugar, or you can order it with toppings.” He pointed to the toppings list and said, “And of course whipped cream is a must if you order toppings.”
Tallie looked at Archie. “Let’s go all out.”
“All right,” he answered. “You pick the toppings. Whatever you’d like.”
“Oh, so much pressure. Hmmm. Let’s see. How about, bananas . . . strawberries . . . chocolate syrup and whipped cream?”
“Sure,” said Archie.
“Good choices, Miss. Coming right up!”
When the enormous funnel cake was prepared and Archie had paid for it, Tallie carried it to a nearby bench to eat it. Archie set up his umbrella stand and said, “I feel like we should pray and ask God to protect us from whatever this has the potential of doing to us.”
“Oh come on,” said Tallie. “It’s just a funnel cake! And besides, it has fruit!”
“And that makes it so much better for us,” said Archie sarcastically.
“It was you who suggested it. Now stop making me feel guilty.”
“All right,” Archie said.
She held up the plate. “You have to go first.”
Archie started to refuse, but Tallie put her finger up and said, “No, no, no.”
She handed the plate to Archie and he began to pinch off a little piece, but Tallie said, “Take a bigger bite than that! Oh, but wait, I want a picture!”
“Ohhhh no,” he said.
“Archibald, I’m here to see Outlandish and have some fun. Let me take home some memories. Please?” she begged.
Archie smiled a crooked smile and sighed. “All right. Have it your way.”
He looked around to make sure no one was looking and then pinched off a large piece of the funnel cake. Tallie stood back with her camera and waited until he put the piece to his mouth. Just as it touched his lips, a piece of banana fell on his lap. He ignored it while he shoved the funnel cake into his mouth. He turned his head away from Tallie while he chewed, but he could hear her giggling as well as taking pictures. Finally, when he was done chewing, he went to clean up his mouth, and it was then he realized they’d forgotten napkins. He tried to use his hands, but Tallie said, “Wait, let me help.” She let her camera hang from a strap against her chest, pulled a napkin out of her purse, and began cleaning up the funnel cake leftovers around Archie’s mouth.
“There,” she said. “So what did you think? Delicious?”
“Quite, I’m afraid.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell your mother.”
“Thank you,” said Archie. “She really would frown at such a messy presentation of ingredients.”
“I’m sure she would,” said Tallie.
“Now, Madame Photographer, it’s your turn.”
“Here,” she said removing the camera from around her neck. “You can take pictures of me. Just so it’s fair.”
“I’m not sure I’ll do it very well,” he said taking the camera reluctantly.
Tallie put the strap over his head and said, “I put it on automatic for you. All you have to do is look through here and click this button.” Moving away from Archie, she added, “I’ll even stand back here so you can stay right under your umbrella.”
“For the sake of your memories, I’ll give it a whirl,” he said.
Tallie tore off a piece of the cake and said, “I’m excited,” before putting it in her mouth.
Archie snapped a picture of Tallie while she posed with the plate in front of her. He took another picture when she pinched off a piece and put it in her mouth.
“My piece was bigger,” he said. Which made Tallie take a much larger piece and put it in her mouth.
He took another picture, then stopped to watch Tallie for a moment while she chewed. He couldn’t help but laugh at the chocolate drizzle that was now on the tip of her nose.
“Don’t laugh!” she said with her mouth still full.
“I’m not laughing,” he said, suddenly looking very serious.
“So messy!” she mumbled through a full mouth.
Archie laughed. “But worth it, right?”
Tallie nodded, finished chewing, and reached for a third bite. “Totally!”