Caleb was typing when the shrill peal of the smoke alarm startled him, causing him to jump and toss his sandwich to the floor. His ice tea flying through the air landed within inches of the keyboard.
Once Caleb righted himself, he rushed upstairs. The kitchen was filled with smoke and Ariel was nowhere to be found. Where was that woman? He’d hired her to take care of things around here. Her carelessness could have burned down the whole house. For the most part, he was a patient man who tried not to let things bother him, but this was unacceptable.
Caleb was pulling oven mitts on his hands when she came through the back door with a horrified expression. And of all things, he’d snapped at her. Her crestfallen face at his rude behavior caused an unexpected lump to form in his throat.
To get his mind off these strange new feelings, Caleb retrieved his ruined dinner and placed it on the stove. When he turned back around, Ariel was toppling off the stool. He stepped under her and caught her, but the force of the fall sent them to the ground. He hit his backside with a thud, Ariel landing on top of him.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.”
Caleb was going to tell her it was okay, although he wasn’t sure it was the truth. But before he could say anything, Ariel jumped to her feet and ran out of the kitchen. He made sure the oven was off and headed after her, following behind and holding a hand to his bruised tailbone.
When Caleb arrived at the front door, he saw her sitting in her car, crying. On the hall table sat her purse and keys. While he was staring through the glass wondering what to do, Joshua came up behind him.
“What happened?”
“She burned dinner.”
“I can smell that. Why are you holding your butt?”
“I fell.”
“How?”
“Ariel was fanning the smoke alarm, and she toppled over. I caught her but we hit the floor.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“What?”
“She said she wasn’t hungry, but I think she was lying. I haven’t seen her eat all day. Everyone gets hungry, right?”
“Yeah, they do,” he whispered.
“What are we going to do now? If she can’t fan a smoke alarm, she is going to be too weak to cook something else for us to eat.” Joshua was silent then piped up with, “Can we go get pizza?”
“Joshua…” he started with his parental tone.
“I know, I know, town is too far away just for one pizza.” He tapped his head, “Maybe we could make pizza! I’ll go see if we have the ingredients.”
“Okay son, sounds like a great idea. You do that while I find a way to get Ariel back in here.”
“Don’t worry, Dad, I don’t think she’s going to go too far.”
“You noticed that, too.”
“Yep,” Joshua answered as he walked back into the kitchen.
While Joshua was on his pizza-making mission, Caleb headed to Ariel’s car. As he approached, she opened her door and stepped out. Her voice quivering, she said, “I forgot my things. I’ll just go get them then I’ll get out of your way.”
“Oh, but you can’t leave. Joshua is making pizza for us to eat.”
“But I, I, burned your dinner.”
Caleb ran a hand through his disheveled hair. Standing there trembling in the cold, Ariel looked vulnerable. How could he turn her away after one incident? Nothing bad had happened. Besides, he had promised her a week. And he did still need her.
To ease her fears, he said, “No problem. Do you know how many times I’ve left the plastic on those meals? Just come back inside and let’s see what the munchkin has found to top this pizza.”
“Oh, but I couldn’t.”
Caleb grasped her hand, noticing how thin she looked. “I think I forgot to mention, meals are included with the job.”
Ariel’s muscles felt tense, as his finger began to stroke the silken skin of her wrist. Caleb could feel her body resist his touch. Maybe she wanted to leave? But she couldn’t leave. He wouldn’t let her leave. Beside, all her belongs were still inside.
If Ariel left this way, sluggish from lack of nutrition, she might be harmed. This was why Caleb was still holding her hand, or so he told himself. His hand clasped her wrist in a firm grip. She didn’t pull away, nor did she protest as they walked back inside together. He led her to a stool in the kitchen and didn’t release her hand until she was seated.
The brief moment with Ariel upset his equilibrium. To distract himself, Caleb opened a few windows causing the lingering smoke to float away on the winter breeze.
“So, son, what have you got planned so far?”
“Hmm, I’m thinking we dig out mamaw’s homemade pizza recipe.”
“You think so?”
“Yep. It’s the best.”
Caleb patted Joshua on the bottom as the kid skipped around the room. Feeling more lighthearted than he had in years, Caleb dug out the recipe for the pizza dough. It didn’t take him long to realize he was lost. He held the card every which way trying to decipher the directions.
“Does it make it easier to read if it’s upside down?” asked Ariel, trying to hide the laughter in her voice.
“I’m not sure yet. I do know reading it right side up looks like Greek. So I was hoping upside down would look more like English.”
Ariel shook her head as she took the recipe card from his hand. “Let me see that.” She read the ingredients out loud and they gathered them, placing them on the counter. In no time at all, she’d combined all the ingredients and held up a crust for them to see.
“Voila! Now where are the toppings and the sauce?”
Caleb and Joshua stared at her in confusion. Caleb said, “Well, we aren’t sure we have any.”
Caleb watched as she placed her hands on her hips in a sassy manner before saying, “How did you expect to make pizza without sauce and toppings?”
When they didn’t answer, she threw her hands up in the air and stalked to the refrigerator. Ariel opened it and buried her head inside. She was mumbling and grumbling the whole time. Caleb hid a smile at the spectacle she presented.
Shredded cheese, sliced deli ham, and some spaghetti sauce was found and placed on the island. Ariel put everything together and slid it into the oven. When she turned to face them, they were staring at her in a state of awe. How did she do that? He was amazed. There was more to the woman than he realized.
“It should be finished in about twelve minutes. That is, if I don’t burn it.”
Joshua giggled and added, “You’ll stay and eat with us, won’t you?”
Ariel looked at Caleb and he answered for her, “Of course she will.”
When the pizza was ready, the three of them moved to the table and sat down to eat. Caleb offered grace. He watched Ariel as she picked at the food. Had she ate so little it now hurt to eat? Or was she embarrassed to eat her fill?
Joshua broke the awkward silence, “This tastes great! Don’t you think so, Dad?”
He stared at Ariel when he answered, “Yes. The best food I’ve eaten in a long time.”
A flush of color invaded her checks. Had his compliment embarrassed her? Ariel flashed him a shy smile, picked up a piece of the pizza and took a huge bite, making sounds of contentment.
As Ariel cleared away the dishes after dinner, Caleb sent Joshua upstairs to prepare for bed. He couldn’t help but watch Ariel as she worked. When she turned he was caught staring at her. Had she seen the eagerness in his eyes? Did she sense his attraction for her?
“I think maybe I should go,” she said.
“Yeah, I guess it is getting kind of late. We’ll see you tomorrow at seven.”
“Tomorrow at seven,” she replied.
She walked to the front door, grabbed her things, and went to her car.
Caleb watched her retreating taillights. Today had been one of the most normal days he’d had in a long time. He’d almost felt like he had a real family.
He was surprised at how relaxed the day had been. At first, he worried about Ariel, whether she would fit in. Whether she would care to clean his home and watch Joshua without complaint. But having her around had been an enjoyable experience.
Last week if you’d told him he could have laughed over a burned dinner and then turned around and had a good time making a new one, he would have told you that you were crazy. He was way too busy for such nonsense. But Ariel brought a new feeling to the house. Something he hadn’t felt in a long time. A feeling that he didn’t want to lose.
As she drove away the sun began to set and Caleb made a wish. May every day be like this one.