He was getting left alone with her? “All right.”
“Take it easy on Jeremy, Mama. He’s new to you and to be honest, he’s looking a little afraid.”
Mrs. Law turned to face him. “Are you afraid of me?”
“No.”
Her slight frown turned into a bright smile again. “See, Jeremy’s going to be just fine. Go shower, Son. When you get out, we’ll discuss dinner and my first dance class.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
After he disappeared down the hall, Mrs. Law chuckled. “Jeremy, that Gunnar is kind of a pistol.”
This was news to him. “He is?”
“Oh, yes. He always says yes, ma’am, sweet as you please, then darts off and does his own thing. You should remember that.”
“I will.”
She pulled out an electric mixer, started beating butter and brown sugar and some eggs. Jeremy watched. His mother hadn’t really been around much and she hadn’t been one for cooking. But sitting here, sipping water, he was thinking that simply watching Gunnar’s mom wasn’t too bad. “Do you always start cooking the minute you get here?”
“No, dear. I just . . . well, I like to be busy sometimes. And I’ve been looking forward to baking you cookies since I woke up this morning.”
“Oh. That’s, um, real nice of you.”
After she poured in the flour and a couple of teaspoons of some other stuff, she opened up the bag of chocolate chips. Then her voice softened. “Gunnar told me that you’ve had a time of it.”
“Yeah.” His dad had never been around and his mother had never been around all that much either, and then she’d died. And then had come the series of foster homes. None of them had been horrible, but until Gunnar, he’d never really been too happy with any of them.
After putting a cookie sheet in the oven, she poured herself a cup of coffee that he hadn’t even realized she’d brewed. “Do you drink coffee?”
“Not really.”
“That’s probably good. It’s my vice. I love it.” When she sat down next to him, she said, “So, Gunnar was one of four kids. I had them all close together and sometimes felt like I was a cop on crowd control instead of their mother. My husband, you see, was always working so the kids would have shoes and such. Then, when he was around, he was a softie. Those kids could get away with murder.”
Jeremy grinned. “Gunnar too?”
“Gunnar . . . Gunnar was number three out of four. I don’t know how he managed it, but he became the most easygoing of them all. My eldest, Martin?” She waved a hand. “He loved getting his way. Still does, if you want to know the truth.”
“Who’s second?”
“Darcy. Darcy was our star pupil. We never had a lick of trouble with her. Now, she’s a physician’s assistant and is married out in Denver. She already has two kids and a nanny.”
“Wow.” He’d never met anyone who had a nanny.
“I know! I told her that she was acting pretty fancy for a girl from Spartan, but she told me to stop my fussing.”
“Then there is Gunnar.”
“Yep, and you know all about him. He’s as steady as can be.” She sighed. “And then there’s Andrew.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“Oh, nothing much.”
“Much?” That didn’t sound too good.
“Don’t fret, child. He’s fine. He just doesn’t want to grow up. One day, though . . .”
“Don’t listen to my mom,” Gunnar said as he joined them, now clad in a thick pair of black fleece sweatpants and an old T-shirt. “Andrew is a sergeant in the Army and is stationed out in Colorado Springs. I promise, he’s plenty grown up.”
“He’s far from home. But every time I say that, he says that he could be farther.” She walked to the oven, slipped on a mitt, and pulled out a tray of perfectly baked cookies. Looking pleased, she glanced his way. “Do you like warm cookies, child?”
“I do.”
“Good. I’ll get you a plate and a glass of milk.” She gave him a hard look. “Don’t fuss about drinking milk.”
“I won’t.” If Gunnar hadn’t been there, he would have told her that Gunnar made him drink milk too.
As he watched Mrs. Law do just what she said, Gunnar poured himself a cup of coffee too.
“Sounds like Mom has been filling you in on everyone.”
“Yep.”
“I hope she told you the truth. How I’m the best of the lot.”
“She said you were steady.”
Gunnar didn’t look too impressed. “Gee, thanks, Mom.”
“Oh, stop. I gave you a compliment, and you know it. I’m real proud of you. Always have been, but don’t you go tell the other kids that I said that,” Mrs. Law said as she handed Jeremy a plate of five cookies.
“No, ma’am.”
“Now, what do y’all think about chicken and rice casserole?”
“It sounds good, but we should probably have it another time. It’s already getting late and I don’t want to run to the grocery store. The boy needs to eat soon.”
“It’s already made. I’ll pop it in the oven. Okay?”
Jeremy gaped at her. “You came with casseroles and chocolate chips?”
“She’s kind of like Mary Poppins that way, Jeremy. It’s easiest if you just kind of go with the flow.”
“I can do that.” Popping a second warm cookie in his mouth, he was kind of thinking that he’d put up with a lot of Mrs. Law craziness for food like that.
Gunnar laughed. “I thought I’d keep her culinary skills a surprise for you. She’s a great cook.”
Mrs. Law shook her head. “You make it sound like I’m doing something special. I’m not. Well, not for most people.”
“I never got the hang of cooking,” Gunnar supplied.
“How that can be, I don’t know. You can rebuild an engine but you can’t seem to follow the most basic directions in a cookbook.”
“It’s harder than it looks.”
“Jeremy, do you see what I have to put up with? Now, I not only have to find a good woman for Gunnar, but one who can cook too.”
“I don’t know if Kimber cooks, Gunnar,” he said before he realized that he probably should have kept his mouth shut.