KENDAL HAD HER WEEKLY meeting with Tracy and Lily tonight. Tom invited me to dinner because Kendal wanted to talk to Tom and me at the end of the meeting. I was in the kitchen, helping Mary cook dinner. She knew I cooked, and was always raving about her food, so she finally let me in her kitchen to learn what she did. She asked me as I was doing prep work.
“How did you learn to cook?” she asked.
“Both my parents work. With Mom selling real estate, she’s not always home to make dinner, so many nights it fell to Dad to make our meals. Dad turned making dinner into family time. Greg and I talk about everything happening during our day. We each have a job to do for the meal. Gradually he would have us switch. He wanted to teach us different cooking tasks. Finally, he started to let one of us do the meal.
“By the time I was twelve, I was making dinner about once every three days. That was when we added Sunday brunch. Either Mom and I or Dad and Greg would make that meal.”
“I like that; family time is important. Do you cook from recipes?” Mary asked.
“Only for baking; everything else, we just make,” I told her, as I started to chop celery.
“I can tell you have the basics down. My dad was a chef and owned three restaurants when I was a kid. He was all about making a consistent product. He said if you followed the directions, anyone could make a good meal. Tonight you’re going to follow my dad’s recipe for pan-seared chicken. Then you’re going to make a white wine sauce made from vegetables, seasonings and the secret ingredient, butter.”
With that, Mary handed me an old recipe card that looked well used. She poured herself a glass of wine, went into the living room and put on some soft jazz music.
While I was cooking the chicken, the girls took a break. Tracy came up behind me, wrapped her arms around my waist, and kissed me on the back of the neck. She laid her head against my back.
“You know my mom must really like you.”
I looked over my shoulder, and she tilted her head up at me so I could see her smile.
“Why do you say that?”
“It’s just that I’ve never seen her let anyone outside of the family see, let alone use, Granddad’s recipes. She wants to keep them in the family in case I or my kids want to open their own restaurant someday.”
Tracy gave me a quick kiss and headed back to her meeting.
After her glass of wine, Mary joined me back in the kitchen and made the side dishes. I was straining the sauce, and asked her why.
“The vegetables were used to infuse flavor into the sauce. Dad told me that if we left them in, when you took a bite of chicken you could also have a piece of carrot. He didn’t want the carrot to overpower or detract from the chicken. The sauce is supposed to enhance and moisten the chicken; it’s not the star of the dish.”
When we were done, everyone came in to eat. Mary had made roasted butternut squash and creamed spinach. These were both foods we never had at home, but I had always been one to try new dishes. I was surprised I loved both. Tom teased Mary that I might make a better chicken than she did. She just winked at me; we both knew it was the recipe.
Everyone chipped in cleaning up after dinner. When we were done, we all went into the office so Kendal could give us an update.
“I just wanted to tell you: great work this weekend. The feedback on your shoots has been good. Deb was pleased you made an impression on Range Sports. Word is that they may expand your role this weekend in their shoot schedule. One of their longtime models, Bucky Wilson, hurt his back. They need you to take up some of the slack. They have another cowboy type who’ll do the other half of Bucky’s shots.” Kendal was digging through her notes, “Here it is. His name is Cody Chance.”
She handed me Bucky and Cody’s cards. Bucky looked like the cowboy in the old Marlboro commercials. Cody looked to be in his mid-30s. His weathered face just screamed outdoors. What caught your eye was his piercing blue eyes. They just jumped off the page.
“Ford accepted the work on your behalf. Tom and I had a talk, and we’re not happy that they accepted the additional work without calling you or us. With your permission, I’d like to talk to Clare and nip that in the bud,” Kendal said.
She looked at Tom and he raised his eyebrow. She hurried up and continued.
“Of course, that’s if you want the extra work. Sorry about that, I was just assuming you’d do it.”
Kendal was amusing when she got flustered.
“Before I accept, and sic you on ’em, can you tell me what I’ll be doing?”
“Shit, oops, sorry about that,” Kendal said as she blushed. “Range Sports got their start in horse-related products, more specifically actual ranch gear. They sell everything from saddles to western wear. They were originally named Range Gear, but when Devin took over, he wanted to expand the brand to include sporting goods. They target activities that are done in the west. For the summer months, it’s hiking, camping, boating and quads. For the winter, it’s snowboarding, skiing, snowmobiles and the like. They also have hunting and fishing gear.
“You and Cody will be doing some things on horseback and hunting. You do ride, don’t you?”
“This summer my uncle taught me to ride, but I’m not very experienced. I can sit a horse fine, but I’m not a cowboy by any stretch,” I answered.
“The additional sessions will net you $15,000, and they’ve asked me to come out to assist you, along with your mother.”
I smirked. I could see Devin’s hand in this. I would give Kendal credit because she didn’t flinch.
“Okay, I’m there to work and, if you need me to do more, I’ll do it. I’m not sure we’d need you there, though.”
I could tell I was going to get it later. Tom jumped in to save her.
“This is something the client requested, and is paying for, so we’ll accommodate them.”
“Friday’s going to be a busy day. We’ll get up early and go do the shoot for Hill Marketing. Then we head to the airport. We’ll be in Utah around 3:00. Devin is taking you riding at 5:00. The plan is to stay at Range Ranch, where most of the shoot will occur.”
She then turned the meeting over to Tracy and Lily.
“Recruiting has slowed down as teams have focused on bowl games; not that we don’t get a steady stream of stuff, we just aren’t getting the calls we were before. I have some news about Coach Lambert and Coach Engels: they’ve both landed positions at State. Coach Engels will be coaching special teams, and Coach Lambert is their new quarterback coach.”
“Good for them,” was all I said.
That confirmed them leaving. I was sure that Coach Beck, at State, thought this helped his chances to recruit me.
Lily reported on the websites and social media. I gave her some shit.
“Listen, Funny Girl, you do realize my mom follows my Twitter account. I also have a girlfriend, sitting not more than two feet from you, who scares me when she’s pissed. What’s all this Twitter talk about how nice Adrienne’s butt felt?”
Lily laughed.
“Sorry, but some of the guys were talking smack and I responded. Just so you know, your scary girlfriend told me what to say after I cleared it with Kendal.”
I knew when I was outnumbered.
“I guess. And just so you know, Adrienne has a spectacular butt. ‘Nice’ does not begin to describe it.”
“I’ll clear that up,” Lily said, and she got her phone out and sent a tweet. My phone chirped, and I read the message and laughed.
“You know I have to go home and face Mom. I don’t know who she’ll rip on harder, Greg or me. He’s about to die of jealousy.”
“That’s all I have,” Kendal said.
“I have one item,” Tom said. “We got your company set up. You’re now the proud owner of David A. Dawson, LLC. We’ll set up bank accounts this week and transfer money there. We’ll pay you by direct deposit into those accounts. You’ll also get you debit cards in the company name. This will help shelter you for liability purposes, and also provide tax advantages. Our company will act as your registered agent so, to the world, it looks like we’re the umbrella company. This further insulates you from lawsuits. Of course, the name might give away who the owner is. Congratulations, you now own your first business.”