The Chef's Mail Order Bride: A Sweet Western Historical Romance (Wild West Frontier Brides Book 1)

by Cindy Caldwell

  He turned back to his sauce. “Good luck. Let me know if you need help.”

  How could you help? she thought as she pushed through the swinging doors with her tray. He was busy enough as it was.

  As she served her table their plates and Suzanne went into the kitchen, she heard another voice behind her.

  “Waitress,” said a man with slicked-back hair and a black, matching mustache.

  Suzanne was nowhere to be seen as she took a quick look around. She smiled as she walked over to the customer.

  “Was that our meal that you just served?”

  “I beg your pardon?” she said, looking over to her table.

  “I just wanted to make sure you hadn’t mistaken their order for ours.”

  Suzanne walked up with a tray and set it down. “No, sir, here is your meal.”

  The man’s chin dropped and he and his wife looked from Suzanne to Sadie and back again.

  “Oh,” his wife said as her hand rose to her mouth. “I’m so sorry. We thought you were our waitress, but you’re…”

  “Twins,” Suzanne said, as she set their meals in front of them.

  A hush fell over the room and Suzanne and Sadie looked around at the wide eyes staring at them. “We’re twins,” Sadie said as she and Suzanne broke out into laughter, which was followed by titters around the room.

  Suzanne bent over the table, taking a flower from the vase in the center. She broke off the stem and placed it behind Sadie’s ear.

  “This is Sadie, with the flower, and I’m Suzanne, without the flower. We’ll try to keep the orders straight if you try to keep your waitresses straight,” she said to smiles around the room.

  “Tomorrow, we’d better make sure to wear different colored dresses,” Sadie whispered as they went into the kitchen, bursting into laughter as the door swung shut behind them.

  “What’s so funny?” Tripp asked as he smiled at their laughter.

  “Oh, just what you’d said might happen. They thought we were one person,” she said, collapsing for a moment on the stool by the counter.

  “Sounds like trouble.”

  Suzanne grabbed Sadie’s hand and pulled her toward the dining room. “Different plan for tomorrow, Tripp.”

  He shrugged his shoulders as they headed back out.

  The next night, they’d planned what they were going to wear and made sure their dresses looked very different, and things went more smoothly. For them, anyway.

  Halfway through the evening, Tripp had a chance to come out of the kitchen and walk around the dining room a bit, shaking hands and thanking people for coming.

  When he got to Hank’s table, he broke out in laughter as the gentlemen stood, both wrapping him in big bear hugs.

  She turned as she heard Tripp say, “Sadie, Sadie, come over here.”

  She hurried to the table and tried to hide her surprise as an older gentleman standing next to Hank grabbed her in a hug.

  “Hey, hey, this is my wife, Beau,” he said, laughing and grabbing Sadie’s hand. “Hank, I believe you’ve met my lovely wife, but Beau, please meet Sadie Morgan.”

  “A little late for that, Tripp. I’ve already given her a hug,” the man said, his big smile turned toward her. He was very tall, she noticed, with a full head of black hair, graying at the temples. She looked from him to Hank and thought they looked enough alike to be related.

  “I had the good fortune to meet Mrs. Morgan this morning, Pa. I knew you’d like her,” Hank said as Sadie felt her eyebrows rise in surprise.

  “Sadie, this is the kind man I worked for who sent me to chef school,” Tripp said, introducing Hank and Beau Archer.

  “Aw, it was nothing, Tripp. You earned it. Best trail cook I’ve ever known. Deserved it. It’s what Katie wanted, you know that. And she’d be so proud to see you now.”

  He gestured to the grand dining room. “We’re so pleased to be here.”

  “I would have sent an invitation if I’d known you were off the trail, Hank,” Tripp said, shaking Hank’s hand.

  “You know as well as I do that you never know when that’s gonna happen,” Hank said. “Take it when you can get it. Remember?”

  Tripp chuckled. “Yes. I remember clearly.”

  “I have to say, Tripp, it’s never been the same since you left,” Hank said as he smiled at Tripp. “No one we’ve hired has been able to duplicate your chili. We all still talk about it.”

  Tripp laughed and said, “Aw, thanks, Hank. How about I make some up for you two next Friday night? I’ll make enough for you to take home to the girls, too.”

  He looked over his shoulder at the customers. “I do hope that we can catch up soon, but for now I’ve got to get back in the kitchen. So pleased you came and got to meet my wife.”

  Sadie watched Tripp turn and head back to the kitchen.

  “It was very nice to meet you both. Tripp is so excited, and thank you so much for making this possible, sir,” she said to the older man.

  “Please, call me Beau. And he’s Hank,” he said, pointing his thumb at his son. “You might not know it yet, but we’re family. And congratulations on the opening, Mrs. Morgan. And, of course, the wedding.” Both Hank and Beau nodded at her.

  She thanked them and excused herself, thinking maybe they could shed some light on Tripp’s transition from trail cook to chef, and tucked that thought away for later.

  Sadie noticed the dark circles under Tripp’s eyes after the two-night run. Since the next day was Sunday and the restaurant would be closed as they evaluated what had gone right—and wrong—over breakfast, she said, “I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted.”

  He smiled weakly at her, taking a big gulp of the coffee she’d set before him, along with the plate of bacon and eggs and a few slices of her homemade bread.

  “I hate to say it, but I am, too. That was really something.”

  He took a big bite of eggs and then of toast, and he held it up to the light, eyeing it approvingly. “Is this the bread you made for the restaurant? I was so busy, I didn’t even get to try it.”

  “Yes, it is,” she said, happy that he had noticed—even if it was a little late. The customers had seemed to like it, too, and she was glad she’d made it and set it on the tables as some of the dishes Tripp was working on took a little too long. It actually had prevented unhappy customers, although she hadn’t told him so.

  He cleared his throat. “You know, the one class at culinary school I wasn’t all that good at was baking. The examples from the chef looked just like this—a perfect amount of holes on the inside and a crunchy, dense crust on the outside. Perfect. And I could never get it quite right.”

  Her heart swelled at the compliment—and the admission. She hadn’t heard anything like that from him yet.

  “Well, there’s not much to it when you learned how before you could even read or write,” she replied, still glowing from the praise. “I can’t make a sauce like you to save my life.”

  He finished off the toast, bacon and eggs and said, “Maybe this arrangement will work out after all,” as he set the plate and fork in the sink and drained his coffee.

  “I’d like that,” she said, humming as she set to cleaning the dishes, drying them and putting them back in the cupboard.

  Chapter 13

  She headed to her room for a bit after breakfast, wondering when they’d discuss the opening night’s successes and challenges. She’d decided to go downstairs and ask but she heard a soft knock on her bedroom door.

  “Sadie?” said Tripp from the other side.

  “Yes?”

  “It’s a beautiful day and we don’t have to be at the restaurant today. Would you like to pack a picnic and head out into the country? I’d love to show you around.”

  She took a quick glance in the mirror, tucking some loose hair back into her bun. She walked to the door and opened it, startling Tripp.

  “Oh. Hello. So, what do you think?”

  She eyed him thoughtfully before saying, “Who�
��s packing the picnic? You or me?”

  He smiled from ear to ear as she turned back to her room.

  “Is it all right if I come in?” He looked uncomfortable standing outside the door, shifting from foot to foot and she gestured for him to enter.

  He made it as far as a foot past the door jamb before he backed up and leaned against the door, his arms folded over his chest. “I thought I would, if it’s all right with you. You’ve been working pretty hard. Unless you have something special in mind.”

  “How can you cook up your specialties if we’re on a picnic?” she asked as she reached for a shawl.

  “Never you mind that, Sadie. I have other tricks up my sleeve. I’m going to run to the restaurant and I’ll be right back. Be ready,” he said as he turned and hurried down the stairs.

  Her smile returned, both inside and out. She watched out the window as he ran—yes, ran—toward the restaurant with a big basket thrown over his shoulder.

  As she had a little time, she combed out her hair that had become a mess while she laid down, and twirled it back up in its characteristic position.

  As she put in the last pin, she looked at herself in the mirror and wondered how Tripp saw her. Suzanne had known him for a long time, and although they were twins, Suzanne was much more delicate and took her time with her clothes and hair. Sadie, on the other hand, had been working at the bakery so long that she knew how to do her hair one way…up, and out of the way.

  She turned away from the mirror as her stomach fluttered, wishing she had more of Suzanne’s graces—social and otherwise. She closed her eyes and turned again to the mirror. Opening them, she saw her blonde hair and blue eyes differently, almost as if she were looking at Suzanne, and determined to ask Suzanne next time they were together to show her a little about how to be more like…a woman.

  * * *

  She’d made it downstairs with her shawl and had gathered a blanket in preparation for their picnic. As she bustled around the kitchen, her anticipation grew and she knew she was growing attached to this town—if not more.

  Tripp bounded back in the front door, carrying the basket he’d taken with two hands, and she wondered what could possibly be in it.

  He set the basket down by the door with a smile and said, “No peeking.” And with that, he headed back out the door, she presumed to hitch up the horses and get the buggy.

  She paced a little bit, looking for something to put the blanket and plates in, and kept eyeing the basket, dying to “peek”. On the fifth pass, her hand was just at the top of the basket when he opened the door and she bolted upright, plastering a smile on her face.

  “I saw that,” he said, snatching the basket away from her. “Glad I caught you before you could do it.”

  “What? I wasn’t doing anything,” she said, picking up the blanket and utensils.

  “Uh-huh,” he said as he gestured for her to go out the door and to the buggy.

  She lifted her chin as she climbed into the buggy, sure that he hadn’t known what she was thinking. Hoping that whatever he did have in the basket was not only edible, but good.

  They traveled in comfortable silence for a while as she watched the buildings of the town grow further apart and then absent altogether. As the hills grew larger, she noticed the terrain change from cactus and mesquite trees to a little more lush greenery, and soon, she heard what she thought was water rushing nearby.

  She marveled at the change in the vegetation as Tripp pulled up to a pinyon pine tree and hopped out of the buggy, securing the horses on one of its low-lying branches.

  She had started to get out when she heard, “Hold up there, Mrs. Morgan,” and watched as he trotted around to her side of the buggy and held up his hand to help her out. She lifted her skirts—just a little—and hopped down, meeting his eyes as they stood next to the rushing stream.

  “I’d better get the basket,” Tripp said, dropping her hand and moving toward the back of the buggy. She turned toward the stream, drawn to it like a magnet. She’d seen nothing like it in Chicago, obviously, and had spent very little time out of the city. She was mesmerized and walked slowly toward the sound of the rushing water.

  “Sadie?” Tripp said as he lifted the basket out of the back of the buggy.

  His voice jolted her out of her trance and she turned to him. “Yes? Sorry, I’ve never seen an actual stream before. It’s lovely…the sight, the sound and the smell,” she said, turning back toward the rushing water.

  Tripp gazed at the stream and said, “I know what you mean. It’s been a long time since I’ve been here, and I guess I missed it, too. Why don’t you walk down to the water and I’ll set up lunch. Be careful, though. The water can be deceiving. It moves pretty fast.”

  “Thank you,” she said as she moved toward the banks of the stream.

  When she arrived, she watched the water bubble over the beautiful boulders, and noticed an occasional fish in the spray. She smiled, and found herself wanting to touch it. She knelt down at the bank, where the water was more calm, and put her hand in. She pulled back as it was cold to the touch, but something made her want to feel it more. She just had to.

  She unbuttoned her shoes, placing them on a boulder to her side. Enamored with the rush of the water, she rolled down her stockings and put in first one toe and then a whole foot.

  She closed her eyes and sighed at the delicious sensation of the cool water running over her feet. She noticed the hem of her dress was getting wet and pulled it a little higher as she wrapped her arms around her knees, enjoying the feeling of the water like she never had before.

  She was lost in the sound and the sensations, and jumped when she heard Tripp’s voice as he bounded into the clearing. “Sadie, lunch is…”

  She turned as he stopped, his eyes wide as he quickly turned around when he spotted her. Her brows knitted as she wondered what he was looking at. She turned and groaned inwardly as she noticed that her dress was up to her knees, her milky white calves and feet exposed and nearly in the water.

  She scrambled up, hastily pulling her stockings on and buttoning her shoes over them. She rushed back to the buggy and found Tripp petting the horses, looking in the exact opposite direction that she’d come from. She smiled a bit as she noticed his cheeks were pink.

  “Ahem,” she said as she approached the buggy slowly. “I’m sorry, Tripp. I got carried away in the moment.”

  “Goodness, Sadie, no apology necessary. I just hope I didn’t embarrass you,” he said, not turning away from the horses.

  She put her hand on his shoulder, pulling him to turn around and face her. “We’re married, Tripp. I don’t think seeing my ankles should be much of a problem. Even though it is just a business arrangement.”

  Her eyes twinkled as he looked at her for a moment and quickly looked to the ground. And with that, his already pink cheeks turned crimson.

  “Come over here,” he said as he walked quickly into a glen under the pinyon pines. “I’ve set up lunch for us. Well, a late lunch.”

  He led her to a blanket that had been placed on the ground, with plates and silverware laid out. She couldn’t remember ever being on a picnic, and it was hard for her to take her eyes off the trees, the bird calls competing for her attention.

  “There is so much wildlife here. I’ve never seen anything like it,” she said, still looking up while she attempted to sit down.

  Tripp looked up into the trees surrounding their make-shift dining room. “It is amazing, isn’t it? It feels good to get back out here. Even now, I miss being on the trail with the boys.”

  He pulled several dishes out of the basket as she finally sat and turned her attention to him. She watched as he set the serving bowls between them, studiously taking their bowls and serving each of them.

  As he set his bowl down on the blanket, he looked up and their eyes held.

  “What?” he said, smiling. “You don’t like chili?”

  “I like everything you cook, Tripp. So far, anyway,” she said,
her eyebrows moving up a notch as she smiled in return. “

  She picked up her spoon and chili, bringing it to her nose for a quick sniff before putting it in her mouth.

  “Well, you could sure fool me. You have to smell it first before you eat it?”

  She let out a short moan as the chili touched her tongue. Opening her eyes, she saw his concerned look.

  “I just like to know what I’m eating before I eat it,” she said. “I don’t sniff to offend, but to appreciate.”

  He sat back and let out a whistle, picking up his own bowl and beginning to eat. “You’re a tough customer, Sadie Morgan. You like it?”

  “Yes, Tripp, it’s delicious. Is it left over from the restaurant?”

  Tripp lifted his eyes to her quickly, and said, “Um, no. This is something I made on the side. It doesn’t really fit with the menu.”

  “What do you call it?”

  He shifted a bit on the tree he was leaning against. “I’m not sure if you know this, but before I went to chef school, I was a cook on the trail when the ranch hands had to move the cattle from one area to another. I was responsible for feeding at least a dozen hungry men, three times a day.”

  He took another bite of the chili.

  “And this is one of the things you used to make for them? It’s delicious,” she said, savoring another bite. The taste of the beef with the potatoes and onions reminded her a little bit of her meat pies, but she decided not to make the observation out loud. In this, though, she could taste peppers and something a little bit spicy. And beans.

  He chuckled as he took his last bite. “Yes, it was one of their favorites. This, with biscuits, but as I told you, I never got the biscuits quite right. Good thing you had some of yours leftover in the kitchen,” he said with a half-smile that warmed her heart as he handed her a biscuit that she’d made for breakfast the day before.

  “I only got one baked thing right. Ever. But I guess it was the right thing, because they loved it.”

  She smiled as she set her bowl on the blanket and took a bite of her biscuit. “What was that?”