“We’ll need soup bowls, salad plates, dinner plates, and dessert plates. For silverware, we’ll need soupspoons, salad forks, the usual knife-fork-spoons, and dessert forks. As for drinks, we’ll need water glasses and wine goblets. I brought linen napkins.”
Casey stared at him. “I have two settings of plastic dishes, cereal bowls, water glasses, and two sets of knife-fork-spoons.”
Del smiled, more real this time. “That will work just fine.”
Casey set the table with her meager dishes—Death whining all the while at not being included—then sat back and watched as Del went to work. He emptied his basket, fussed around arranging things and putting on some last minute touches, then turned to her. “Ready?”
“Sure.” Casey was surprised at how hungry she was. With the horror of the night, she’d managed to forget to eat all day, and now that she smelled food, she was famished.
Del flapped open a square of bright red fabric and laid it over Casey’s lap. After setting his own napkin by his plate, he brought over a pan and ladled some orange soup into Casey’s cereal bowl, and then his own. The delicious scent wafted up across Casey’s face, and she breathed it in. Death moaned, practically doing a face plant in the food. Casey waved Death away.
“I know,” Del said. “It’s hot.”
“Oh, no, it’s not that, I just—” She stopped, realizing there was nothing she could say that wouldn’t make her look like a raving lunatic. “It looks amazing.”
He took the pan back to the kitchen before sitting across from Casey. “Bon appétit.”
Casey dipped her spoon in the soup and sipped at it. Her taste buds exploded. “Oh, wow. What is this? It’s incredible!”
Death whimpered.
“Butternut Squash Soup,” Del said. “A comfort food. One of my favorites.”
“Mine, too. Now, anyway.”
Casey didn’t talk anymore as she finished it up, and was sad when she hit the bottom of the bowl. She scraped up every last bit, then looked up to find Del grinning at her. “What? Oh, sorry. I guess I was hungrier than I thought.”
“Yeah, way to go Miss Manners,” Death grumbled.
Del kept grinning. “No problem. It’s nice to see my cooking so appreciated.”
“Um, speaking of that…” Casey held out her bowl. “Is there more?”
“There is, but you want to leave room for what’s coming next.”
“Oh, I’ve got plenty of room.”
He laughed and got up, returning with the pan. He ladled more into her bowl, and this time she tried to eat in a more dignified fashion. When she was done, she sat back. “Delicious. Thank you.”
Del finished his own soup, then rose to clear the dishes. Casey got up, too, but he waved her back down. “You sit. This is my thing. Just relax.”
He took away the bowls, then returned to get her dinner plate. When he came back, the plate was filled with an artistic vision—the colors and shapes and smells combined to form a masterpiece. After he sat down with his own plate, Casey said, “So what is this amazing stuff?”
“For your main course you have Ballotine of Chicken, which consists of a breast stuffed and rolled with spinach and leeks with a brandy mustard cream sauce. On the side you have Mushroom Hazelnut Salad, with sautéed Shiitake mushrooms, as well as twice-baked potatoes, with sour cream and cheese. The rolls—” he jumped up and returned with a small basket “—are my special recipe with whole wheat pastry flour and yams.”
Death passed out on the couch with a gurgle, and disappeared.
“Is there a special order for eating them?”
“Yes. In whatever order you want.”
Casey slathered a roll with whipped honey butter, and savored every mouthful of the feast. Del talked more this course, about his work at the insurance company, his family in Tennessee, and how he liked to go parasailing in the warmer weather. Casey just listened and ate, every now and then offering a “Wow,” or a “Really?” but spending most of her energy enjoying the food.
When her plate was clean and she’d eaten her third roll, she sat back and stretched. “I’m going to need to do at least three extra workouts to make up for this.”
Del nodded. “Why do you think I spend so much time in the weight room? Life’s too short to not eat well.” Immediately, he went red, and rested his fork on his plate. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…I was going to avoid saying anything…” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“It’s okay, Del. Really. You’ve been…this has been great.”