cut a piece of her cherry pie and took it to Doug. He ignored all of the women with outstretched hands, holding plates toward him, and he took her pie. One bite was all it took.
“Sorry, ladies. My wife is the best cook in all of Colorado. You need to stop trying, because she’ll always win.” The smile he gave her was reminiscent of their first couple of days of marriage, and she longed for the days right after she’d met him. She missed the man she’d first married, because he seemed to have disappeared from her.
On their way home, she talked to him about making her chicken pot pie for supper. “I thought it would be a good thing to teach Marion how to make. And her husband said he’d love to go out on the range with you again.”
Doug nodded. “They’re good people. I’m just ready to have my wife back in my house all the time.”
She frowned. “I thought it would be easier to teach Marion to cook on her own stove, the one she’d be using to prepare meals. If you’d rather I had her come to our house every day, I’d be happy to do that.”
“Thank you for being willing, but it’s all right. You’re almost done, right?”
“I’ll be done teaching her by the end of this week. Does that work?” She really hated that she was displeasing him by being gone, but helping others made her very happy. They’d figure it out eventually, she was certain.
He nodded. “It does. I am still calving right now, so there’s not much time I could spend with you anyway.”
“Would you want to spend time with me if you could?” she asked. She had no idea where the words came from, and she regretted them immediately. They made her sound downright pitiful.
He looked at her in surprise. “Of course, I’d want to spend time with you. Do you think I don’t like to be around you?”
She shrugged. “I’m just not sure of my footing sometimes.”
“Before the Marches come over, we’ll have to go up to the bedroom. I’ll show you where I want you to be.”
She shook her head. “Oh, there’s no doubt in my mind where my footing is in the bedroom.”
“That should tell you what you need to know.” He wasn’t sure why his lovemaking didn’t let her know how much he cared for her.
And maybe it should, but Trudie wasn’t convinced. Sure, she knew he liked to make love with her, but that was different than enjoying being around her when they were vertical.
As soon as Marion and Thomas arrived, Thomas took a horse and went to find Doug, while Trudie taught Marion how to make a pie crust. “Pie crusts are the hardest things to make, in my opinion,” Trudie said.
She showed Marion how to roll out the crust, and then Marion did the bulk of the work. “You’ll show me how to make a cherry pie tomorrow?” she asked. “Your pie was the best thing at the potluck Sunday. The crust just melted in my mouth, and had a buttery taste.”
“That’s how it’s supposed to be. And yes, I’ll show you. This is the same crust, but we’re making this into a savory pie, and that one was sweet. I like to add chicken, peas, and carrots, in a white sauce. They all cook together, and we add them to the crust. Then we bake. It’s pretty basic.”
As they worked together, Trudie thought about asking her friend what she did when Thomas got quiet, but she really didn’t think she wanted to share her marital troubles. Not just yet. Perhaps the troubles were in her mind like Doug seemed to be telling her.
After the chicken pot pie was in the oven, Trudie whipped up an easy cake recipe, showing her friend exactly what to do. “This is a coffee cake, usually meant for mornings, but I think it’s a great dessert as well. I know Doug will be pleased to have a dessert of any kind.”
As usual, Trudie baked without a recipe, and Marion watched. “You’ll write it down for me?”
“Of course. I never mind writing anything down, but I’ve done so much cooking, I just don’t need a lot of recipes anymore.”
When the men came in, Trudie removed the chicken pot pie and put the coffee cake into the oven. She always preferred to serve coffee cakes hot.
As they sat down, Thomas smiled at Trudie. “I need to thank you for all