Continued from Part Two
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With Mary upstairs, I panicked a bit and started rummaging through the cabinets and refrigerator. I talked a good game in the car, but the fact of the matter was that I couldn't cook. I could barely manage a frozen pizza. Christine had been right when she told Mary she'd saved me from certain starvation. I was a deplorable bachelor.
But here I'd promised Mary dinner. I promised her a dinner that I had cooked, with all of my idiotic bravado. I don't know why I felt the need to impress her, but I did. Besides, with her leaving for school in a few weeks, I didn't want her to think I was going to be completely helpless while she was gone. Good lord, I was a 40 year old man, I should be able to feed myself.
I pulled out one of Christine's many cook books. Christine was a wonderful cook. Actually, too wonderful as the recipes in her books looked more like complicated chemistry experiments than the instructions on how to make food suitable for human consumption. I reached for a small metal box nestled in between the books. Inside were note cards of some of the dishes Christine cooked the most often, copied in her careful script. Flipping through, I found a recipe for spaghetti sauce. Perhaps I could manage that paired with instant pasta?
I hunted through the kitchen trying to locate all of the ingredients. Some things we didn't have, but we had most of it. I would just have to substitute the rest of it. I began to hum to myself as I chopped and sliced. With the sauce bubbling, I figured I could make a salad to go with it. Christine had a card with a salad dressing on it, but I felt that would be a bit over reaching at the moment. "Bottled dressing will have to suffice", I said to no one in particular.
I went into the dining room and set the table, complete with the candles I knew Christine left in the china cabinet drawer. A bottle of red wine and two glasses completed the look. In the kitchen, I filled the serving bowls and brought each to the table. A quick glance assured me that everything looked presentable. Better than presentable. It looked like I actually had a clue what I was doing.
"Is dinner ready, Daddy?" I turned to see Mary walk into the dining room. Her blond hair was still a bit damp, but it curled softly around her face. She smelled like...I don't know...she smelled good. A purple sun dress clung to her gentle curves and fell lightly just above her knees. She was beautiful. She looked like...Christine.
I was startled at the similarity and nearly stepped backwards with the realization. I'd never realized just how much they looked alike before.
"Are you alright?" Mary looked at me quizzically.
"I'm fine sweetie. It just hit me how much you look like your mom."
"Oh," she said softly. "Is that a bad thing?"
"Oh no, definitely not. Your mother was a beautiful woman. I imagine she still looks like a beautiful woman. Where ever the hell she is." Oops, a bit of bitterness snuck in there. "Here, my lady. Allow me to escort you to your seat." I pulled the chair out for Mary and smiled my most charming smile.
"Oh Daddy, you're just silly." She grinned at me as she sat and watched as I walked back into the kitchen. "Did you forget something?"
"Yeah, I got something for you." I went back to the kitchen table where I had laid my jacket and grabbed the wrapped package. Hiding it behind my back, I entered the dining room, a huge smile on my face. "I got you a gift while you were shopping. I wanted you to have something nice to wear now that you're an adult. Something that would let you know I was thinking about you." I put the present on the plate.
Mary squealed as she unwrapped it. As she opened the box, she gasped. "Ohhhh, Daddy." She pulled the necklace out. "It's beautiful."
"Is it okay? I probably should have let you pick out your own jewelry, but then it wouldn't have been a surprise."
"Oh, it's perfect. I love it."
"Let me put it on you." I took the delicate piece of jewelry from her and fastened it around her neck while she held her hair out of the way. At that moment, I couldn't resist the delicate lines of her neck and reached down to trace the lightest of kisses on its most tender areas. Mary shuddered and closed her eyes. I watched the pendant rise and fall with Mary's quickening breath.
"So, let's eat dinner." I interrupted her private thoughts and started to dish us up. The food looked good. It smelled like tomato sauce, which was a good sign.
"Wow, Daddy, you really did cook. I guess Mom was wrong." Mary grinned and took a forkful of pasta and put it in her mouth. And chewed...very slowly.
"How is it?"
"It's...good." She smiled at me but it looked like she wanted to laugh. Uh-oh. I grabbed my fork and tried some of my endeavor.
"Oh wow, that's REALLY not good!" It wasn't so bad that I had to spit it back out, but I definitely didn't want to put anymore in my mouth.
"It's not that bad, Daddy." Mary said sympathetically. Bravely, she put more in her mouth. "Well, maybe it is." She started laughing. I couldn't help it, I laughed too.
"I wonder where I went wrong?" I said between chuckles.
"I have no idea, but it tastes like you left out the basil and the sugar and maybe something else."
"Well, we were out of both."
Mary laughed again. "Daddy, you can't make spaghetti sauce without those things."
