Spider Game (40 page)

Pepper burst out laughing. “I think, when I first tried to learn, Nonny wanted to throw me out along with the burned dishes. I turned everything into charcoal. I couldn’t seem to remember when I had something in the oven or on the stove. I just would get distracted, and the next thing I knew, the fire alarms were going off and the house was filling with smoke.”

Cayenne found herself laughing.
Laughing.
With two women. No Trap to hold her up, she was actually having fun. She wasn’t the only one who couldn’t cook, and Pepper wasn’t ashamed. Even Nonny laughed with them.

“Malichai loves his food,” Nonny said. “You should have seen his face. I wanted one of those nanny cams set up so we could get his picture every time he found out Pepper was doing the cookin’ instead of me.”

Cayenne knew what a nanny camera was because she’d read about it on the Internet, but she couldn’t see Nonny trolling for information on the Internet. It was kind of funny to hear her say it. She glanced at Pepper, saw the look on her face and knew she wasn’t alone in what she was thinking. Pepper burst out laughing and Cayenne found herself following suit.

Cayenne wouldn’t trade this experience, being with the two women. It was her time having fun and gaining a connection. She loved it.

CHAPTER 16

N
onny raised her eyebrow, clearly reading both their expressions. “You keep laughin’, you two. I got my ways to know these things. I thought that Wilson Plastics Company was a front for terrorists to make those dirty bombs. Brought Wyatt home. I wasn’t very far off either.”

“No, you weren’t,” Pepper agreed.

“Somethin’ else is goin’ on in the swamp. Years ago the government came in and moved five towns. Between them, the towns of Logstown, Gainsville, Santa Rosa, Westonia and Napoleon had over seven hundred residents, all that had to be moved. A lot of the people didn’t want to go. They’d been born in those houses and grew up there, lived there all their lives. Still, they were all of them cleared out. Said they were testin’ rocket engines for NASA. Even now, when they do fire them up, the houses outside the swamp shake and even the water rocks.”

“I haven’t been there,” Pepper said, “but I thought they gave tours to the public.”

Nonny nodded as she handed each of them a knife and a chopping board. “They do. But that’s all controlled, and you see what they want you to see. Used to be, we could take our boats into the canals and bayous where those towns used to be. A few years back, the military moved in. You try to take a boat in there or you go hikin’ lookin’ for plants to heal people, they come at you with grim faces and heavy artillery. They weren’t doin’ that to test those rockets. So somethin’ else is goin’ on.”

“Have you mentioned this to Wyatt?” Pepper asked.

“Givin’ it time. Lots of rumors. I want to sort them out and see before I go tellin’ tales to my grandson. He’s the kind of man who does somethin’ about anythin’ not right.”

“That he is,” Pepper agreed.

“We’re goin’ to make us some paella. The boys like this dish, so we’ve got to triple up on everythin’. Each of us will do enough for one batch, that way we’re all makin’ the right size servin’ that you can use on your own for your men.”

“What is paella
?
” Cayenne asked.

“It’s chicken with rice, almonds, olives and mushrooms and Andouille sausage. I like to add me some crawfish sometimes, but not today,” Nonny said. “A good staple and easy to fix if you have company. I need both of you to peel six of those small onions and I’ll do the same.” She caught up a small bag of onions, counted them out and gave each of them six. “After you peel the onions, you need to mince two cloves of garlic and then chop up a three-fourths cup of olives.”

Pepper smiled. “No problem. I got this.”

Cayenne moistened her lips and watched carefully as Nonny efficiently peeled an onion. There didn’t seem to be any trick to it, but she was very fast. Cayenne mimicked her movements. There was no need for the knife, and she didn’t cut away most of the onion trying to peel it as Cayenne had done at home.

When Nonny set the peeled onion aside, Cayenne studied her method for mincing the garlic cloves and then copied her.

“You just clean as you go. I keep a bucket handy to use for compost later and a garbage can for anything else.” She gathered up the peels and dumped them. Both women followed suit.

“Now we got to cut up the chicken. Each of us needs three pounds. I take the skin off.” Nonny demonstrated.

Cayenne took a deep breath. Skinning and cutting up a chicken was much more difficult than mincing a clove, but Pepper was already in action, and she was determined. In any case, she was really, really good with a knife. When she managed to cut up the three pounds of chicken fast she was rather proud of herself. Nonny indicated the compost bucket and they all dumped the remains.

“Cut a half pound of the sausage into rounds.”

The girls found that easy enough and obeyed.

“If you were going to add in crawfish or shrimp, you’d do it with the chicken and sausage,” Nonny said. “For today, in the Dutch oven, we’re goin’ to heat two tablespoons of olive oil, add the chicken and sausage, and we’re makin’ our own seasoning. See the little bowls there? The spices are in the middle. I use two tablespoons each of onion powder, garlic powder, dried oregano, dried basil, which I grow and dry myself.”

The two women carefully measured out the spices into their respective bowls.

“Everyone makes seasoning different. I add quite a few, but you don’ like that, or your man doesn’, you just change it up. In this one, we’ll add one tablespoon of dried thyme, one tablespoon each of both black and white pepper and cayenne.”

Cayenne flashed a small grin. “Your recipe seems right for the two of us.”

Pepper laughed. “So true.”

“Add five tablespoons of paprika and three of salt,” Nonny continued. “You want to mix it up really good. We just add seasoning to the chicken and sausage. No, no, Cayenne, not the entire bowl,” Nonny cautioned. “Just a little bit. The rest we store for the future in an airtight container. It will last a couple of months. We put the chicken and sausage in the oven and bake at 350 uncovered for fifteen minutes. It’s best to set a timer. When I was younger and had the boys, they were a mighty distraction. Now I’m old and forgetful, so I always use the timer.”

“That looks like
tons
of food,” Cayenne said, trying to keep the horror out of her voice. “Do they really eat all that?”

Nonny nodded. “They’re men, and they work all day tryin’ to turn this place into a fortress and they need to keep their strength up. Each of them has bought land nearly all the way to Trap’s compound. They’re goin’ to build homes or add to the ones they bought, so all through the swamp here, Wyatt’s team will have a safe home base. They can have their families here.”

Trap hadn’t mentioned to Cayenne that his team members were all planning to settle in the area. She liked the idea that Pepper and the triplets would be so protected. Pressing a hand to her stomach, she found she was a little relieved that if Trap and she did have a baby, the child would be just as protected.

“So you have to cook for them?” Cayenne asked.

Nonny frowned. “I
want
to cook for them. I enjoy it, and I enjoy watchin’ them eat whatever I make. I try to have beans or gumbo on the stove for when they come in at odd hours. I like havin’ those boys around. Makes me feel my girls are protected. I got me a good shotgun, but some of these soldiers Whitney sends are a might trained.”

“I like that,” Cayenne said softly. “That you
want
to cook for them, that it gives you pleasure. I tried to explain how I felt to Trap, but I never know if what I’m feeling is normal. I just have this driving need to make him a home.”

“There’s nothin’ wrong with that, girl,” Nonny assured. “You love your man, and you want to do right by him. He do right by you?” Suddenly Nonny’s gaze was piercing, as if she could see right through Cayenne to her very soul.

Cayenne held the older woman’s gaze and slowly nodded her head. “He’s so good to me, sometimes I don’t know what to do with it. He’s kind and funny and so sweet it makes me feel funny inside.”

Pepper and Nonny exchanged a long look, both with raised eyebrows and disbelieving expressions.

“You’re talking about Trap,” Pepper said. “
Our
Trap?”

Cayenne didn’t like her tone or her words. “Actually he’s
my
Trap, and yes, he’s always sweet. Well… Not in public. Then he’s cold as ice, but he’s got his reasons and I understand them, so it doesn’t bother me.”
Much,
she added silently.

“Trap is sweet to you?” Nonny asked.

Cayenne tried not to feel defensive. “He was the first human being to show me any kindness at all. When I was terrified one night, he was so good to me, letting me learn things on my own…” she broke off, blushing. “I don’t know how he had so much control, and he’s a man who needs and prefers control, but he was wonderful to me. And he built me an apartment. When I couldn’t stand wide-open spaces, he didn’t mind my… um… artwork hanging on the bed like drapes. He
sees
me. He makes me laugh.”

“He sounds wonderful,” Nonny said immediately. “He’s the type of man who finds his woman and gives her the best part of himself. Some men are like that. He doesn’t need or want approval from anyone else, but for you, he gives whatever he’s got inside. He saves that for you. Exclusively.”

Cayenne heard the approval in Nonny’s voice. Trap was exactly like that. He gave himself to her, every single time. He actually took the time to explain himself when she instinctively knew he didn’t ever do that with others. He gave her that look, his eyes going warm and soft, his expression the same, almost tender. He melted her insides every time.

The timer went off, and Nonny went straight into teaching mode. “Now we add the onions and cook for another forty-five minutes. Again, I set the timer. I try to stay around the kitchen or close to it even with the timer going. In this case, while the chicken is cooking, we can start the salad. We’re serving a crabmeat salad tonight with the chicken. That should make the boys happy, and each of us can do exactly what we did with the chicken recipe. We’ll triple it, each of us doing enough for six.”

The door opened, and Malichai came in. He stopped abruptly when he saw the three women. “Whoa, there, Nonny. You can’t have Pepper in the kitchen. I’m a starving man, and she has some kind of bad kitchen mojo going on. She’s been cursed. Every time she’s in here, the fire alarms go off and my food is ruined.”

Pepper wadded up a napkin and threw it at him. “Go away. You’re a bottomless pit, and for your information, the chicken is being cooked to perfection.”

Malichai came closer to peer over their shoulders at the white lump crabmeat. “Woman. That is not chicken. Nonny, she can’t be in here. I heard Trap brought his woman to learn from the best. Pepper is going to put that whammy on Cayenne and my brother will starve.”

Pepper threw another balled-up napkin, this one hitting him square in the face. “Go away or I will burn the dinner and you’ll have to go fishing and eat it raw.”

“I’ve tried raw fish. A couple of times, when I was desperate for nourishment.”

“Malichai,” Nonny warned. “I’ve got the broom. You’re disturbin’ my cookin’ lesson. These girls are doin’ just fine so don’ be distractin’ them.”

“I just need a bowl of that fine gumbo you’ve got on the stove,” he wheedled, giving her his sweetest, most innocent look.

Cayenne thought he looked like a wolf, not a sheep, but clearly Nonny thought he was an adorable boy. She went straight to the stove and dished him up a very large bowl of soup, added her homemade bread and waved him out.

Malichai winked at Cayenne, glared at Pepper, and smiled angelically at Nonny, who shook her head, her eyes laughing, her mouth curved in a smile. He bent and brushed a kiss on Nonny’s cheek. “You’re the best,” he murmured, clearly meaning it. He glanced at Pepper and Cayenne. “Sorry girls, no kiss for either of you. Wyatt would skin me alive if I touched you, Pepper, so you’re just going to have to pine away for me. Trap would boil me in oil, Cayenne, so as sad as this is going to make you, you’ll just have to learn to live without my kisses.”

“We’ll manage,” Pepper called after him, as he went out the door.

Nonny shook her head. “That boy needs a woman.”

“She’d never keep him fed,” Pepper protested. “Although she’d be in stitches every day. On with the lesson, Nonny.”

“Put your one pound of crabmeat into your salad bowls. Each of you has a head of iceberg lettuce. Break it into small chunks and add that with the crab. Immediately take anything you can’t use and put it in the compost bucket so your work area stays clean. The small bowl is to mix up everything else we need. Chop the capers very fine. We only need a tablespoon full in each of the bowls. Add one teaspoon of lemon juice. I fresh squeeze mine. Always use the freshest ingredients. Add in a half cup of mayonnaise and some of the seasoning we just made up. We’re going to put this in the fridge, and before we serve it, we’ll pour our sauce over the crabmeat and lettuce, and garnish it with a little paprika and parsley chopped fine. See how easy that is? Now our salad is ready for dinner. The kitchen is still clean, Cayenne.”