Devoted To You || Gilbert Blythe

XIII

~𝒜𝒹𝒶~
Shepherd's Pie. A noun.
A dish of ground meat under a layer of mashed potato.
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"Good morning, Aunt Josephine!" I chirp, my tone deliberately obnoxious as I enter Diana's home.

My wrinkly old aunt looks up from her book and scowls at me. "Child, how many times must I remind you that I am old, not deaf!"

"Well, I figured if I said it louder, it might straighten out those wrinkles and help with the 'old' part," I quip, earning myself an eyeroll from Aunt Jo.

"It's too bad you like to tease. I was actually looking forward to your visit." She looks back at her book, Jane Eyre. Classic.

I snicker. "You know I do it out of love." I hear clatter coming from downstairs. "Are the girls in the parlor?"

"Yes. You should make your way down there. Maybe you will teach them to act like an adult versus a bunch of monkeys in a cage."

"I'll see what I can do, Aunt Jo." I smile before heading downstairs.

"The key to a man's heart is through his stomach..."

If Ruby is referring to Gilbert's then she is correct.

"Then we have to make sure that this is the best shepherd's pie that Gilbert has ever tasted." I roll my eyes before entering the parlor.

"Good morning, girls."

"Ada! I feel like I haven't seen you in ages!" Anne runs over to engulf me in a hug.

"Oh Anne! I have missed you so." I reply dramatically. "What are we making?"

"Shepherd's Pie. Though I believe that being a good cook shouldn't be very high on the list of romantic attributes, if you ask me." Anne says. "If one was interested in romance, which I'm not, I'd like to be noticed for me, not my dinner."

"You're so funny, Anne." Diana snickers.

"I wasn't meaning to be funny." Anne says awkwardly.

"Oh. So what's on the list?" Diana inquires.

"My brain, Diana. My personality. As in, who I am. I'd like to believe that's what truly matters. If romance matters at all. Which it doesn't."

"Yes, it does!" The girls snap making me laugh.

"Don't you think Gilbert looks even more handsome now that he's sad?" Ruby asks, staring off in the distance. Diana gives me a certain look. I quickly look down and start peeling potatoes.

Minnie May then starts to chant. "Ruby and Gilbert sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-"

"Minnie May, we're trying to work." Diana snaps.

"I'm cooking." The young vermin insists.

"You're watching. I told you that the only way you get to be here with us is if you're quiet." She points a finger at her sister. "Don't interrupt, or you'll have to go sit with Great Aunt Josephine."

"No!!" Minnie May groans. Right when she does, Aunt Jo walks in with her book in hand. "I'm being quiet."

"Then you're the only one." Aunt Jo rolls her eyes. "Cackling hens. Lord help me. Take the boy the godforsaken pie before I suffer a mental collapse. You girls have been prattling on for hours about nothing. A parlour should be a quiet haven. Instead, it's unbearable."