Cowboy ala Cart, #NaNoWriMo writing challenge.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Lovely Aunt Layne

After church, Aunt Layne taught Meri about Indian flavor profiles. Meri loved cooking as much as her mother hated it. She picked up an apricot from the bowl on the kitchen island and smelled it. The sweet and citrusy scent that always reminded Meri of fall and the apricot tarts that her aunt made. They were her favorite.

Aunt Layne eyed her with a smile, "Meredith, how do you feel about an apricot chutney to go with the roast chicken breasts?"

Meri looked confused, "I don't think I have ever had it. Chutney is onions, right?"

"Among other things. It's mainly about the onions and spices made into a spread, like pickle relish, but apples, pears, tomatoes, and almost anything sweet or savory can also make a good chutney. Why don't I teach you to make a basic one and then you can experiment with it?"

Meri believed with all her heart that if her Aunt Layne weren't stuck in Veil Falls, she would have had a five-star restaurant. "Chop your onions julienne, chef," She encouraged, "And then the apricots in chunks. I'll start cleaning the asparagus."

Meri cut red onions and a kind of onion called vidallia which smelled and tasted sweet. Then she chopped the apricots into chunks and begin to simmer the mixture in white wine vinegar with cumin, ginger, cardamom, white pepper, and cinnamon. Soon the kitchen was filled with the smell of apricot chutney and saffron rice on the stove, and breaded chicken and parmesan-crusted asparagus in the air fryer, Meri plated the food just like she saw them do on the Foodie Network.

Trina and Charlene came in from their five-mile run, both begging, "Food! Feeeeed Us!"

"Wash up first," Layne ordered them, and they ran down the hall fighting to get into the bathroom first.

"It looks and smells beautiful, Chef Meri. You know you have picked up my lessons faster than any one I have ever taught to cook, including Trina." Aunt Layne praised Meri as she laughed at her daughter and niece. "Someday you are going to make an excellent chef."

After they ate and did dishes, Charlene drove them home.

"How was the run? How's track?" Meri asked, trying not to sound envious.

"Gawd, I wish you could run relay this year." As she navigated the short trip, she told Meri about the freshman on the baton relay team and how super-slow she was. "She's so slow that if she took a nap on the track, she'd be faster."

"Ouch, burn!" Meri laughed, but her heart hurt from the reminder that she would never be a runner again. "Maybe I can ride my bike with you and Trina while you run?"

"Really? Your knee is that much better?" Char looked at Meri as she turned onto the main road up to Veil Falls.

"Sure! It's fine," Meri lied, and Char tipped her head, giving her twin the side-eye.

"Liar. What's wrong?"

"I am going to be out of school two whole weeks ahead of you. And Mom has the Ladies Auxiliary Afternoon Tea every Wednesday. If I'm not in class, or away from the house, she will make me join them," Meri groaned. "I hate them... Miss Katherine and the ladies seem nice, sometimes... But seriously, some of the things I hear them say... things that always sound nice... seem so insulting and unchristian when I think about them," Meri explained. "It's like the stuff Mom says."

"Really?" Charlene only nodded as she waited her turn to enter the new roundabout traffic circle.

"Seriously. Stuff like... Like how lucky the people who live down in Valleyview are to have us in Veil Falls to feed them through the food pantry and give them jobs. Katherine claims Arnold has been trying for years to get the county to set up a bus service or tram, so they won't have to drive up here. She says she is afraid someone will die driving to work, but I am starting to think she doesn't want their cars in town. The Richmonds are also fighting a resort developer that wants to build a ski resort closer to Valleyview, they are saying the environmental impact would be too much for the area's ecosystem... But I overheard Mom admitting to someone it is because the Veil Falls ski resort is members only and they don't want ski-trash to ruin our community. It should be called the Liars Auxiliary, instead of Ladies Auxiliary."