Can Love Stand the Test?

The Chili Cook-Off

Thomas woke the next morning to the sound of coughing. He looked next to him to see Mindy coughing and blowing her nose in a tissue. Thomas put his hand on her shoulder letting her know he was awake.

"Morning, honey", she sniffled. "Oh god, I feel like crap."

Thomas put his hand over her forehead feeling for a fever. Mindy was warm to the touch. She coughed as she sat up.

"Don't worry about it, Tommy", she said. "It's just a cold."

He shook his head. It was just too cold last night. Mindy shouldn't have been outside as long as he had.

"Mommy? Daddy?"

Mindy and Thomas looked to see Carrie standing in the doorway. She held her doll in one hand and coughed in her other.

"Mommy, Daddy, I don't feel so good", she said.

"Oh, is our baby sick with a cold too?" Mindy asked.

Thomas got out of bed and walked over to Carrie, picking her up. She buried her face in his shoulder as she began sneezing. He ran his hand up and down her back as he carried her to their bed.

"How come you're not sick, Daddy?"

"Daddy had that blanket covering him last night, remember?" Mindy answered.

Thomas sat Carrie between him and Mindy as he pulled the blanket up, covering them. They all looked up as Chop Top came running in with a TV remote.

"Hey! Hey! Check it out!"

Chop Top pushed a button, turning on the TV in their room.

"Drayton's on TV!" he said.

Everyone was silent as they watched Drayton. Today was the day of the big chili cook-off. How did he do?

"The Texas-Oklahoma Chili Cook Off champion is from... Norman, Oklahoma? Waco, Texas? Tulsa? Nope!"

"I hate it when they build suspense like this", Mindy coughed.

"Austin?" the hostess asked. "Uh-uh. He's Dallas' favorite caterer! I think he's kinda cute."

Almost everyone gagged from her words. Drayton, cute?

"The Last Roundup Rolling Grill chef, Drayton Sawyer!"

"Yay, Drayton!" Carrie said clapping her hands.

Everyone at the cook-off cheered as Drayton smiled and waved.

"Drayton! Drayton! Drayton!"

Drayton smiled as he grabbed the trophy which had a small chili bowl with a sample of his chili in it.

"This is the second year in a row!" the hostess said. "This year, Drayton you've got to tell us the secret of that fabulously tasting chili!"

Drayton watched as she dipped a spoon in the chili to get a taste.

"No secret", he said. "It's the meat. I don't skimp on the meat. I got a real good eye for prime meat. It runs in the family."

The hostess brought her hand up to her mouth as she spat something out.

"Oh my god, that's a bone!" Mindy said as the hostess held up something white in her hand.

"Whoop!" Drayton said taking it out of her hand. "Whoop! One of those hard-shell pepper corns."

Everyone laughed at Drayton's good excuse.

"I gotta say", he continued. "I love this town. This town loves prime meat!"

Everyone cheered as he finished his speech, taking his trophy and his chili out of the spotlight.

"He did it!" Chop Top cheered as he turned off the TV. "He won again! I gotta tell Nubbins!"

He ran out of the room leaving Thomas, Mindy and Carrie alone.

"Well that certainly was something", Mindy said. "But that was also a very close call."

Thomas nodded.

"You need to be more careful when you're sorting the meat, Tommy. What if it was a finger that was in the chili instead of just a bone?"

"Mommy, don't be mad at Daddy", Carrie said. "It was an accident."

"I know, sweetie", she said. "Mommy knows it was just an accident. We just want Daddy to be more careful."

Thomas nodded and patted her head.