The Russian Billionaire’s Secret(134)

“I’ll be fine. Have a good day.”

“You too, Belle.”

She stood in the door and watched him walk away up the street. Dust rose in tiny clouds from his feet with each step. Matt had just disappeared from sight when Em came out of her house with a basket under her arm. She turned and headed straight toward Belle with a smile on her face. Em raised an arm in greeting.

“Good morning!” she called.

“Good morning, Em.” Belle let her in the house.

Em went straight to the kitchen and sat her basket down on the table. Before Belle had a chance to ask what was in it, Em started taking things out of it and placing them on the table. There were flour, eggs, and a small side of beef.

“Do you still want to learn how to cook?”

“I do.”

“Then take that flour and pour some out on the table. We’ll start with biscuits. Every man I’ve ever known loves biscuits—any food at all, for that matter. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

For the next three hours, Em showed Belle everything that she knew about cooking. Belle picked up on it fast and in no time had made a batch of biscuits that were presentable. She fried up a half a dozen of eggs and cooked a steak under Em’s direction. Once it was finished, Em handed her the basket with the cooked food in it.

“Take this down to the jailhouse and give it to Matt. He’ll be right grateful of the meal and you’ll show him that you know how to take care of yourself.”

“Okay. What if he expects me to cook something tonight?”

“Then cook.”

“But I only know what you have taught me.”

Em barked one of her harsh laughs. “We don’t vary our meals too much around here. Most of the time, it’s the same thing for weeks at a time. The men don’t mind as long as it tastes good.”

“Alright. Thank you, Em. I’ll see you after while.”

“Go get ‘em girl.” Em whispered as Belle walked out of the door with the basket of food under her arm.

As she walked up the street, Belle tried to think of what she would say when she got to the jailhouse, but her mind wouldn’t work like it was supposed to. The buildings around her held her attention. There weren’t many of them. Just the livery, the post office, the train station, a general store, the surveyor’s office, a hotel, and a couple saloons. The houses of the people that lived in town were all on the south side of town near Matt and Em’s houses.

An older man thumped down the boardwalk toward the hotel as she neared the jailhouse. He tipped his hat to her and offered her a kind smile. She returned the smile and gave him a wave as she mounted the steps to the jailhouse. The door was closed, so she rapped on it with her hand. The sound of a chair scraping against the floor drifted to her through the door. The door swung open and Matt appeared in the doorway.

“Belle! Is something wrong?” Worry crossed his face, but when she smiled at him his brow unfurrowed.

“Nothing is wrong. I brought you something to eat for lunch.”

“You did? I was just fixing to head down to the restaurant in the hotel and get something to eat.” He took the basket from her hands and ushered her inside. “Come in. We’ll have a seat and eat this together.”

She hadn’t thought of eating with him, but now that he had mentioned it, she thought that it might be nice to have a meal with him. He moved a chair to the opposite side of the desk as his and held it for her until she had sat down. Once he had taken his own seat, she uncovered the basket and began pulling out the food.

“My goodness. There’s enough here to feed an army,” he exclaimed.

“Maybe, but I don’t know how good it will be.”

“If it tastes as good as it looks I’m sure it will be fine.” Matt grabbed up a biscuit and took a bite. As he chewed it, a smile broke out on his face. “Why, these are the best biscuits I’ve had in years!”

“Really?” Belle grew excited. “Do you mean it?”

“I surely do. These are right good, Belle. Right good.”

As they ate, she explained to him about Em teaching her to cook. “I’m afraid that I can’t take all the credit. It was Em who taught me how to cook.”

“She may have taught you how, but you certainly took to it like a duck to water. This steak is delicious. Are you sure you don’t want some of it?”

“Quite sure. You should have seen the first batch of biscuits I made.” She uttered a little laugh. “They were so hard that you could have thrown them through a wall.”

They laughed together and chatted the rest of the meal. When they had finished, Belle gathered up the dishes and placed them back in the basket. Matt walked her to the door and leaned against the frame.

“That was real nice, Belle. I’m glad you brought it down.”

“Thank you. I’m glad that you liked it.”

“So you wouldn’t be in need of any new clothes or anything would you?” He gestured to the general store across the street. “Mac runs a line of credit for me at his store. If you need anything for yourself or the house, just go in and tell him who you are. He’ll put whatever you get on my bill and I’ll pay him at the end of the month.”

“I just might stop by there and pick up a few rolls of material. I could use a few new dresses.”