Welcome to Paradise by Rosalind James

Author:Rosalind James [James, Rosalind]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rosalind James
Published: 2013-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

People Who Speak to Your Heart

The little cabin was still steamy the next evening as they sat down to one of their less ambitious dinners. Beans with salt pork, cornbread, and greens.

“Sorry it’s not more exciting, guys,” Mira sighed. “Laundry day’s a tough one.” Kissing Gabe in the cool twilight felt like something that had happened a week ago.

“What you’ve got here is just good Southern cooking,” Stanley objected. “This is what I was raised on. No apologies necessary.” He lifted the glass of buttermilk Mira had, as always, set out for him. “Here’s to another good meal.”

“Think they’ll have alcohol tomorrow?” Kevin asked. “At the dance?”

“Wow. Alcohol,” Zara said, pushing beans around her plate with her fork. “There’s a concept. I could use a cold beer right about now.”

“Didn’t the laundry feel easier to you today than the first time, though?” Mira asked her.

“Hmm.” Zara considered. “It did, I suppose. Not quite as bad.”

“Isn’t that interesting?” Mira asked, the chance to sit, the food beginning to revive her. “We’ve got twenty-five percent fewer people here now, and twenty-five percent less laundry too. And, of course, twenty-five percent fewer women to do it. So technically, it’s the same amount of work per person, right?”

“Right,” Zara said slowly.

“But our perceived effort is less,” Mira went on, caught up in her analysis. “Because we know what to expect, and how long it’ll take. And we had to boil fewer loads, which I always think is the toughest part. We spent more of our time working outside, which feels easier.”

“And,” she added, “we actually were more efficient. First, we know what we’re doing. And second, we didn’t get rid of twenty-five percent of our productivity when Melody left. More like . . .”

“Ten percent,” Zara said dryly. “Or eight.”

“She wasn’t that bad,” Maria-Elena protested.

“No, she wasn’t,” Mira agreed. “At least at the end there. But it does make you wonder how much more efficient we could get over time. Whether we’d find some shortcuts, as laborious as the process is. It’s interesting to think about, isn’t it?”

“Absolutely fascinating,” Kevin said with a straight face. “There’s nothing I personally love more, after a day spent slaving over a hot stove, than a bit of process engineering. Maybe you could create some bar graphs, Mira, and do a PowerPoint presentation for us next week.”

Gabe laughed. “She can’t help it if she’s good at her job. You can take the girl out of the conference room, but you can’t take the conference room out of the girl.”

“You’re right,” Mira said with a smile of her own. “And I haven’t got to practice my skills as much as you have out here.”

“Yeah, well,” he said, “I could’ve done with practicing my skills quite a bit less myself. I wasn’t counting on Martin.”

“Well,” Mira got up from the table. “I guess it’s time to get efficient with the dishes.”

Zara got up to help, but Mira waved her back down. “You take it easy. Maria-Elena and I’ve got it.”

“I’ll wash tonight,” Gabe decided, getting up in Zara’s place.

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