Her Old Kentucky Home by Lynette Sowell

Author:Lynette Sowell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gilead Publishing
Published: 2017-11-23T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

Put your laptop away, Bella, and let’s get started with the baking.” Jo-Jo’s voice held a chiding yet warm tone. “Sarah will be gone all day, so now’s our chance to bake Christmas cookies. I’m sure the cookie cutters are still in the bottom drawer.”

Reluctantly, Bella closed down the file on her desktop. She’d been making notes about upgrades and changes to the kitchen, where her mother and Sarah had made thousands of meals over the years. The appliances could use updating. They could save money by refacing the cabinets and replacing the hardware. She’d also written down: subway tile backsplash (?). At one point, the kitchen had received a facelift, but she wasn’t sure what might appeal to a potential buyer.

She opened their mom’s treasured Christmas cookie book that lay on the black-marble island. They should probably look for her recipe box, but this was more fun. The book that had been propped open over the years now fell open to Mom’s special sugar-cookie recipe. Small hands no longer needed to hold the pages flat.

“I wish we knew if there was any chance Amy and Sophie would change their minds about coming home. We could all make cookies together. Maybe we should wait and see if they do, Jo-Jo. You said yourself you’ve been praying, and you got me here. I bet Timothy would love to use the cookie cutters like we used to.”

Bella knew she was stalling to get out of making cookies. But the excuse sounded feeble even to her.

Jo-Jo turned around and shook her finger at her. “No way. You’re not getting out of this, even if you want to. This was Mom’s tradition. Plus, Jed and David will eat their share, along with the hands. We’ll need a steady supply of Christmas cookies.” Jo-Jo tapped the counter with her fingertips. “We can store these, and they’ll keep well. And if we run out, we can always make more.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Bella saluted as she slid off the stool and grabbed the measuring cups from the drawer. “Tell me what to scoop and how much.”

As she and Jo-Jo measured and mixed, then rolled out the dough and cut cookies into the shapes of Christmas stars and snowmen, the years melted away. She looked at the doorway into the great room almost expecting Mom to walk around the corner to exclaim over the freshly baked goodness they pulled from the oven.

Bella smiled, knowing that if heaven had windows, Mom was watching two of her daughters laugh and bake cookies in the kitchen of their childhood.

I miss you, Mom.

Aloud, she said, “You’re so good at this, Jo-Jo.”

Jo-Jo grinned. “I feel the most like myself when I’m in the kitchen. Cooking for people always makes me happy.”

“You were always the most eager to learn how to cook and bake. All I could see was the mess we’d make and the heaps of dirty dishes. You’ve definitely learned how to make all kinds of deliciousness. That lasagna you made last night? I ate some cold leftovers for breakfast this morning.

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