Maris nodded and headed back to the butcher block. She’d grated at least half a pound of the hard cheese. When she returned, Cookie already had a number of bread slices in pans and had cracked an egg into the hole.
“Good,” the chef said, taking the bowl of cheese from her. She liberally coated the egg and bread with it.
“My favorite,” Maris said, her mouth already watering. “Those smell delicious.”
Cookie laughed a little and shook her head. “Are the bagels sliced?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Maris said. “I’ll plate them now.”
Could she be blamed for having more than one breakfast favorite? Really, when you thought about it, it was Cookie’s fault.
Once the plating of the bagels and slicing of the fresh melon was complete, her last task would be taking all the warming trays to the dining room. The entire buffet wouldn’t fit on the sideboard, so Maris had brought in the one from the living room prior to the weekend.
“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Cookie asked.
“What’s nice? The Eggy-in-the-Basket?”
Cookie glanced back over her shoulder, smiling. “No. All of it. Cooking for this many guests. It’s always so much fun.”
Maris nearly gaped at the older woman. “Fun?” This wasn’t quite the word that Maris would have applied to putting on a big buffet—especially one as varied as the B&B usually served.
“Of course,” the chef declared. “It really gives us a chance to stretch our wings. Normally this kind of buffet would be wasted on just us and a few guests.” Her smiled genuinely beamed. “But now we get to go all out.” She turned back to the stove. “It doesn’t happen often enough, as far as I’m concerned.”
Maris had to grin. “Spoken like a true chef.”
Not half-an-hour later, both sideboards were completely covered, the coffee was in the carafe, and the sun had risen. Its dim glow began to brighten the fog outside the dining room’s window.
George was the first one down, followed by the McGraths. As the parents fetched plates for their kids, George concentrated on his options.
“It’s a breakfast fit for a king,” he said, turning to Maris and Cookie, who both held their plates. “You must have been up since last night.”
Maris had to laugh. “Not quite. But you can thank Cookie for the buffet. She does all the cooking.”
George stared at the diminutive woman. “All of it?” He gave a low whistle. “That’s pretty amazing.”
Cookie shook her head. “Not when you love what you do.” She inclined her head to Maris. “And you have your own sous-chef.”
George motioned ahead of him. The McGraths were already seated and eating. “Ladies first.”
Maris managed to limit herself to a single Eggy-in-the-Basket and some slices of melon. Cookie substituted the melon with breakfast potatoes. George, however, seemed to be determined to sample everything. The big man created a breakfast plate that might have been about three inches tall. As he took his seat, he was grinning, as well as humming to himself.
“I saw you at Inklings yesterday,” Maris said. “What did you think of the performance?”
George had already taken a big bite of the egg surrounded with toast. He rolled his eyes as he covered his mouth with a napkin. “Almost as good as this meal.” He took a sip of coffee. “They were fabulous.” He turned to Cookie. “Fabulous.”
She smiled and inclined her head to him.
“I think they were my favorite,” Maris told him.
But as everyone dug into their breakfasts, a silence settled on the room. Even the McGrath boys seemed completely occupied with their pancakes and maple syrup. The parents had selected the bagels, lox, and cream cheese and were almost done.
“Enjoying the sights?” Cookie asked them.
The older of the boys spoke right up, surprising Maris. “We went kayaking yesterday!” His father motioned for him to lower his voice. “It was the coolest thing ever!”
Although his mother smiled at him, she said, “Finish your pancakes, otherwise we can’t get going.” She turned to Cookie. “Today we’re going to see the redwoods.”
At her words, both boys bounced in their seats, even as they quickly resumed eating.
“We couldn’t have picked a better spot,” Tami said. “It’s so central to so many activities.”
“Exactly right,” the chef agreed. “I think that’s what contributed to the location of the town in the first place. All sorts of wonderful places are within an hour’s drive.”
“You might want to pay a visit to the Cheeseman Village Dairy,” Maris put in, as she sliced her melon into chunks. “They have a wonderful little tour, you can see the cows, and the ice cream is simply to die for.”
“Ice cream!” the two boys echoed.
“All right,” their father said. “Upstairs and get your backpacks.”
If Maris wasn’t mistaken, little cartoon curlicues trailed after them as they zipped out of the dining room and into the hall. She could hear them running up the stairs.
“I’d better go make sure they get everything,” their father said, as he and his wife got up. “Thanks for the delicious breakfast.”
“Yes,” Tami said, picking up the family’s plates. “Everything was so fresh. It really was wonderful.” The sound of feet pounding upstairs was followed by peals of laughter. She smiled a little. “I guess I’d better go.”
“Have a nice day,” Maris said.
As she left, George stood and went to the sidebar for a second helping. By the time he’d filled his plate again, Cookie had finished her tea. But rather than get up and take her plate to the kitchen as she usually did, she sat and occasionally stole a look at George, smiling. Maris suspected that the chef enjoyed watching him eat with gusto.
The chef turned to Maris. “Are you and Mac off to the festival again?”
Maris nodded as she picked up her tea. “We are.” She took a sip. “I think there’ll be some new groups today.”
At that George looked up from his meal. “Two new groups. I’ve been wanting to catch both of them for some time now.”
The three of them chatted about the festival for a
