Cedar Woman (112 page)

ret
u
r
n
ing
to
the
p
o
rch,
re-e
n
t
ered
with
a
wicker
laund
r
y
b
a
s
k
e
t
f
u
l
l
of

f
oo
d
stu
ffs.

Mic
h
ael
wal
k
ed
d
irectly
to
Peter,
and
placing
the ba
s
k
et
at
his
feet, an
no
unc
e
d
:

“
I
wish
to
m
arry
y
our
da
ug
h
ter.
I
p
r
o
m
ise
to
p
ro
v
i
d
e
f
o
r
he
r
,
bo
t
h in
t
h
e
old
and
t
h
e
new
wa
ys
.
I
pro
m
ise
to
ho
no
r
her
as
m
y
half
s
i
de
and

t
o
ca
re
f
o
r
o
u
r
c
h
il
d
r
e
n
.

Peter’s
eyes welle
d
,
a
n
d
he f
o
ug
h
t to
h
i
d
e his
e
m
o
ti
on
s –
diffic
u
lt to
d
o
s
i
n
ce
h
is i
n
jury, as
h
e still
h
ad
s
o
m
e
p
ro
b
le
m
s with
c
on
t
r
o
lling
h
is facial
m
u
scles.
B
u
t,
he
m
anage
d
,
a
n
d
a
s
ked
M
ary to
sh
o
w him what t
h
e ba
s
k
et contained.

Nes
tl
ed w
it
h
i
n
t
h
e I
n
d
i
an b
l
anket
l
i
ned
b
as
k
et
w
as
a s
m
oked
h
a
m
, ba
g
s
o
f
fl
ou
r, co
r
n
m
eal
and
b
o
xes of b
a
king
so
da, bak
i
n
g
po
w
d
e
r
a
n
d packets
of yea
s
t, for
t
h
e
m
aking of
fry
bre
a
d.

A
tin of
co
ff
e
e,
a
n
d one
o
f tobac
c
o, nes
t
led
sid
e
-b
y-
si
d
e
in
t
h
e ba
s
k
et,
bes
i
de a
l
arge
b
a
g
o
f
po
t
ato
e
s.
S
w
e
et
po
t
a
t
oes
as we
l
l
as
e
a
rs
of c
o
rn
were
scattered
t
h
r
o
ug
h
o
u
t
t
h
e
b
a
s
k
et,
and
in
t
h
e
c
e
nter,
safe
from bei
n
g
sq
uash
ed
,
was
a
l
a
r
g
e
b
ag
of
t
o
m
a
t
o
es.

A
p
l
as
ti
c
con
t
ainer
o
f
gre
e
n beans,
as
well
as
a
package of
kidney beans,
w
e
re
in
clud
e
d,
al
o
n
g w
it
h
a
zuc
c
h
i
n
i
,
a
l
a
r
g
e
he
a
d
of
c
a
bb
a
ge,
l
e
tt
u
ce
and
ka
l
e.
B
l
uebe
r
r
i
es,
s
t
rawb
e
rr
i
es
a
nd
a
f
ra
g
rant
m
e
l
on,
encas
e
d in
p
l
astic,
r
o
un
d
ed o
u
t t
h
e prese
n
tati
o
n.

T
h
e
m
essa
g
e
w
as
clea
r
: Le
n
a
w
o
u
ld
n
e
v
e
r
g
o
hun
gr
y
wh
ile

Michael
was t
a
king c
a
re
of
h
e
r.

Pe
t
er
g
a
ve
a
cr
oo
k
ed
gr
i
n
,
n
od
d
e
d
,
a
n
d
l
o
o
k
e
d
t
o
h
i
s
w
i
fe
w
it
h pr
i
d
e
g
lo
w
in
g
i
n h
i
s
e
y
es. Pe
t
er
had g
i
ven h
i
s
b
l
ess
i
n
g
.

Upon
Mic
h
ae
l
’s
i
n
siste
n
ce,
h
e
i
n
ter
v
iewed
with
Vic
k
i for
t
h
e
po
sition
o
f
h
e
ad
c
h
ef,
and
s
p
e
n
t
t
h
e
week
c
o
o
k
ing
for
h
e
r
on
ap
p
r
ov
al. Said
ap
p
r
o
v
al
swiftly
g
i
v
e
n
,
as
Vic
k
i
realized
what
a
g
em
h
ad
fallen
i
n
to
h
er
lap.
His c
o
o
k
ing
was in
v
e
n
ti
v
e
a
n
d
d
e
lici
ou
s.
I
n
spired
b
y Nati
v
e A
m
erican
c
u
i
si
n
e,
h
is style
n
o
t
on
ly fit
in
with
t
h
e
t
h
e
m
e
o
f
h
e
r restaurant, but enh
a
nc
e
d
it
as
well.
She
cou
l
d
n
o
t
wait
f
o
r
him to
ret
u
r
n and
set
u
p
pe
rm
anent
r
e
s
i
d
e
ncy,
m
arry
L
e
na,
and
b
e
gin
as
he
a
d
ch
e
f
i
n her rest
a
u
r
a
nt.