Annie's Answer Read Online Free PDF

memories of several
summer vacations on her farm. Uncle Tom had been a quiet man, but he let Nathan
follow him around like a puppy. He made his living raising corn and drying and
storing it on his own property, waiting for the right price to sell. His father
called it an agri-business and respected how profitable it was, but Tom Hayward
was a typical family farmer from his well-worn overalls to the cap red with a
seed company logo that seldom left his balding head.
    Aunt Mattie,
on the other hand, was seldom silent and always spoke her mind. Nathan had been
cautious about provoking her, but she’d never been unkind to him. Since his
mother rarely cooked, it fascinated him that Mattie had a farmhands’ dinner on
the table at exactly twelve noon every day. His mouth still watered when he
thought of her fried chicken, thick Iowa pork chops stuffed with sage dressing,
and cantaloupe halves filled with homemade ice cream.
    Inhaling
deeply, he didn’t know whether the beguiling scent in the air came from the
vase of flowers or was a lingering fragrance from Annie’s perfume.
    “I asked how
your case is going,” Aunt Mattie said with a trace of irritation in her voice.
    “Oh, sorry,”
he said, realizing she’d been talking to him. “I was thinking of Uncle Tom and
the big dinners you always had ready for him at noon.”
    “He never said
much, but if dinner was late, he surely let me know,” Mattie said with a
wistful smile that softened her face. “Now about this girl.…”
    “Young woman,”
Nathan said, “and you’re not going to talk me into firing her.
    “I suppose
not,” she said with an air of resignation. “I just want to know what I’m
supposed to do with her all day. I can see already she isn’t one to sit around
doing nothing.”
    “She’s here to
look after you,” Nathan said, on the alert for her return to the sunroom. “You
don’t have to do anything with her.”
    “How come you
suddenly had time to run home from your big law case?” His aunt’s habit of
switching topics had caught him off balance more than once.
    “The judge
called the noon recess early. I didn’t expect to have time.”
    “Well, you
don’t have to rush home on my account. I’m fine with or without a babysitter.”
    “She’s not.…”
He dropped what he was going to say when he heard Annie’s footsteps near the
door.
    “One tuna
melt, sir. Is there anything else I can get you?”
    She sounded
like a waitress, and it took him a few seconds to remember she was one. He’d
had breakfast a time or two at the pancake place, but he couldn’t remember ever
seeing her there. In fact, he’d somehow missed seeing her anywhere, although
they must have attended the same large church since they were children. Of
course, she was three or four years younger, and his parents had sent him to a
private school after the fifth grade.
    “Thank you,
Annie. This looks delicious.” Did he sound as stuffy to her as he did to
himself?
    She’d put his
sandwich on one of the plates from his mother’s fragile English china tea set,
one Mom had never allowed him to touch. His mother might not be a cook herself,
but she loved entertaining and had even small get-togethers catered. Annie had
made him feel special without knowing she did.
    “My
grandfather is the one who taught me everything I know about cooking. Of
course, melted cheese on a sandwich isn’t   exactly gourmet cuisine.”
    “Don’t do
that,” he said without thinking.
    “What?” She
hovered over him with a worried expression.
    “Don’t
belittle yourself or what you do. Not many women would be willing to take on
two full time jobs.”
    “She wants to
buy a flower shop,” Aunt Mattie said.
    He was
startled his aunt had already learned that about Annie.
    “Oh. Well,
please sit down, Annie. You haven’t finished your sandwich,” Nathan said.
    He watched as
she slid her chair a little farther from him and gracefully lowered herself
onto the thick cushion. She