Free Mary's Men by Stephanie Beck

constipated look on Thomas’s face, I’m sure you can infer that won’t go well. We’ll follow your lead, baby. Now can we please eat? I have to drop off that check and hit the barn again before bed. A few of the cows were bloating. I told the guys I’d head down after dinner so they could take a couple of hours off.”
    Maybe she’d join him. And just stay in the barn until after their mother’s visit. Bloated cows sounded like better company.
     

Chapter 8
     
    Finding the grocery store in little Morris presented no problem at all. Finding the perfect meal to please a mother-in-law already determined to hate her proved much more challenging.
    Mary grabbed a box of stuffing from the grocery store shelf and put it back. If she wanted to make a good impression, she had to bring her A-game. She’d make garlic bread and then make stuffing from it like her mom had for family dinners. Mother Paraby would certainly notice the difference.
    Mary had only slept a few hours the night before, despite the twins’ reassurances. Even sandwiched between them, surrounded by their love and presence, she’d felt alone in preparing for the upcoming event. Their loyalty meant the world to her, but the thought of causing tension, or even adding a rift, between mother and child hurt her heart. She missed her family enough to know she never wanted another to go through such a separation. After not seeing her mother in five years… She put the thought away. The visit would be lovely.
    With her mother close on her mind, Mary stopped in the baking aisle for ingredients for banana pudding. A little taste of home would be a comfort, no matter how the evening went.
    She toted her basket to the front of the small grocery store. Thursday mornings looked like the time to shop because the place was deserted except for a young man and woman waiting at the checkout lanes.
    “Hello there.” The woman offered a pleasant smile to an already peaches-and-cream pretty face. “I’m Gerty. Come on over here and let’s get you rung up. Sam, can you bag for her, please?”
    “Of course.” The tall, gaunt, young man rounded his lane and opened a paper bag. “Are you new around here?”
    “Yes.” Mary forced herself not to count pennies as the total increased. She had cash from her share of the phenomenal berry crop, Thomas had a regular paycheck coming, and Paul would do better soon. She could afford to splurge on a nice meal.
    “Is it true you married one of the Paraby twins?” Gerty asked as she rung up sugar.
    “It is. Paul and I eloped a few days ago. I’m meeting his mother tonight.”
    Gerty’s smile faltered. “Oh dear. Hmm.”
    “Oh dear?” Mary asked. “Why? What’s wrong?”
    Gerty looked over the food in front of her. “Is this for tonight? What are you making?”
    “I’m doing a braised beef roast, potatoes, beans, and stuffing. Oh, and banana pudding,” Mary replied, but the excitement she’d felt about the meal fell away. “Why?”
    Gerty shook her head. “You know, if you were having me over, or my mother, that would be fantastic. Helen…”
    “She doesn’t like bananas,” Sam said. “Tells us every week we’re wasting shelf space. She doesn’t like beef either, contrary to what her sons think. And she says bread gives her digestion problems.”
    Pure panic welled in Mary’s guts. The meal would be a nightmare. She’d make her future mother-in-law sick and they’d never have a chance to make nice.
    “I’m going to cancel this order.” Gerty put the items back in the basket. “You and I are going to put our heads together to figure out what to make to start you off on the right foot.”
    “Really? I don’t want to be a burden,” Mary said.
    Gerty waved her hand. “No burden. This will be fun. I can’t imagine having Helen Paraby as a mother-in-law. She’s…strong willed, that’s for sure. How about a nice roast chicken? Maybe some dumplings? Come along, we’ll get you ready for tonight.”
    * * *