The door opened, and Malichai came in. He stopped abruptly when he saw the three women. “Whoa, there, Nonny. You can’t have Pepper in the kitchen. I’m a starving man, and she has some kind of bad kitchen mojo going on. She’s been cursed. Every time she’s in here, the fire alarms go off and my food is ruined.”

Pepper wadded up a napkin and threw it at him. “Go away. You’re a bottomless pit, and for your information, the chicken is being cooked to perfection.”

Malichai came closer to peer over their shoulders at the white lump crabmeat. “Woman. That is not chicken. Nonny, she can’t be in here. I heard Trap brought his woman to learn from the best. Pepper is going to put that whammy on Cayenne and my brother will starve.”

Pepper threw another balled-up napkin, this one hitting him square in the face. “Go away or I will burn the dinner and you’ll have to go fishing and eat it raw.”

“I’ve tried raw fish. A couple of times, when I was desperate for nourishment.”

“Malichai,” Nonny warned. “I’ve got the broom. You’re disturbin’ my cookin’ lesson. These girls are doin’ just fine so don’ be distractin’ them.”

“I just need a bowl of that fine gumbo you’ve got on the stove,” he wheedled, giving her his sweetest, most innocent look.

Cayenne thought he looked like a wolf, not a sheep, but clearly Nonny thought he was an adorable boy. She went straight to the stove and dished him up a very large bowl of soup, added her homemade bread and waved him out.

Malichai winked at Cayenne, glared at Pepper, and smiled angelically at Nonny, who shook her head, her eyes laughing, her mouth curved in a smile. He bent and brushed a kiss on Nonny’s cheek. “You’re the best,” he murmured, clearly meaning it. He glanced at Pepper and Cayenne. “Sorry girls, no kiss for either of you. Wyatt would skin me alive if I touched you, Pepper, so you’re just going to have to pine away for me. Trap would boil me in oil, Cayenne, so as sad as this is going to make you, you’ll just have to learn to live without my kisses.”

“We’ll manage,” Pepper called after him, as he went out the door.

Nonny shook her head. “That boy needs a woman.”

“She’d never keep him fed,” Pepper protested. “Although she’d be in stitches every day. On with the lesson, Nonny.”

“Put your one pound of crabmeat into your salad bowls. Each of you has a head of iceberg lettuce. Break it into small chunks and add that with the crab. Immediately take anything you can’t use and put it in the compost bucket so your work area stays clean. The small bowl is to mix up everything else we need. Chop the capers very fine. We only need a tablespoon full in each of the bowls. Add one teaspoon of lemon juice. I fresh squeeze mine. Always use the freshest ingredients. Add in a half cup of mayonnaise and some of the seasoning we just made up. We’re going to put this in the fridge, and before we serve it, we’ll pour our sauce over the crabmeat and lettuce, and garnish it with a little paprika and parsley chopped fine. See how easy that is? Now our salad is ready for dinner. The kitchen is still clean, Cayenne.”

Cayenne looked around her. Everything was clean, and Nonny made it so easy.

Cayenne realized she was smiling. Malichai was funny, and Pepper, in spite of the teasing, or because of it, really liked him. She wasn’t upset with his poking fun at her, and her laughter had been genuine. Nonny clearly had claimed Malichai as her own, and he obviously had great affection for her. And Pepper as well. Relationships were complicated, but they were very nice to have. She was more than enjoying herself. Because she was, she reached out to Trap.

Trap, I’m having so much fun. Nonny and Pepper are wonderful, and Malichai is so cute. Really funny and cute.

There was a moment of silence. Baby, he’s not that cute.

She found herself smiling at his reaction. He sounded a little grumpy. He said no kisses for me because you’d boil him in oil. None for Pepper because Wyatt would skin him alive. He didn’t seem all that afraid.

I’d skin him before I boiled him, so he’d better be afraid. The grumpiness had disappeared to be replaced by a faint sense of humor. Glad you’re having fun, baby.

The women passed the time writing down recipes for Cayenne. Nonny took care to explain how to do things Cayenne didn’t understand. When the timer went off again, they added to the chicken and sausage mixture again. Each one added their minced garlic and two and a half cups of uncooked rice, mixing it well. Then each added one cup of dry white wine and three cups of chicken stock.

“We cover this and cook it another forty-five minutes,” Nonny explained as she set the timer again. “When it’s done, we’ll season it with our spice mixture, sprinkle in a little oregano, three and half ounces of blanched almonds and three-fourths of a cup of chopped olives. We can add the last two cups of chicken stock to the mixture and then keep it hot in the oven. When we serve it, we’ll sauté mushrooms in butter for about five minutes. You want to do that at the last minute. We’ll sprinkle those on top and we’ve got an entire meal. I always serve my homemade bread. The next lesson, we’ll bake bread.”

Nonny went to the refrigerator and pulled out a large pitcher. “I made us some homemade strawberry lemonade. Thought we could pour it over ice and sit out on the porch. I need me my pipe while our dinner is cookin’.”

“That sounds wonderful, Nonny,” Cayenne said. “Um. I mean the lemonade, not the pipe. Do you really smoke a pipe?”

Nonny nodded and gestured toward the cabinet. Pepper got out three tall glasses and put them in front of Wyatt’s grandmother.

“Been smokin’ a pipe since I was about ten years old. Back then, it wasn’t considered bad for you. Wyatt tells me to stop, but I’m already eighty. Not goin’ to give up somethin’ I love at this stage of my life.”

They settled on the porch, Nonny in her rocking chair, looking out over the water. Pepper and Cayenne took the chairs facing the swamp. A cool breeze ruffled their hair and felt good against their skin after the heat of the kitchen. Cayenne pressed the icy glass to her forehead before she took a sip. The moment she sampled the drink, her gaze jumped to Nonny’s face.

“This is amazing. I definitely want to learn how to make this as well. How do you make everything taste so good?”