Part 6 (1/2)

”Susan, I can more or less make a circular crust now. I've looked over several recipes for shoo-fly pie, but there's not much I can do about that without the actual recipe I'm going to use and an oven. Besides, I wanted to spend some time out here with the girls.”

”Sometimes you just have to make sacrifices.” Susan knew her voice came out sharp, but she didn't care. This was important.

Julie's smile faded, and she looked as though she might cry. She stood there and looked toward Susan, then back toward the girls, then back toward Susan. ”And sometimes there are other things more important. Now, loosen up those strings of perfection for a minute and come on over here and help us do the next load of curtains in our fancy was.h.i.+ng machine.”

It took every bit of Susan's willpower not to unload everything right now. To tell them all about her conversation with Kendra, to let them know how close they still were to losing it all. No, that was her burden to bear and she wouldn't dump it on them, but she did say, ”We don't have time for-”

”Yes”-Julie's voice was as firm as Susan had ever heard it-”we do. This is what this whole experiment is all about. It's not about pies, or even clean curtains. It's about slowing down enough to really spend time with the family.”

Whitney gasped aloud. ”Wow, Mom! Who knew you had all that in you?”

Julie's eyes grew wide, as if she was as surprised as everyone else that she'd actually spoken with such force. Her cheeks turned a bit pink; then she grinned and reached up to give a mock salute. ”Troops dismissed.”

”Aunt Julie, I'd forgotten how funny you are.” Angie put her arm around Julie's waist and Julie returned the hug.

Great. No one was doing what they needed to be doing, and now even her own daughter had jumped s.h.i.+p.

Chapter 11.

”Wow, Mom! Who knew you had all that in you?”

”Aunt Julie, I'd forgotten how funny you are.”

Julie woke slowly and couldn't help but smile when she looked around her spa.r.s.ely furnished room. This place was the dream she'd never even known could exist. No ringing phones. No emails asking for more volunteers. No committees. No pressure to keep up with the other moms. The reality here wasn't easy: she'd spent the last two days hand-was.h.i.+ng and ironing a farmhouse full of curtains. But the time had been entirely invested in her family. She'd actually had fun with the girls.

She sat up in the bed, listening to the springs screech beneath her, and wrapped her arms around her knees. There were birds singing just outside the window, and the sun was already painting a rectangle across the floor in spite of the fact it was still early. She slid off the bed, then tiptoed down the stairs to the kitchen.

On the counter sat an old-fas.h.i.+oned percolator, and the only thing that could make this morning better would be a fresh cup of coffee. She prepped it with coffee and water, and set it on the little hot plate Kendra had provided for necessities. Within minutes it burbled to life and the smell of coffee filled the air. When it finished she poured herself a cup and took a first sip. Not bad. It definitely wasn't as good as the freshly ground brew she made at home, but it would more than do.

Susan walked into the room, already dressed in her a.s.signed wardrobe-a long khaki skirt and a short-sleeved chambray s.h.i.+rt. It might have been a bit dated, but Susan managed to make it look crisp and cla.s.sic. ”I thought I heard you in here.”

”I think I've finally got this coffeepot figured out. You want a cup?”

Susan went to the cupboard and pulled out a white stone mug. ”Maybe just half a cup for me. I'm so keyed up over the challenge today I don't think it's a good idea to put much caffeine on top of that.”

”What are you nervous about? I'm the one who has to do the cooking.” Julie laughed as she asked the question.

Susan kept her back squarely turned, making Julie think she was avoiding the question. And she was. Her continued silence said as much.

”That's it, isn't it? You're worried I'll mess it up?” Just like that, Julie's dream morning fizzled, right back into the stress and failure she'd left behind.

Susan shrugged and kept her back turned. ”This is so important to me.”

”I am going to do my best, Susan; you know I am.”

”Are you?” Susan turned, her face perfectly serious. ”I would think that if you truly wanted to do your best, you would have actually made a pie yesterday.”

”I didn't have an oven, remember? I could have a.s.sembled the ingredients and poured them into a crust, I suppose. And it wasn't like I was loafing around. You're the one who wanted all the curtains washed and pressed for the picture, remember?”

”Yes, I do remember. But I also remember that before I left to go shoot a segment downtown, I specifically asked you to practice your pie making, and you didn't. You made a point of avoiding it, in fact.”

Had she been wrong yesterday? Julie didn't think so, at least she hadn't at the time. Now she felt that all-too-familiar uncertainty. ”Susan, I am sorry. I guess I didn't realize how strongly you felt about it.”

Susan poured herself coffee. ”Well, you do now.” She took a sip, made a face, and shook her head. ”I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to come out so harsh. But we know everything that happens is going to reflect on me. And you know how much I need to succeed in this.”

”I know, and I'm sorry I didn't spend more time figuring out the pie stuff.” Julie said the words, but she wasn't sure she believed them.

Three hours later Julie sat in the makeup chair, getting powder dusted all across her face. It tickled her nose, and her eyes watered from the effort of not sneezing.

”The idea is to make it look like you're not really wearing makeup, but to make you look better in the process.” The makeup artist had spiky white-blond hair with jagged dark roots, dark eyeliner that accentuated huge blue eyes, and a small nose ring. ”There, I think this ought to work just right. What do you think, Kendra?”

Kendra came around the chair for a closer look. She bent over to inspect Susan's face first, gave a quick nod, and moved over to Julie. She stared for what seemed forever and frowned. ”We could really use a bit more concealer on the uh . . . ” She made a semicircular motion under her eyes. ”We want her to look natural, but I don't want her to look like an insomniac.”

A glance in the mirror only confirmed what Kendra had said, what Julie already knew. She looked awful.

There were loud banging sounds coming from just outside the shack. Since the delivery truck had arrived an hour or so ago, Julie a.s.sumed they were making the final setup to the oven. Her stomach tightened, and she glanced toward Susan, who was looking nervously toward the door. Julie would do this well. She had to, for Susan's sake. And for her own.

”Here we go.” The makeup girl, whose name Julie had not been told, leaned forward and applied something beneath Julie's eyes. ”Yes, that is better, I think.”

Kendra nodded. ”Okay, ladies, it's time for your big debut. Let's get moving.”

Julie's stomach began to flop as she stood up. It wasn't until this moment that she'd fully come to terms with the fact she was about to be on national television, on a show watched by millions of women, most of whom knew their way around a kitchen. More than Lisa Lee or Kendra, they'd be the harshest judge of her success or failure. Well, she'd just have to show them she could do this.

Kendra led them through the back screened porch. ”Along with the new stove, you'll see that we've added some additional lighting in the kitchen. It's better for the cameras.” Kendra held open the door. ”What do you ladies think about your new cooktop?”

A huge, gleaming piece of . . . black metal . . . more than filled the s.p.a.ce where the old gas range had been. There were only two openings on the stove top, and beneath that, what looked like two separate oven doors. Kendra walked over to the door on the left and opened it. ”This is where you put the wood.” Then she opened the door on the right. ”This is your oven. Any questions?”

”Uh . . . I have one.” Julie looked at Kendra. ”You are kidding, right?”

Chapter 12.

”Ladies, time for our first post-challenge interview. Susan, you will sit in that chair.” Kendra pointed toward an old bent wood rocker. ”Now, remember, I'll be off-camera, so when I ask you a question, I want you to more or less repeat the question in your answer. I'll be completely cut out of the final product.”

Susan nodded her understanding and pasted on a confident smile. Truth was, she really needed to vomit. How could this first week have been any more of a disaster? And now, she was going to have to sit here in front of all of America and try to somehow convince them that she was thriving, embodying the life of an almost-Amish person. ”I'm ready.”

Kendra took her place behind the cameraman. ”So tell us how your life has unfolded this week. What was your first impression when you arrived here at the farm?”

Susan couldn't quite bring herself to look directly at the camera; it was too terrifying. Instead, she focused on the red light just above it, gleaming at her as if to say ”it's your turn.” ”My first impression when we arrived here was simply, I couldn't believe how beautiful the countryside is. It's so lush and green, and the rolling hills are just breathtaking.”

”Good. Now, tell us what most surprised you in a bad way.”