Finding You – Deleted Chapter
Finding You – Deleted Chapter
22nd December 2016,
Laura was standing in the kitchen, humming away to Christmas tunes that were blaring out through the radio. Sean was sitting at the breakfast bar just watching her with a huge smile on his face. After all these years together, he still loved her so very much. With a few days to go before Christmas, Laura was making her legendary mince pies. Sean’s mouth watered just thinking about how her buttery pastry would melt in his mouth and the spices in the mince would tickle his tastebuds. She would tell him off but as soon as those little pies were out of the oven he would be waiting for the second they were cool enough to steal one.
‘“Do you want to help?” Laura asked, noticing that his eyes were fixated on her.
“Is that wise? I don’t want to ruin Christmas.” Sean beamed back at her. They both knew he was an awful cook but she was always willing to help him learn.
“Come on, let’s start a tradition where we make the mince pies together.” Her smile was infectious and there was no way Sean could say no to her. He grabbed one of her frilly aprons and put it on, making her laugh.
She showed him how to measure out the ingredients and where to find them. She then left him to do it on his own. Sean was concentrating really hard, he wanted to impress her. He wanted to watch as Laura’s eyes lit up with pride as she tried one of his pies. He mixed it all in a bowl and then proudly showed her.
“Looks good! Now you can start rolling out the dough, just make sure you flour the surface so it doesn’t stick.” Laura commented before turning back to the bowl of mince that she was adding spices to.
Rolling out the dough didn’t quite go to plan. It stuck everywhere and while sprinkling flour on the surface, Sean poured a load on the floor. Laura had laughed and grabbed a dustpan and brush to clear it up, telling him to carry on with the task at hand. Eventually, Sean rolled out the pastry, cut out little circles and placed them in a dish.
“Here’s the mince.” Laura announced, handing him a bowl which smelled just like Christmas. Sean took it from her and dolloped big spoonfuls of mince into his awaiting cases.
“No, Sean! Not that much.” Laura came running over from the other side of the kitchen to show him just how much mince should go inside the pies.
“But I like lots of mince,” he complained, watching in horror as she scooped over half the amount out of each pie.
“I know you do, but it’ll only ooze out and burn.” Laura laughed at his pout and reached up to give him a quick kiss. Sean sighed, as much as he loved kissing Laura it didn’t quite make up for less mince inside the pies.
After the mince incident, Laura stayed by his side as he cut out the lids of the individual pies and popped them on.
“They look like they’re all ready for the oven.” Laura announced as she opened the oven door for the pies. Sean proudly placed his tray inside the oven and went back to his seat at the breakfast bar. He couldn’t wait to sit with Laura and try one of his own creations.
Whilst they baked, Laura continued making more batches for them to take to their families over Christmas. Meanwhile, Sean flicked through yesterday’s newspaper, which had been tossed to the side. They were both content to do their own thing until the timer buzzed throughout the kitchen.
“I’ll get them!” Sean announced, wanting to see how his creations were looking. He pulled them out of the oven with a proud look on his face. They almost looked as good as Laura’s.
“Well done!” Sean smiled at Laura’s praise as she unhooked her apron and gave him another kiss.
“I’ll pop the kettle on and we’ll have one with a cup of tea.” Laura went to make drinks whilst Sean selected the best looking pie and transferred it to a plate, careful not to burn himself. He cut it in half to cool.
“I can’t wait to make this a yearly tradition.” Sean commented as he watched Laura make their tea. He always felt terrible that the burden of the Christmas food fell to her every year. It would be nice to help her out.
With steaming cups of tea in front of them, Laura and Sean sat at the breakfast bar with a fork in hand, ready to try Sean’s masterpieces – or masterpies as he had so aptly named them. They smiled at each other before taking a bite. Both of their face contorted at the same time. Laura reached forward for her tea and took a big gulp, not worrying about how hot it was.
“Sean, did you mix up the salt and sugar?” She winced, unable to rid her mouth of the bitter aftertaste from the salty pastry.
“Possibly.” Sean hung his head in shame as he tried to swallow the mouthful he had. They were truly horrid.
“Perhaps we’ll stick to the ones I made.” Laura laughed and grabbed a pie off of the cooling rack from a batch she had made earlier in the day.
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08VJKFTYD
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VJKFTYD
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