The Douglas Farm

The next day, Joseph began his first official day as the Douglas's new temporary farm hand. So far, Oliver was pleased with Joseph's work. During that first day, Oliver could see that Joseph had a passion for farming just as he did, and he seemed to know a lot about the subject, too.

After a hard day's work, Oliver and Joseph came into the house for dinner, dirty and tired. Lisa looked up upon them entering.

"My goodness, you boys look tired. And you're dirty!" Lisa commented.

"That my dear, is the product of a hard day's work!" Oliver said proudly.

"Vell, vash of all that hard day's vork before dinner. The food vill be ready by the time you boys are done." Lisa commanded.

"Yes, ma'am." Oliver and Joseph said in unison. They then turned around and headed for the bathroom. Lisa continued to prepare dinner. Soon after it was all ready, Oliver and Joseph returned.

"Oh good! Dinner is just ready." Lisa told them. Before Joseph could sit down, Oliver pulled him aside.

"Now, I must warn you, Joseph. My wife is not the best cook in the world. As a matter of fact, she might even be the worst. Please, whatever she serves, just try and humor her." he pleaded.

Joseph smiled and nodded in agreement. "Don't worry, Oliver. My mother wasn't a master chef either. I'm used to rotten cooking."

"That may be so, but you haven't seen rotten cooking such as this. You just wait and see." Oliver said with a smile. Then he and Joseph sat down at the table. Lisa turned around from the stove carrying two plates in her hand. She placed one in front of Oliver and the other in front of Joseph.

"Here you are, gentlemen. Enjoy." she said cheerfully. Oliver was taken aback when he looked down at his plate. Instead of the usual hotcakes sitting on his plate, there was a steak, baked potato, salad, and a piece of apple pie. Joseph looked down at his plate and saw the same thing.

"Everything looks delicious, Lisa." Joseph said politely. He leaned in towards Oliver and whispered, "I would love to see what you consider good cooking."

Oliver looked up from his plate with a bewildered look on his plate. "You don't understand. We've never had anything like this before. Lisa, who cooked this?" Oliver asked.

"I did!" Lisa cried indignantly.

"No, seriously." Oliver said.

"Olivah! Vhy is it so hard to believe that I could make a good meal!"

"Because I've seen you cook before." Oliver said.

"Olivah!" Lisa cried, offended at his harsh words.

"I'm sorry, honey. It's just that you never lifted a finger around the house before we moved here. How did you become such a great chef all of a sudden?" Oliver asked.

"Vell, to be honest vith you, all I had to do vas boil some vater. Dee Dee's dehydrated Texas steak dinner did the rest of the vork." Lisa explained.

"Oh, not that stuff again!" Oliver cried.

"I'm a little confused." Joseph said.

"It's this powder that you add to boiled water and supposedly a whole dinner comes out." Oliver explained.

"Supposedly! You're dinner is right in front of you, isn't it?" Lisa said.

"Oh, come on, Lisa! How could a whole dinner come out of some powder!" Oliver cried.

"Believe vhat you vant, meanvhile your food is getting cold." Lisa commented.

"Won't you join us, Lisa?" Joseph asked.

"Oh, that is very kind of you, Joseph. But I can't. Those are the only clean dishes ve have. Somebody forgot to fix the sink." Lisa said suggestively.

"Oh darn! I forgot all about it when Joseph arrived. I'm sorry, honey." Oliver said with a sheepish grin on his face. Lisa looked at him a playfully disapproving look on her face and walked over to the stove to attend to the coffee.

"Is something wrong with your sink?" Joseph asked.

"Yes, but nothing serious. The pipes just need cleaning." Oliver explained.

"Well, I'll be happy to fix it as soon as I'm finished with dinner." Joseph said.

"Oh, that's not necessary, Joseph. I'll get to it." Oliver said.

"Not necessary!" Lisa exclaimed. "But, dahling, I need the sink to vash the dishes. Othervise, they'll pile up on me." Lisa said.

"Your wife is right, Oliver. It's better if you get it done as soon as possible." Joseph agreed. "I'll have it working in no time at all."

Lisa smiled at him appreciatively. "Thank you, Joseph. That's very kind of you."

"My pleasure, Lisa." he said as their eyes locked. Joseph held her gaze steadily for a second or two. Lisa began to get an awkward feeling, so she broke of the gaze and returned to the coffee.

Oliver noticed that Joseph's eyes lingered on Lisa for a while. He began to get a strange feeling, so he decided to say something.

"So, uh, Joseph, how's the powder food?" he asked.

Joseph looked at him in a daze for a split second. Then he looked down at his meal and smiled. "It's fine, thank you." He picked up his fork for the first time and began to eat steadily.

Something inside of Oliver was telling him that what just happened was odd, but Oliver figured he was just being paranoid. He knew he had gotten into the habit of being overprotective of Lisa ever since her accident. But still, a tiny part of him felt uneasy.

Oliver pushed those feelings aside and continued to enjoy the rare delicious dinner before him. The rest of the dinner went by uneventfully and Joseph fixed the sink afterwards just like he promised.

Uh-oh! What was that whole thing that just went on between Joseph and Lisa? Seems rather strange to me! I think Oliver has a right to be worried, don't you? Hee hee!

Anyways, sorry this update took so long. School has been keeping me pretty busy and I haven't been able to concentrate lately, for some reason. Don't worry, I'll try to update as soon as possible and not have you wait as long this time! Please don't give up on me! Continue to read and review, por favor! Wow, this personal address to the audience is getting longer than the story! Hee hee! Sorry! I'll stop right…... NOW!