Careful! It's hot!" Nick warned Jordan, easing her away from the cookie tray.
Silas had one day off a week-two if he'd been preparing for a party or a large meal such as Christmas-and this was his off day. He'd left early in the morning and there was no telling when he'd be back.
So Nick seized the occasion to make cookies with Jordan and of course, Angela. Jordan had been thrilled with the flour, and dipping a hand into it had thrown it in the air. Nick, who knew very little about cooking even with a cookbook had made just as big a mess even without throwing flour in the air.
The kitchen now had flour on every surface. There was a sticky paste like substance on the countertops and, although the recipe called for the use of one bowl he had ended up using three. The cookies however, were delicious and seeing the smiles on Angela and Jordan's face, Nick was certain that even twice as big a mess would be worth it.
He was thinking that and reaching across the table to entwine his fingers around Angela's when the kitchen door opened and Silas stepped in, absorbing the scene with a glacial silence before his gaze focused on their clasped hands and became even colder.
Nick got up to his feet awkwardly. "We were making cookies." He offered the plate to the servant, who ignored it. There was a long silence and when it stretched out too long he set down the plate, fidgeted a moment then said "I'll get started on the dishes.
"Ah'll help" Angela offered.
"No need." Silas speared her with a look. "Doesn't the baby need to get that flour off her?"
Angela blinked. "Ah suppose..Ah" she hesitated in indecision for a moment before giving one last look at Nick, then picking up the toddler and carrying her outside.
Nick picked up the bowls and silverware and began washing them, trying to figure out what to say. He didn't know what to say to this version of Silas, who was a far cry from the one he had grown up with. It was unnerving, as if Silas had been wearing a mask his whole life, not revealing what he actually thought and felt, and now was pulling it off for the first time.
Silas started rinsing the bowls and drying the dishes as Nick handed them over. They silently began dusting flour off the surfaces and sweeping it off the floor. It wasn't until they were trying to remove the flour and water paste from the countertops that Nick broke the silence.
"I love her, you know. This isn't just a game for me, I really love her.'
A moment of silence from the servant, then
"It don't matter, Mr. Nick. You can say you love her all you want and it don't mean a thing."
"That's not true, Silas. We-"
"It's don't matter. Whatever you say, whatever you feel, whatever she feels, it don't matter! It can't go anywhere. The only thing it's going to do is get her and that little girl hurt."
"I'll protect them!" Nick promised.
"You can't protect them!" The older man sounded angry and frustrated, as if he was trying to explain something to a child who was willfully refusing to hear.
"When we get married-"
"You won't get married Mr Nick. What world do you think you are living in, son? There isn't not a preacher in this valley, in this state that is going to marry you two. And what happens then? Sooner or later you're going to marry some proper white girl from the right family and what happens to those two? Are you going to put them up in a shack somewhere so you can see Miss Angela on the side? What do you think will happen when someone finds out, and they will find out?"
Nick's head was swirling. "Silas, I don't think-"
"Exactly the problem, Mr Nick. You don't think. You aren't thinking at all, you're just enjoying the ride and ignoring the cost. And what about that little girl and how you're treating her? You're treating her like a white child!"
Nick bristled "Jordan is just like anyone else!"
"Jordan is a negro child, Mr Nick. She's not white, she is a negro and she has to learn how to be one. That's something that takes a lot of practice. And you're treating her like white child. You're teaching her to expect to be treated like a white child. How is she going to feel when starts learning that everything you've shown her is wrong?"
Nick stared at Silas in a state of near shock, not only at what the old servant was saying but how he was saying it. Never, in Nick's memory, had Silas spoken to him or anyone else like that.
And honestly, the things Silas was saying were true. He had never once considered the possible effects their romance might have later down the road. He had known and taken care to keep their relationship clandestine, but he had never actually followed that need for secrecy down to its logical conclusion. And now Silas was telling the harsh truth. They couldn't get married. It wasn't happening, not in the valley, not in this state, not in the country even.
Silas'eyes softened slightly. "I know you love that little girl, Mr. Nick. I believe you love Ms. Angela like you say. But Mr. Nick, happily ever after doesn't happen in the real world. And if you two keep carrying on without thinking things through, those two are going to get hurt."
Crushed, Nick turned to leave, then paused at the door.
"If I can come up with a plan, will you give us your blessing?"
Silas sighed. "I don't know Mr Nick. You think there's a way out and I don't see one. Go ahead and think on it Mr Nick, and if you think you can fix this, I'll listen."