Hsssssss! ;( I anger! Ranger's gonna get the love he deserves!
AU/OC/OOCs
Warnings: nothing
Enjoy.
Bella
Chapter 4
Melts In Your Mouth
"Hey, Papi," Carlos walked into Julie's room, pausing to see that all her clothes and other things were thrown around in the room, that child of his, "Hey-hey Papi," Julie was motioning to him by her window, "There's someone coming down the driveway, in a golf cart, it's a woman."
Carlos weaved past piles of clothes and mountains of stuffed animals, over to where Julie stood, pointing out the window. He peered out the glass pane and watched as a white cart, covered in stickers, was making its way down to driveway to the house.
There was, indeed, a woman driving the cart. From what he could see, she had skin rich brown, amber eyes that glittered in the afternoon light and hair that waved around her face in silk tendrils. She had on a pink shirt that was covered with overalls. Carlos could admit, the woman was rather beautiful, but there was something familiar about her. As though he had met her.
Carlos and Julie were down the stairs and both were watching as the woman made her way up the porch stairs to the , through the side window by the door. She looked short and now Carlos could see that she was wearing overall shorts and wearing sandals.
Carlos pushed Julie to the side, making her squawk as he did and opening the door, before the woman could press doorbell. His mouth almost twitched, as the woman took a step back and said, in a soft voice, "Woah…."
"Yes?" Carlos asked the woman, who looked up at him, "How can I help you?"
"Ah yes...you're Julie's Papi?" The woman asked, holding tightly to the bag in her hands, "The owner of this place?"
"I am, and how do you know my daughter?" Carlos asked, the woman, who smiled nervously, lifting the bag some more.
"She knows my niece, Fleur," The woman said and Carlos relaxed as the woman continued, "They met one another, with Sakura, my cow."
"Oh yes, Julie couldn't stop talking about it, the other night," Carlos said, making the woman smile, this time with more passion, "She was hoping that she could come visit your farm."
"Why anyone who wants to come see my cows can!" The woman's eyes lit up and Carlos found he liked that, "You know, I have loads of cows to, but they're such gentle creatures, oh so much fun to cuddle with!"
She was one passionate cow farmer. Carlos watched as she rambled on about the cows, until Julie squeezed from between Carlos and leapt in front of the woman. The woman blinked and smiled at his daughter, "You must be Julie, Fleur has been excited about you. She doesn't really have many friends here."
"Well don't worry, pretty lady, I'll be glad to take Fleur under my wing, someone needs to inherit all my knowledge!" Julie said, puffing her chest out, proudly, "She's only seven but there's potential in her, I can sense it."
"I bet there is," The woman muttered before she looked to Carlos and stuck out her hand to him, "I'm Auntie H, but you can call me Heidi."
"I'm Carlos, and you already know that this is Julie," Carlos shook the offered hand and found the hand to be soft and warm. Julie smacked his hand out the way and quickly began to shake Heidi's hand, pumping it up and down.
"You're pretty short, I like that!" Julie said, making the woman blink, "Papi is too tall, it's nice to be around other short people!"
"….thanks?" Heidi said, with a confused look, "I guess so."
Carlos looked over to the cooler bag and asked Heidi, "What's in the bag?"
"Oh," Heidi pressed the bag into Carlos's arms and said, "I bought you some steaks from my farm and some strawberry ice and chocolate cake from the Silly Shake."
" The ice cream at the Silly Shake is pretty darn tasty!" Julie said, as Heidi nodded her head, "We went there the other day for lunch….wait a minute…."
Carlos watched the gears turn in Julie's head as she looked Heidi over, a frown on her face, "Papi, she looks like someone we saw, at the Silly Shake! Hey did you take our order?!"
"No, might have been my sister, she owns it, with her husband," Heidi said as Carlos opened the bag, "Yeah, so maybe I should go, you need to get to all that in the-"
"You come baring gifts, Julie and I aren't that bad of hosts," Carlos said, opening the door more, and motioning for Heidi to come in, "Come on in, let's go to the kitchen and put these things away."
Carlos ushered Heidi in and led her into the kitchen. Julie sat down at the kitchen island with Heidi, while Carlos went about putting the ice cream away. The child reached out for the paper bundle that was in the bag and opened it and paused frowning, "Papi, Heidi, what's is this?"
Carlos looked over to what Julie was looking at and paused. He couldn't believe his eyes. He had had wagyu beef before, but that had been in tiny portions at places that charged him an arm and leg for it. Yet, on his counter were three thick slabs of Wagyu steaks, ribeyes. The marbling of each steak was perfect, the meat looked reddish/pink and healthy looking. Even Carlos could admit that those steaks would taste delicious, when they were cooked.
"It's Wagyu beef, steaks to be exact," Carlos said, walking over to the meat, "One of these alone would cost about 600 dollars," he looked over to Heidi, who was preening, "Heidi you shouldn't have dropped 1800 dollars worth of meat on my table."
"Please, it's not a problem," Heidi said waving her hand, a smile on her face, "My brother in law and my sister get cuts from me all the time, and I'm their babysitter."
"Can we eat them for dinner, Papi?" Julie asked, her eyes big and her hand reaching out for the cake, "Can Heidi stay and eat with us?"
Carlos looked over to Heidi, who sat looking a little nervous. She had just given them expensive meat, like it was nothing and seemed to really enjoy Julie's company. Also, Carlos was going to order in Chinese since he had no clue what they were going in, but these steaks would do just well, it's not proper to not give the same that had been given to both father and child, "Heidi, please, stay for dinner, I can grill up these-"
"Oh, I wouldn't grill these steaks, they are too fatty," Heidi said, as she stood up quickly, her face serious, "I may not have my brother's gift in cooking but I raise Wagyu beef and I know the proper way to cook them, got a cast iron?"
Carlos pointed to the cabinet that was under the gas stove and Heidi went over to it and pulled out a large cast iron. She ran her fingers over it, nodding her head in approval and set it on the stove. Carlos sat down beside Julie, who was snickering at him, as Heidi bustled around the kitchen, muttering as she did. Carlos and Julie watched as Heidi turned the stove on, went to grab some butter and some dried herbs in, before adding salt and pepper over the steaks.
"Pick a vegetable, please?" Heidi asked, as she makes a mixture with the butter and herbs, "Hmm...Julie, pick something."
Julie hopped off the chair and ran over to the refrigerator and opened, quickly taking out a bag of brussel sprout,s, "Do something with this, Papi's bad at it."
Carlos pinched Julie's side as Heidi cracked a smile at the statement, "Hey, you're lucky we have a guest here."
"Would the punishment get in the way of my Ranger training?" Julie asked, making Carlos rub his eyebrow, "Well?"
"No," Carlos answered, watching Heidi toss the butter mix into the hot pan, with precise movements, "I would just make the training harder."
"Worth it, in my books," Julie said, turning to see Heidi place the steaks in the skillet, "Fry baby fry!"
Soon enough, the kitchen was filled with the smell of herbs, and good meat. Carlos watched as the woman cooked the meat and set them on a waiting platter, covering it with foil, before cleaning and slicing up the brussel sprouts and tossing them in the hot pan. She cooked them hot and fast, bathing them in the flavored fat before taking them out of the pain. Heidi stood in front of the due and said, "Dinner is ready!"
Carlos led them to the kitchen table, where they sat and ate dinner. Heidi cut up Julie's steak and jumped out the way from her stabbing fork. Carlos watched his daughter's eyes grow big, after she popped a piece of steak into her mouth.
"Heidi, this steak is so delicious and it melts in my mouth, wow it's so good!" Julie said, covering her mouth, "Papi, papi, come on, try it!"
Carlos didn't much red meat, so he cut a small slice and placed it in his mouth and nearly let out a groan himself. The meat did melt in his mouth, mixing with the melted butter and herbs. This was better than what he got at those high end dining places. He ate a brussel sprout and found that the rendered fat had melted into the vegetables and made it extraordinary. Even Julie was quiet, eating her vegetables at break neck speed.
"Papi, this is so delicious, Heidi, thank you for dinner," Julie said, as they ate their dessert, "See, Papi, Fleur's Auntie is the best, so, can I go over to her farm and play with the cows and Fleur, please?"
Carlos looked over to Heidi, who was sucking ice cream off her spoon. Carlos raised an eyebrow and asked, "Well, is it alright for Julie to spend time with your niece, on your farm?"
"It's not a problem for me, I'll even have a pair of mud boots with her name on them," Heidi said, with a smile, "You're welcome at my place too, Carlos, that way you can get your hands dirty and enjoy a good meal, If you want to."
"Maybe I'll take you up on that offer," Carlos said to Heidi, who smiled and bit her lip. Carlos liked that simple action, "I'll think we'll be good neighbors."
(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
"I'm glad you approve of Heidi, Papi," Julie said, curling up deeper into her blankets as Carlos closed the curtains in her room, "I'm excited to be friends with Fleur, we're going to be the best Rangers."
"Sounds like a plan," Carlos said, as he walked over to Julie's bed and sat on it, "It might even keep you out of trouble, if you mucking out cow manure from stalls," Carlos cracked a smile at the noise of outrage.
"Will I really be cleaning up poop?" Julie asked Carlos as he 'hmmmed' and 'hawwed' over it, "Papi!"
"Heidi wouldn't do that to you," Carlos said, tucking his daughter in, as she yawned, sleepily, "She's seems nice."
"And pretty," Julie said, her voice small, as a frown crinkled her brow, "But...I don't know, she feels different, something's off about her, can you feel it too, Papi?"
Carlos looked down at his daughter, his own eyebrows crinkling. So Julie had the same sense as Carlos did. She was his daughter, after all. Heidi had felt off, not in a bad way, she felt different. Like there was something bubbling under the surface of her skin. It had made his noise itch in a pleasant way, he only always sneezed when that fucking Unmentionable Diesel was around, now he was a handful.
Carlos looked over to Julie's sleeping form and then got up, turned the lights off and closed the door to her bedroom. He walked downstairs to his office and opened the waiting laptop and began to look up any information about Heidi.
He didn't find much, actually. He found the store page about her cows and looked through it. It was a tastefully crafted web page about her wagyu beef, where to order and that she accepted cards only. The was a lovely picture of Heidi, with one of her cows, her face bright, her smile big and real. She also sold diary products, like butter, cream and milk and offered tours.
Carlos decided to use Rangeman's software and try to look deeper into Heidi. He also didn't find much about her that way. There was nothing about Heidi, though, it might be better if he the woman's last name too. He didn't get that from her, fuck. Though, Carlos mused, closing the laptop, one thing he did know was that she was rich, maybe even wealthy. To be able to buy all this land and own a herd of expensive cows. She had to have money tucked away. Oh well, he would figure that out soon enough.
After all, Carlos had all of summer to figure out anything he could about Heidi. There was something interesting about Heidi and interesting things always peaked his curiosity.
TBC….
I am still the Captain...Please leave a review!