Oh My, I Messed Up the Story

Abby noticed that everything Katie talked about seemed to be nonedible. She was a die-hard foodie and always had been. She knew that doughnuts and a few other familiar pastries existed—at least in the more well-off towns—but hadn't seen much else that went beyond basic vegetables.

"What about foods?" she asked curiously.

Katie sighed. "That's a little trickier. They don't have all of the same ingredients here and you know I was never much of a cook anyway. It was much easier buying things premade. Let me tell you; I craved pasta almost my entire pregnancy with Adam and I thought I would die because it doesn't exist here."

Pasta? Abby's memory wasn't nearly as good as her sister's but she had made homemade pasta before as part of a Girl Scouts activity ages ago. It had been fairly memorable because everyone complained about how it was easier to buy it dried at the store.

The ingredients were simple: flour, eggs, and salt. The dough needed to rest for a while before rolling it out and cutting it into strips but it didn't need to be boiled for more than five minutes.

A lightbulb appeared over her head. If she had the time and ingredients to experiment, Abby might be able to recreate a lot of dishes from home. This could be her contribution to her sister's world.

And hey, she was sort of an artist too. She could get involved in the illustration business Katie had running no problem.contemporary romance

"I think I could make some! I would need a bit of leeway with ingredients to get the consistency right though," Abby said as she clapped her hands together.

Now that she was in this world and had accomplished her only goal in coming here, she needed to find a new one. She had always been a goal-driven person and only felt fulfilled when she was working toward something.

Katie's eyes widened. "If you can make me a plate of spaghetti I will literally sell my left arm to pay for it."

Abby laughed at the exaggeration. "No need to go that far. Trust me! I can totally do this."

Katie didn't have the chance to respond because her son was calling for her. He wanted to go to the playground. She bit her lip, torn because she didn't want to leave Al to negotiate alone. She claimed it wasn't his strong suit.

They had already left the men alone for quite a while. It was obvious she was itching to get back in there. Abby offered to take him herself if she would point her in the right direction.

"You're a lifesaver," Katie said fervently. "It's a bit tricky to get there on your own…go to the third house on the right side of the road a bit down the hill. Al's cousin Nyla has young children and can show you the way. Tell her I sent you."

Abby picked up the little boy and let him ride on her shoulders, much to his delight. "Don't worry about a thing," she promised. "We'll be back in a couple of hours. Hopefully your business with Blaise will be finished by then."

For the first time today she was hit with guilt for leaving her friend out to dry. First he was stuck sitting in on a long conversation he had no interest in. Now he was discussing politics with someone he barely met.

She would make it up to him later. There had to be something she could do to try and repay him in some small way for helping her get here.

Adam was both curious and bright for his age and pointed out every interesting thing he saw, like birds and rocks and shrubs. "Kitty!" he shrieked when he spotted Simba, who had finally woken up from his long nap on the bedroll and gone exploring.

It occurred to her that she hadn't even paid attention to where the horse ended up. Had somebody taken it to a stable? They must have or Blaise would have said something about it. He needed to use that horse to get back down the mountain later.

"Yeah, that's auntie's kitty," Abby said, beckoning for the lynx to come forward.

It briefly rubbed up against her ankles before trotting off in search of food. She hoped it was smart enough to figure out where she was staying now if the stable was far away.

A heavily pregnant woman who had to be Nyla answered the door looking a bit haggard. Her house had been noisy before the door opened but afterward it was apparent how loud the chaos actually was. Five children were running everywhere, screaming and knocking things over.

"May I help you?"

"Hi…sorry to intrude. My name is Abby and Katie sent me to get directions to the playground from you," Abby said a bit sheepishly. "Is this a bad time?"

She sighed and shook her head. "No. These rascals would be better off running around there than here. Give me a moment to round them up." She called back into the house sharply. "Jasper! Kari! Brisa! Hagan! Iida! If you want to go to the playground get your shoes on RIGHT NOW."

All of the children, whose ages seemed to range from ten down to two, immediately stopped throwing things to get their shoes. "Yes, Mama!"

Abby had to hold back her laughter. This may be another world but some things were consistent no matter where you went. Her mother used to get exasperated the same way when she and Katie were little because they were so close in age and neither of them liked to listen.

Nyla strictly informed her children that they were not to run ahead once all of their shoes were on and made them form a line linking hands. She held the hands of the two smallest and made everyone walk slowly to account for her protruding stomach.

The playground was a little over a mile away on the outskirts of town. Once it was in sight, all of the children rushed off despite their mother's protests. Even Adam, who had behaved very well up to this point, got caught up in the energy and squirmed until Abby put him down.

done.co