After a quick tour of the kitchen from Travis, he leaves me alone to get started on the meal. Luckily, they already had some unfrozen hamburger ready to be used. I dig out a skillet and rest it on the large, stainless steel stove, cranking up the heat for the burner.

Ripping open the package of meat, I try not to think about how it looks like a pile of long, skinny worms as I force myself to pick some up and mold it between my hands. I’ve never made any meal that didn’t come out of a frozen box, so this is all new to me. After the initial gross-out, it reminds me of when I was a kid and I’d visit Mom in the center. We would spend our time smooshing Play-Doh in our hands, making imaginary characters come to life.

Grabbing another handful of ground beef, I smack it all together until I have turned the entire package into four hefty burger patties. “Well, look at me being a little chef.” I smile.

I toss two of the burgers onto the skillet and they sizzle angrily. Tiny fireworks made of beef fat pop and crackle as smoke twirls up into a haze.

Shit.

I frantically look around for a spatula or tongs to take them back off with, but I can’t remember where Travis said they are. Soon the smoke is getting heavy and stretching like the long limbs of an octopus in every direction.

Meep-meep-meep!

The alarm goes off on the ceiling and I panic. I yank all the drawers open in the kitchen, desperately searching for something to flip these burgers with. The alarm is shrill and making it hard to think straight. I don’t even hear the guys when they come racing into the kitchen.

“What the fuck?” yells Holden.

I start coughing on the acrid smoke and begin to pray I don’t somehow set this house on fire. Travis races to my side and lifts me away from the stove while Holden uses a tea towel to remove the hot pan from the stove.

Travis pats me on the back until my coughing fit stops and Holden curses a blue streak as he gets the windows opened up and finally gets the alarm to stop shrieking at me while the smoke clears out.

“What the hell happened?” Holden finally comes to a standstill and glares at me.

“The, uh, well… your stove is just different than the one I’m used to.” I fabricate an answer. I ignore his angry stare and build up my story. “Every stove is set just a little different. The one I used to work with needed to be set higher to cook meat. I guess yours is a different model.” I shrug.

“Makes sense to me. Could happen to anyone.” Travis stops patting my back, but his hand rests casually on my shoulder. I resist the overwhelming urge to lean against him and find comfort in the meaningless gesture.

“Okay, well, just be more careful, will ya?” Holden’s scowl finally eases from his face and his hazel eyes lighten as his eyebrows shoot toward the ceiling. “I don’t want to see you get burned or anything.” For a moment he looks genuinely worried. It’s the first time he’s looked anything less than mildly irritated by me.

I’m touched by his concern.

“I will,” I promise. “Sorry for all the commotion. I promise I’ll get the food cooked up in no time.”

“Sounds good.” Travis’s blue eyes sparkle as he gives me one last look and then walks back out of the room.

Holden looks at me for a second longer and then follows him out the door.

I groan at the wasted food and take a few moments to clean up my disaster before I start again. This time, I keep the stove at a lower temperature and I jump back when I place the last two burgers on to cook. It doesn’t spit and sputter at me, though, so hopefully that means I’m doing it right.

After a few seconds, I give them both a flip and smile at the light brown sear to the beef. It looks pretty damned good, if I do say so myself. The only thing is, I’m not sure what I’m going to serve them with.

I turn off the stove, so I don’t burn the hamburgers again. I figure there’s enough heat in the pan to finish cooking them as I rummage through the fridge. There’s a head of lettuce in here and a bunch of stuff for salad, so it’s easy enough to get that all tossed up in a big bowl.

Soon I have the table set, a tossed salad and dressings set up, drinks in each glass, and burgers on Travis’s and Holden’s plates. Finally! Something is going my way for once. Maybe I can fake it until I make it as a cook and cleaner after all.

I cup my hands around my mouth and take in a deep breath, happy that something has finally gone my way. “Come and get it,” I cry out. I can hear Holden and Travis heading down the hall and can’t wait to see the looks on their faces.