A warm, soft hand patted the back of her own. Amusement sparkled in Mrs. Seong’s eyes. “I only tease, Sophie, because it is good to see you happy after such an accident. You deserve to be happy.”
Tears pricked in Sophie’s eyes as she met Mrs. Seong’s kind gaze. She was a longtime friend of the family and had known Sophie since she’d been a baby. When Sophie had wanted to move out on her own and become financially independent, Mrs. Seong had spoken in her favor. It was good for a young woman to want to take the burden from her family by going out on her own, Mrs. Seong had argued when her parents had been concerned. Sophie’s parents had conceded when Sophie chose an apartment so close to Mrs. Seong. It was not only proven a safe area, but there was a chaperone nearby for all intents and purposes.
But Mrs. Seong had let Sophie have her privacy. She checked in only when Sophie was particularly sick.
“Careful. It’s hot.” Brandon was there with the tray she kept on top of her refrigerator. He set it carefully in her lap, then placed her bowl of sundubu jjigae on it, accompanied by another spoon.
“Thank you.” She smiled up at Brandon and then over to Mrs. Seong. “Thank you for everything.”
Mrs. Seong gave her a serene smile in return. “If this boy goes fishing and brings back good fish, I will fry them and make this again. Sundubu jjigae is good with a bowl of rice and a whole fried fish.”
Brandon chuckled. “I could go fishing.”
Sophie choked on a spoonful of her sundubu.
Chapter Eight
Sophie, what are you doing on your feet, and what is that amazing smell?”
Sophie laughed as Lyn entered the kitchen area in the main house of Hope’s Crossing Kennels. She was glad to see Lyn back from her latest business trip so soon. “My ankle is feeling a lot better. I can stand for a while as long as I’m wearing the medical boot for support. And this is avocado and fried egg on toast.”
As she spoke, she took a nicely toasted slice of rye bread and spread a spoon of fresh avocado mixed with crumbled goat cheese across it in a generous layer. She sprinkled a touch of sea salt over it, then used a grinder to add a hint of black pepper. Then she carefully slid one of the sunny-side-up eggs from her pan onto the avocado. She finished it off with a spoonful of fresh diced tomato tossed with shredded basil.
It wasn’t summer yet, but Mrs. Seong had a good eye for produce and had dropped off some for Sophie last night. Rather than have Brandon pretend he just happened to be in the neighborhood again that morning, Sophie had called him to ask if he could pick her up so she could hang out at the kennels. At least that way, he wouldn’t be torn from his responsibilities at the kennels just to babysit her. Besides, it gave her people to feed the excellent produce to, and cooking made her happy.
“Don’t tell me you baked the bread yourself?” Elisa arrived and hooked the leg of a stool, taking a seat at the breakfast bar. “Boom will be along in a second. She had to run back to the house to grab something she forgot in her room.”
“Gotcha. I’ll have her breakfast ready in a sec.” Sophie placed a serving in front of Lyn and another for Elisa. “I didn’t bake this bread, but maybe I will next time. This loaf was dropped off by a neighbor, and I couldn’t finish it before it went stale, so I decided to bring it along to share.”
“Always enjoy your cooking, Sophie.” Lyn got started on her portion.
“Good. I love cooking for all of you.” Sophie usually only got to bake or cook on the weekends. As she thought about it, she cracked an egg and accidentally let a piece of eggshell fall into the pan with it. She muttered a curse as she fished it out.
“While we benefit from your habit of baking or cooking when you’re stressed, why don’t you talk to us about the reason for it?” Elisa suggested. “Also, don’t worry about breaking the yolk. Boom likes her eggs over hard lately.”
Sophie huffed out a half-hearted laugh. “It’s fun trying to keep up with the way her tastes change. Is it because of tween taste buds?”
Elisa rolled her eyes. “I don’t even know.”
They all shared a chuckle over that.
“Well, I haven’t come up with any epiphanies when it comes to my next steps in job hunting,” Sophie admitted as she plated another serving for Boom. “I’ve thought about it more, and while accounting is still something I like, it’s not what I want to do for the rest of my life.”
Lyn nodded. “That’s fair. You like variety in your life. It follows that you might want a career that offers a broader spectrum of tasks to challenge you.”
“What makes you happy?” Elisa asked.
What, indeed?