She was trusting him, which was why she was revealing herself bit by bit in front of him like that. If he had been locked, without any freedom to leave the hill, he would have thought that he was being tested. But he knew that she wasn't doing anything of that sort anymore.
And knowing that, he felt warm. Marrying someone who wouldn't trust him completely though he was aware that they weren't at that stage yet, would result in dire consequences.
Calista didn't put Orson in mind as she made fresh orange juice. After squeezing three cups in total, she stopped what she was doing.
She put the metal juice maker on the side, before picking the porcelain dinner plates from another basket and started dishing.
Her appetite wasn't particularly that huge, so she only took a third of the chips and gave the rest to Orson. She sprinkled some salt and spices on the chips on both plates, before scooping some tomato sauce she always made sure to keep every time on the side, to add flavor to the food.
She didn't forget to add two fish to each plate, and poured the orange juice into two cups leaving the remaining cup for Orson when he was finished with the one, she just poured.
Calista like the virtuous wife she was, scooped some warm water from the cauldron she had placed on the side some time ago and poured the water in a dish. She mixed the warm water with cold water before giving the dish to Orson.
Orson accepted the dish of water and dutifully washed his hands until he felt that they were squeaky clean. Calista gave him a dry cloth, which he used to dry his hands before setting it aside.
Calista then brought Orson his food and after making sure that he got it, she returned to the stove where she separated the firewood so that the fire won't continue burning as it was.
Looking at her plate and remembering Whitey, her mother's heart ached, so she found Whitey's plate and put another fish into the plate before setting the plate aside.
Knowing Whitey, the little guy would be appearing any moment. Since she had refused to feed him earlier, he would come again to try his luck.
Meanwhile, Orson's focus was no longer on Calista but on the food that was in front of him. He had never eaten something like that before, and honestly, he was looking forward to giving it a try.
The first thing he did was to mix the chips so that the spice and salt would mix well with the chips. When that process was done, he looked at the tomato sauce on the side and couldn't help but wonder if she had bought it.
Tomato sauce and paste were very expensive. The recipes were very difficult to get a hold of and the families who knew the recipes, kept their lips very shut tightly.
And since a few families knew how to make the sauce and paste, these two were ridiculously expensive to the extent that commoners didn't dare to dream about such a luxury.
But there he was, looking at a small hill of tomato sauce on his plate. Could it be that she was so rich that she could afford such a thing or there was another secret that she was hiding again?
Nevertheless, he was hungry and eating was of priority. So, without further ado, he picked one chip and dipped it in the sauce before bringing it to his mouth for a taste.
He took a small bite first and froze a bit before taking a second bite. His eyes lit up after swallowing and then he shoved the rest of the chip into his mouth.
He wasn't a gourmet but as a normal human being who had eaten delicacies before, he couldn't help but nod his head appreciatively as the explosion of flavors continuously kept on happening repeatedly.
'It's delicious!' he genuinely praised inwardly as he took a peek at Calista who was now seated next to her, her head buried into her plate, showing no signs of conversing at all.
Conserving table manners was a good thing, so he stopped himself from saying anything and just ate his food with a smile on his face.
The chips were so good and well-cooked. The fish was so superb, that he could even chew the bones as they were also cooked and didn't get stuck in the throat at all.
And when he washed down the food with the juice, he felt that he was living large. He was used to people drinking wine and fruit wine, but the juice was a new sensation and one he didn't want to stop having at any moment.
Dinner went pretty well and by the time the two were done, their bellies were bulging and very full. The plate with the fish on the floor only had fish bones without any signs of the flesh at all.
"Thank you for the food!" Orson didn't forget his manners when he finished eating.
Calista looked at Orson who had a very satisfied smile on his face. He wasn't pretending this time. He was indeed jovial. After all, where had he ever eaten such delicacies before?
"I am glad that you like it. With me here, you won't have to worry about anything. Wifey is very capable!" she didn't forget to promote herself in the process.
Orson choked forcing him to cough when he heard how shameless she was acting once again as soon as she found a chance to talk.
"Ahem …. I will rely on you then!" what more could he say in such a situation?
Calista was very happy seeing him surrender like that. Her eyes squinted happily as she stood from the bench, ready to clean the mess she had created when cooking.
When Orson saw that she was about to get busy, he didn't remain idle and joined her. When she saw how eager he was to help, she didn't pretend as if she didn't require his help but assigned him some chores to do.
With the two of them helping each other, in less than an hour, the kitchen was clean, and the dishes were all washed.