Work Text:
Gus looked up from his place behind the bar as the Saloon patrons began leaving for the evening. Shane left first, followed quickly by Willy, and Gus started wiping down the counters and tables. Normally, Emily would be helping him, but he'd given her the day off to go visit her girlfriend, Sandy, for her birthday.
"Last call," Gus called out, his voice firm but friendly, eyeing the two usual suspects gulping down their drinks.
"Ta, Gus," Pam said, sliding her glass across the bar before getting up. Clint didn't say anything. He just stood and left, leaving his glass behind on the table, following Pam out the door.
"Here," Sebastian said, picking up the glass and handing it to Gus with an eyeroll. "Save you a few steps." It was unusual for him to be in the Saloon on a Monday night, but he and his new wife, Amelia, had come for a late dinner and a game of pool.
"Thanks, Sebastian," Gus said as Sebastian took Amelia's hand to lead her out the door.
"Goodnight Gus," Amelia smiled at him, her blue eyes sparkling like her grandfather's used to. Which reminded him…
"Oh, Amelia," Gus said as they reached the door. "Before you go, I have something I've been meaning to ask you."
"What's that?" the couple paused a moment.
"Your grandfather used to have a really good recipe for a vegetable stew," Gus explained. "I was wondering if you've ever found it while looking through his belongings. And if you have, would I be able to get a copy? I'd like to put a good stew on the Winter menu."
"I hope you'll still sell pumpkin soup," Sebastian said worriedly, his cheeks turning a little pink when Gus and Amelia both laughed.
"Don't worry, Sebastian," Gus replied with a wink. "I'll make sure to stock the soup regularly, just for you."
"I haven't seen a recipe just for stew," Amelia said thoughtfully, "but I do remember Grandpa Mike making it. I think I found his old cookbook when we were cleaning out the attic a couple weeks ago, remember Bastian?" Her husband nodded. "I can take a look and see if it's in there and email you a copy if you'd like?"
"That would be great," Gus beamed at her.
"I'll take a look once I'm finished harvesting whatever crops are ready tomorrow morning," Amelia promised. "I'll let you know either way."
"I can feed the animals so you don't have to wait as long, Gus," Sebastian offered.
"Will you gather the eggs, too?" Amelia asked him, kissing him on the shoulder.
Sebastian groaned and Gus couldn't blame him - he still remembered Sebastian getting sick from eating too many eggs at the Egg Festival when he was a kid. As far as he knew, the man hadn't touched an egg since.
"Fine," Sebastian relented, slipping his arm around Amelia's waist and kissing her on the top of her head. "But you owe me a free bowl if we find the recipe, Gus," he added with a wink. "Then I can see which is better… pumpkin soup or the stew."
"Deal!" Gus winked back. "And you can have a free bowl too, Amelia."
"Sounds great, Gus," Amelia's smile turned into a yawn. "We'd better get home though, or neither of us will be doing anything in the morning! Goodnight Gus!"
"Goodnight!" Gus replied as they left the Saloon. He finished tidying up and locked the door behind them, ready to go to bed himself.
Gus wrinkled his nose as he sampled the latest batch of vegetable stew, trying to figure out exactly what was missing. True to her word, by noon the day after their conversation at the Saloon Amelia had emailed Gus a photograph of her grandfather's recipe, and Gus had smiled at his old friend's familiar handwriting. His smile had quickly turned into a frown as he noticed the note at the bottom of the page: 'Don't forget the secret ingredient!'
Ever since that day, he'd been experimenting with the recipe, trying to get it just right. He'd tried adding beans, and while they made the stew a bit thicker, there was still something missing from the overall taste. He experimented with spices and herbs - sage, rosemary, saffron, parsley, paprika… none of them seemed right. He tried adding more onion or different varieties of mushrooms, but he still couldn't seem to get the stew to taste like he remembered.
Eventually, it was the last day of Fall, and Gus was frantically going through his pantry for any ingredients that might complete the stew, while trying to ignore his throbbing headache from the five tankards of spiced mead he'd had at the Spirit's Eve Festival the previous evening. Amelia and Sebastian were coming that evening to sample the final recipe and he wanted it to be perfect.
His eyes settled on a jar at the back of his cupboard, and he inhaled sharply. That's it! he thought. That's the missing ingredient! Gus grabbed the jar and headed toward his kitchen, his headache forgotten by his enthusiasm as he chopped vegetables and prepared the stew, setting the large stock pot on the burner to simmer throughout the rest of the day while he got ready for the small Sunday night crowd at the Saloon.
Finally, it was dinnertime, and Sebastian and Amelia took their seats in the special dining area Gus had set up for them. He beamed with pride as he served their bowls of stew alongside a loaf of crusty bread he'd baked that afternoon. He stood back, watching them take their first spoonfuls, Amelia's face lighting up with a big smile.
"This is perfect," she breathed.
"It's really good," Sebastian agreed, a small smile on his own face. "But I think I prefer pumpkin soup, no offense."
"How did you make it taste just like Grandpa's?" Amelia asked, unshed tears in her eyes.
"It's easy," Gus replied with a grin. "The secret ingredient is thyme."