by Leslie North
“It means,” she said, joining him on the bed and sliding one leg over his hips, feeling him growing between her legs, “that we still have sex, but we get to do it my way. Any problems with that?”
“Sugar,” he growled, sliding his hands up her dress and making her moan when his hands found her breasts, “as far as I’m concerned, that makes this situation a win-win.”
15
“So, before we go in, just remind me, brother. What exactly are we doing here?” Jonah asked. Ian, in the process of opening the ranch house’s front door, shot him a dark look that served as answer enough. Like a good brother, Jonah was doing what Ian wanted, but he wasn’t exactly the type to socialize. Unless Ian owned up to some kind of a relationship with Katie, Jonah wasn’t going to cotton to her. If that was what Jonah wanted, though, he was going to be waiting for a long time.
“Just stick to the baked goods, bro, okay? We’ll save the fast friendship for another time,” he said with a wry smile. Jonah shrugged, then licked his lips for effect.
“Okay, but only because that food was good. Who would have thought it, you know? Brownies and cookies and shit without any of the usual stuff in ‘em, and they still taste good. Girl’s got talent.”
When Jonah was right, he was right. Ian wasn’t about to make a fool of himself over it, but he was pumped about Katie’s having agreed to the bakery thing in the first place. For his part, the parents’ meetings had turned out to be a blessing in disguise, and he was still going to them semi-regularly. The need to do something for her, too, had been strong. It drove him crazy that she was still such a slave to social media. Getting her to try something new, and in such a niche market, felt like the perfect way to help her put her past behind her. The fact that her goods had sold out so quickly for two weeks running felt like validation, to be sure.
“Don’t tell me,” Ian answered, his chest puffing with pride as he pushed through the kitchen door, “tell her. Hey, Katie, got a happy customer here who wants to tell you what a good job you’re doing.”
Ian stopped, his greeting smile still on his face. Things had been a success for Katie’s baking, but if he was being honest, it had also been a little weird between the two of them in the weeks since the hospital stint. He knew some of it had to do with the way he had reacted, pushing Katie away. He thought that him going to the meetings would make a difference on that front, and maybe it had helped some, although it was also true that driving home from the meeting, Katie seemed kind of let down. It was like now that she believed he’d be all right after she went, she didn’t have anything else to distract her from what she would do with her own life.
After she went. There was a thought. One he didn’t want to deal with. He’d rather focus on her taking him seriously and taking him up on the baking plan. Those were things he could feel good about. Except that now, when she was supposed to be making refills for the bakery, she was doing something else entirely.
“Hey, Jonah!” Katie said happily, looking up from the hunks of meat she and Andy were experimenting on, “It’s good to see you. What’s happening?”
“Oh, you know, nothing much. Just having an existential crisis over your baked goods. Ian gave me the lowdown on how healthy they are, and now I feel like my whole life is a lie.”
“So, you liked them, huh?” she asked, obviously pleased. Ian was happy to see the reaction, but he felt a surge of irritation when she went straight back to what she was doing with Andy. He took a step forward, thought about keeping his mouth shut, and then opened it right up, anyway.
“Everyone likes them, Katie,” he started, “everyone in town. They’ve sold out of most of what you sent them, and they’re clamoring for more.”
“That’s so great,” she said distractedly before whispering something in Andy’s ear that made him laugh. That should have been enough to set Ian’s mood right again, but instead, it had the opposite effect.
“They’ll sell out of the next batch when you give it to them. Which you’re supposed to do today. Remember?” he asked pointedly. Jonah raised an eyebrow at him, a clear warning to chill the hell out, but Ian looked deliberately away. Jonah had a point with that look. It was one Ian intended to ignore.
“Shoot, I’m sorry. I totally forgot about that. Me and Andy have been super into this experiment. He’s going to kill this Strawberry Fest competition. Aren’t you, sweet boy?” she asked, looking at Andy with pure love in her eyes and sliding her hand over his hair briefly.
“Yup,” he agreed, grabbing a bottle of some kind of spice Ian couldn’t identify and dumping it onto the plate in front of him with gusto, “gonna kill it, Daddy.”
“That’s great, bud,” Ian answered, careful not to let his aggravation at Katie seep out and onto his boy, “and I want you to tell Uncle Jonah all about it while I talk to Katie for a minute.”
Andy nodded happily while Jonah ambled over to him, grabbing a stool and listening patiently to Andy’s wild, exciting explanation. Katie looked at Ian with a question and maybe some aggravation of her own, but she left Andy with Jonah and followed Ian into the pantry willingly enough.
“What’s the matter, Ian? Did something happen?” she asked, looking up at him earnestly. With the two of them standing together so close and in the dark of the pantry, the first instinct Ian had was to kiss her, but he shoved that into the back of his mind in favor of the topic on hand.
“I’m just wondering what you’re doing, is all,” he answered, looking at her closely in the semi-dark.
“I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing,” she answered—a little defensively, he thought, if he was reading the inflection of her voice right.
“You were supposed to have more product to take to the bakery this afternoon, Katie. You know that. I thought you were really going to do this. I thought you were going to give it a legitimate chance.”
He didn’t mean to sound so scolding, almost like a disapproving parent. It made him cringe a little, although not enough to backpedal. He kept his eyes steady, kept them trained on Katie’s face, and made sure not to flinch when he saw her expression darken.
“Okay, you’re right, I was supposed to do some more baking, and I’m sorry I forgot about that. But before I agreed to make anything for the bakery, I made a promise to Andy that I would help him win his Strawberry Festival cooking competition. Remember that?” she asked defiantly.
“Sure, Katie, I remember. But—”
“But nothing,” she insisted hotly. “That promise is more important than any baked goods I might sell. You must see that. You do, don’t you?” Her words made him feel like an asshole, but they also made him angry in return. Every time he thought he had her in a place where she might take herself seriously and put herself first, she said something like this. To make it worse, this time she was using his kid as a screen.
“Don’t do that, Katie,” he said, his voice full of warning, “don’t put this on Andy.”
“I’m not!” she said, clearly hurt and on her way to legitimately pissed off, “You know what? Fine. You’re right. I said I would do it and I will. I’ll do both. I’ll finish up with the practice, take Andy to his playdate, and then make the rest of the baked goods. I’ll do it all, just like I always do. I’ll get everything done for everyone. Happy?”
“See, I still don’t think you’re getting it, Katie. I don’t want you to do it for everyone. I want you to do it for yourself. Otherwise, there’s no point.”
“But I didn’t agree to do it for me, Ian, I agreed to do it because that’s what you wanted. You were the one spearheading this from the beginning. You have to know that, right?”
“So you think helping with a kids’ cooking competition is the way to go? You think that’s what’s going to move your life forward?”
“I don’t know, but it’s not going to move it backwards! What’s wrong with trying to do something nice?”
“When are you going to stop treating life like a game show, Katie?” Ian asked, his voice full of
poison he didn’t even recognize. “You live like you’re in a fucking popularity contest. Don’t you ever get sick of that shit?”
Ian knew as soon as the words were out of his mouth that he had gone too far. The look on her face made his chest hurt, and he reached for her to bring her in for a hug. She swatted his arm away, sidestepping him effortlessly despite her heels. He opened his mouth to tell her that’s not what he meant, to tell her he was a prick, but she turned and stormed out of the pantry before he had the chance. He couldn’t follow her without making matters worse, so instead, he hung out in the pantry feeling like a total fool.
16
It took a good while for Katie to calm down after the confrontation in Ian’s pantry. She seethed all through the rest of her practice with Andy for the Strawberry Fest, careful to put on a show of being just as happy as she’d been before Ian had turned up. The joy of it was gone for the moment, though, and she was relieved to drop Andy off with Evan’s mom so that she could get to work on the stupid baked goods she still needed to deliver.
It wasn’t until she started baking that she started to calm down. There was something about the precision of cooking that always soothed her, and ever since coming to the Grant Ranch, she had been able to go back to cooking the kind of food she loved. She was working on a new recipe, too, which always gave her a thrill. Watching the way things came together to form something both delicious and healthy was the only thing that ever made her feel totally like herself, and she stopped to take some photos during the baking process. Not that she would ever really post these pictures. They didn’t have any of the professional lighting or editing for color and contrast that she was used to using for her Instagram photos. Plus, she was in the pictures—and she had started to look less and less like her former social media self while staying at the ranch. She had started eschewing her customary little dresses and heels for jeans and flats now that she was a nanny and typical home cook. It was totally different than her previously-established cute and fun professional image, and she put her phone aside without sending her photos out into the world.
Normally, the baking and picture-taking alone would be enough to put her mood fully back to rights. This time, though, she was still annoyed, even after pulling her last tray of goodies out of the oven and wrapping them up to take to the bakery. She was annoyed, in fact, all the way up to the entrance of the bakery. The owner, a woman named Connie who had been longtime friends with Ian and Lonnie, grinned.
“Oh my God!” she exclaimed, dropping her broom and clasping her hands to her face, “It’s my hero!”
“Oh, goodness,” Katie laughed, balancing her trays of food precariously until they were safely on the counter, “that’s just about the best welcome I’ve ever gotten, but I’m pretty sure I don’t deserve it.”
“Are you kidding me, sugar? You deserve all of that and more! Please tell me Ian told you.”
“No,” Katie answered slowly, turning over the brief, heated conversation in the pantry for some sign of what Connie could be talking about, “I don’t think so.”
“Oh, that rascal,” Connie groaned comically. “What he was supposed to tell you was that we’ve decided to make you an offer. It’s an offer we’re hoping you can’t refuse, too,” she said, laughing at her movie reference. Katie laughed right along with her, but she was utterly confused. What kind of offer was Connie talking about? She was a little afraid to find out.
“What’s the offer?” she asked.
“Well, I’ll tell you, sweetheart, our business has been better with your goods than with anything else we’ve tried. We just don’t want to go back. So would you want to take care of the baking for us from now on? There’s all of this space here, and most of it is never used.”
“Really?” she asked, completely taken aback. “How come?”
“Well, the shop’s previous owner served full meals, so they built this place with a full commercial kitchen. We’ve never wanted to do anything like that, so the kitchen doesn’t get nearly the use it deserves. The whole space would be for you and your fantastic creations.”
“Oh, wow,” Katie stammered, “that’s a really amazing offer.”
“I’m glad you think so,” Connie answered giddily, “we don’t need a decision today, but I want you to think about it seriously. I know this place probably isn’t where you expected to land, but it could be a good life. There’re some people who would love it if you stay, and I think you know who I mean.”
Katie nodded, thanked Connie again, and headed back to her car. She wasn’t pissed anymore, and that was something to be grateful for. She wasn’t the kind of girl to hold a grudge, and being angry for a prolonged amount of time made her feel beyond uncomfortable.
“But what am I going to do?” she asked herself, utterly bemused. Because sticking around and putting down roots in Canyon was the last thing she had ever considered. Now that the option had presented itself, however, it didn’t sound like the worst idea in the world. Now she had a viable option to keep her here, and it was one where she actually got to deal with people. Not only that, but she would be able to gauge her success based off of real people and their taste buds rather than off of some random number of clicks or likes. It was terrifying, but it was also kind of amazing. Telling Connie that she would consider the opportunity had been a way to get out of the conversation, but now that she was sitting in her car, she found herself considering it very carefully.
17
“Daddy, I don’t want to go to bed without Katie, okay? I wanna wait. Read more Harry Potter, all right?”
“I wish we could, buddy, but it’s important to get enough sleep. It’s part of what helps you grow big and strong.”
Andy poked his lip out and crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking at Ian like he was willing to duke it out all night long if that was what it took. It might have pissed some parents off, but Ian was just glad to see his son stepping up and putting his foot down. He hadn’t done anything like that since before Lonnie died, and Ian was happy to see him caring so much about something, and someone, again. As long as he didn’t think too long about Katie’s leaving. That was something he was dreading Andy bringing up.
“Daddy, she’ll be home really soon, I bet! I can just wait!”
“I know you want to, but it’s time to go to bed. You’ll go to sleep and before you know it it’ll be morning, and she’ll be here to take you to school, and then after school, you guys can keep practicing for the competition.”
“Fine,” Andy frowned, uncrossing his arms and pulling his covers up to his chin. He was trying to hold onto his stance as hard as he could, but it was a losing battle. Even while Ian watched, Andy’s eyes drooped, sliding shut another fraction every second. Ian leaned forward, kissed him first on the forehead and then on the top of the head.
“Love you, buddy,” he said softly, “love you and proud of everything you’re doing.”
“Love you too, Daddy,” Andy mumbled, rolling onto his side and sighing happily. Ian tiptoed across the room, wincing when the floorboards creaked, and stood in the doorway watching for a minute while his son slept. After Lonnie died, he had disengaged from everything in his life, including his boy. He’d acted in the interest of self-preservation, and from that perspective, it had worked—he’d been able to keep going. But he’d missed out on a whole hell of a lot in the process. Now that he was starting to wake up to his life again, he wanted more nights like this. He thought he was going to get them, too, and he had Katie to thank.
Ian sat back on his couch with a beer in his hand and a smile on his face. Katie would be back from whatever errand she was on soon, and he had some ideas for how the two of them might spend their adults-only time. Having Katie around was turning out to be the best thing to happen to him since Lonnie’s passing.
It wasn’t that Katie had replaced Lonnie, not by any stretch of the imagination. Lonnie would always be the first girl he loved, the rock he had built his life upon. Katie was different; she
challenged him, made him look at things in life a little differently even when he didn’t want to. It was exciting, when he got right down to it. It put the extra pep in his step, something he might just tell her when she walked through the front door and saved him from bad TV.
“Christ, Carol, don’t you ever watch anything else?” he muttered to himself, shaking his head and sipping his brew. He hadn’t even known that Carol had come over that day, but the entertainment station queued up on the TV told him that she had been. He was about to change the station when Katie’s face appeared in a full-screen picture.
“In other news,” the blonde anchor said happily, “Katie Rylie has once again popped up on our collective radar. This time, however, she seems to be taking a new approach to things, doesn’t she?”
“That’s right,” her co-anchor agreed, “as you can see in this picture, gone are her bright lipsticks and designer clothing.”
“Exactly. What we see here is a much more natural-looking version of Ms. Rylie, and one might say a happier version, as well. It makes you wonder, what’s changed in her life to make her make so many changes? Could it have anything to do with her big move down to Texas?”
Ian shut off the television, looked down at the remote, and heaved it across the room. After everything, there she was, doing the same things that had gotten her into trouble in the first place. He’d tried to help her get rid of her toxic past, and not only had she blown off other options, she’d risked putting his kid in the limelight to boot.
For the first time since her past life imploded, Katie felt genuinely happy. In truth, even before her cookbook and Instagram account and all the rest of it had blown up in her face, she hadn’t felt anything like this. It was such a simple thing, having a place to bake to call her own, but it was also the most perfect thing she could imagine. For someone who loved to reach people and make them feel better, nothing in the world made more sense than feeding people directly. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought about it earlier.