“I wish I remembered growing up here.”
“We had a good time. Speaking of.” Evie watched as Zach reached into the back seat and pulled his wool-lined jacket on over his blazer. He knew how sexy he looked so Evie resisted the urge to tell him, but maybe she could snap a picture on her phone, for the sake of new memories, of course.
“We don’t have to go into the kitchen, but Britnay Lim is our head chef and her girlfriend, Delfi Hernandez, is our guest services manager. I think they’re both still here right now. They were like your best friends in high school. I know they’d love to see you.”
“Oh.” It had crossed her mind, but she hadn’t given a ton of thought to what might happen if she ran into old friends, mostly because she thought she’d be confined to the high fences of Pleasant Lane during her extended stay. As she thought about it though, it might be nice to meet some new people. If they were cool with retrograde amnesia.
“Do you want to see them?”
“Do they know?” Evie’s hand absently rose to her bandage. “About all of this.”
“Well, Britnay checks your Instagram, so she knows you had an accident, but they don’t know about the memory loss.”
Nicole was trying to keep her condition under wraps, so maybe they didn’t have to know. “How long has it been since I’ve seen them?”
“Ten years, I think. They were at Nana Buck’s funeral, but you maybe have talked to them since.”
“If your friend just got out of the hospital you wouldn’t press them for details, right?”
“Nah, not at all. What are you thinking?”
“That maybe we go in and say hello and we don’t have to tell them.”
“Not a bad idea. Britnay is half Chinese and Delfi’s Latina. That should help you tell them apart.”
“Okay, got it. Britnay, chef. Delfi, guest services. Got it.”
“We’ll go in and say hi and then I’ll introduce you to the most important person in my life.”
“Who?”
“My horse.”
“Wait—”
“Come on, Euca.” Zach let out two short whistles and sure enough the large brown-and-white dog jumped out of the back of the truck, trotting after them as Zach took Evie’s hand and led her around the front of the building. As they came around the corner, Evie spotted a sign welcoming guests to Big Rock Lodge. Just beyond that was a sign pointing toward the Sunrise Spa and another pointing in the direction of the Mercantile.
Zach opened one side of the massive double doors that led into the building and ushered Evie inside with a hand on the small of her back. Euca skipped right inside with them. There was a lot to take in in the large foyer. A fireplace, taller than Evie, stood along the far wall, surrounded by large leather chairs. Evie’s eyes were drawn up to the elaborate profile of the mountain carved into the stone above the mantel. Beautiful golden light came from large globed fixtures that hung from the high ceiling every few yards. Zach stood with her while she took it all in. The space was somehow expansive, yet cozy.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“It’s beautiful. Jesse told me about it, but he was giving me stats about square footage and how many employees the grounds required.” She turned and found herself smiling up at Zach. “How many tons of food the animals eat each year. But he didn’t say anything about all of this.”
“And this is just the lobby.”
“I saw pictures of the lobby, but still.”
“Come on.” They walked over to the reception desk, where a young woman with light brown skin and shiny black hair pulled back in a tight bun stood behind a computer monitor. She was wearing a well-tailored blue, white, and green plaid button-down top. She greeted them before Evie got close enough to read her name tag.
“Good evening, Mr. Pleasant. Miss.”
“Iris, this is Yvonne. She’s a good friend of our family.”
“Lovely to meet you, Yvonne. Welcome to Big Rock Ranch.”
“Likewise. Happy to be here,” Evie said.
“Anything crazy happen in the last thirty minutes?” Zach asked.
Iris laughed. “No. Had a brief conversation with a Mr. Canover about how firm we were on the no-smoking rules, but he was a very good sport about it. Said he’d smoke the rest of his pack at the airport. He’s staying over in Sparrow.”
“Ask Ed to do an extra pass, just to be sure. I met Mr. Canover this morning. Good sport, not much on rules though. ”
“Will do.”
“Thanks. Just gonna show Yvonne around. We’re gonna head back to the dining room.” He pointed to the floor. “Euca is down here.”
The woman’s professional exterior immediately dropped. “Oh, I love Euca!” She looked over the counter. “Hey, girl. She can hang out back here.”
Iris walked around the reception desk and disappeared through what seemed to be a hidden door in the hall. There was a wooden sign hanging just above that said STAFF. She patted her thigh and Euca went right to her, nearly knocking Iris over as she tried to lick her face.
“I missed you too. Don’t worry, Mr. Pleasant. I’ll keep her company.”
“Thanks. We’ll be right back.”
“Nice to meet you,” Evie said, waving with her free hand. Her other hand was suddenly intertwined with Zach’s. Iris had her hands full with Euca, but she didn’t miss the close contact between Evie and Zach. Evie hoped Zach was okay with the ranch staff knowing that maybe they were more than just friends. Clearly, he didn’t care. They walked into the kitchen, where a few employees were still finishing their side work. Zach didn’t introduce Evie, but hellos were exchanged and he held on to her hand the whole time.
They went down another short hallway and stopped at a door with a plaque that read EXECUTIVE CHEF BRITNAY LAM. Zach knocked on the door.
“Brit? It’s Zach.”
“Yep.”
Zach cracked open the door, then turned to Evie and said, “One sec.” He stepped into the room and pulled the door closed behind him, but Evie could still hear what he said next.
“Evie’s with me, but no screaming or grabbing. She’s still on the injured list.”
“What?” Evie heard next.
“What did I just say?”
“We got it. Keep it down and don’t be grabby. Move the fuck out of the way.”
The door swung open and a beautiful, plump Asian woman in a chef’s coat stared up at her, hands on her hips. Behind her was a woman in a black blazer and matching pants. Evie could see the blue, green, and white plaid blouse and the name tags she was wearing. Her dyed red hair was in a long braid over her shoulder.
“Oh my fucking God,” Britnay said in a dramatic whisper. She reached forward and just barely touched Evie’s hand with her finger tip.
“Can I hug her or will she break?” Britnay asked.
“Hey, I’m just—”
“Shut up, Pleasant. No one was talking to you.” Britnay stepped forward and gave Evie a very gentle hug. Delfi was right behind her, pulling her into a tighter embrace. Tears lined her eyes when she pulled back.
“Buck. It’s so good to see you.”
“Good to see you too,” Evie said honestly.
“I like the glasses,” Brit said.
“Yeah, me too. Seriously, only you look this good straight out of the hospital. What the hell happened?” Delfi asked.
“Ultra-high heels and a dark staircase,” Evie said so easily she almost believed herself.
“Yeeeesh. Well, I’m glad you came home. I can’t imagine you can get shit worth of R and R in New York City. It’s so tight and noisy,” Britnay said.
“I see the appeal,” Delfi said. “There’s not much to do here. At least in New York there’s stuff to do.”
“LA is a short drive away.”
“Not the same.”
Evie felt herself smiling as the two rolled their eyes at each other.
“It’s definitely different,” she said.
“How long are you in town?”
Britnay asked.
She glanced at Zach. “Uh, not sure yet. Just trying to heal up and rest. We’ll see.”
“Don’t you have to get back for the show?” Britnay asked.
“Man, that’s a sweet gig,” Delfi added. “Heal up quick and go back to those checks.”
“Are we not paying you enough?” Zach said. He placed a hand on his chest with exaggerated offense.
“Why is he acting like I wouldn’t take more money?”
Evie laughed, enjoying their back-and-forth.
“I’m gonna run Evie over to the barns so she can meet Steve before she turns in for the night.”
“Cool, cool. I have a ton of crap to finish up here,” Britnay said. “We’re both off Tuesday and Wednesday. Let’s hang.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“I’ll have her people call your people,” Zach replied.
“Don’t bring him,” Delfi said before she stuck out her tongue at Zach.
“I’ll text you,” Britnay added. They said their goodbyes and left Britnay to her work.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Evie whispered when they were back out in the kitchen.
“Shit, you nailed it,” Zach replied.
She’d had a conversation with old friends and it felt good and normal. She had no clue who they were, but maybe she had old texts. Maybe even pictures or things in her old journals that could help fill in holes on the relationship. If she spent more time with them, she’d tell them the truth. Britnay and Delfi seemed cool and she wanted to see them again. Eventually Vega would leave, and she was sure Lilah and Corie wouldn’t want to babysit her forever. Hanging out with her own friends. Now that was another big step. She made a mental note to text Blaire. She had more to tell her.
Evie looked down the length of the large kitchen and suddenly forgot all about friends and whatever renewed social life might lie before her. She felt Zach as he stepped closer.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” she replied as she looked at his gorgeous face. She glanced back down the open space and saw the last of the kitchen staff turn the corner. “Can I—may I look around just for a sec? I won’t touch anything.”
“I mean, I trust you not to go around spitting on everything. Have a look around.”
Evie let go of his hand and started slowly walking to the far side of the room. It wasn’t anything like Supreme Chef. Aside from the quiet. It felt, again, overwhelmingly huge and yet somehow tight. There was a faint smell of cleaning products. Every shiny, metal surface was sparkling and clean. She looked at the row of gas burners, the massive deep fryer and the flat grill top. Nothing came to her. Not a sound, a scent, a flicker of a memory, but she somehow felt right at home. It would take time, but she would do it. She’d make her way back to a real kitchen.
She turned and saw Zach leaning against the freezer door. Handsome as all get-out and proud of it too. His mustache lifted at the corner as he smiled at her. She turned and walked right back into his arms. She waited for a wave of sadness to hit her as his hand gently moved up and down her back.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I just watched a lot of Supreme Chef today. Thinking about what it was like to work in a real kitchen.”
“You made dinner in a real kitchen today and you had dinner guests.”
“But you know what I mean.”
“I do, I just don’t want you to sell yourself short, Buck. You got this.”
“If I stay, like forever, maybe I can tell Britnay the truth and I can come work for her.”
“She’d love to have you.”
“You called me Buck and I didn’t start crying.”
“See? That’s progress. You wanna meet a horse?”
“Oh my God. More than anything,” she teased. “Let’s go.”
* * *
For some reason she expected the barn to be dark. After a quick conversation with Oliver, one of the three night guards who patrolled this portion of the property, he opened the door for her and Zach and they slipped inside. The space was dimly lit, but light enough for Evie to see. A few seconds later though, the lighting design was the last thing on Evie’s mind.
She had no idea what she expected a barn to smell like, but this wasn’t it. She couldn’t describe it. It was a weird smell that made her nose twinge and made her want to inhale to convince her mind that it wasn’t smelling things. It was weird.
“Come on. Steve’s down here.”
They walked down the center of the dirt-covered floor and stopped at a stall about halfway down. Some of the horses poked their heads up to inspect their nighttime visitors. A few horses greeted them with their backsides. Another weird thing Evie remembered from her dream.
“They’re all awake.”
“Yeah, horses don’t sleep that much. They just rock and roll all night and party most of the day. Hey, boy,” he said softly, then made an odd clicking noise. The large head of a beautiful gray horse with black patches that almost looked smudged popped his head over the stall door. Zach dropped Evie’s hand and started stroking the animal’s big jaw.
“Evie, this is Steve. Steve, Evie met you once, but she doesn’t remember you, but that’s alright. Isn’t it, buddy?”
The horse moved his head to the side almost like he was nodding. Evie almost didn’t believe it.
“Can I pet him?”
“Sure you can. Here.” Zach took her hand and guided it up to the same spot he’d just been stroking.
“Hi, Steve.” She copied Zach’s gentle tone. “You’re softer than I imagined.”
“Gotta stay fresh for the ladies,” Zach said. “Give me your hand. Evie turned back to him and let him arrange her hand chest high, with her fingers together and her palm flat. He pulled a carrot out of his pocket, broke it in half, and placed the smaller pieces in her upturned palm. “Hold your hand just like that.”
Sure enough, Steve took the carrot right out of Evie’s hand, his lips tickling her palm. “Oh, that’s weird.” She giggled as Steve pulled back to chew his treat.
Zach pulled a few more carrots out of his bottomless pockets and they took turns feeding the horse his treats.
“Do you ride him during the exhibition?” Evie asked.
“You bet your boots I do.” It was Evie’s turn to roll her eyes. “Had him about twelve years. Before that I had a horse named Flex. Won all those trophies with that beast. God, he was the best.” Zach let out a little laugh. “You hated him.”
“Why?”
“You know that scar on your forearm?”
“Yeah, I was wondering about that.”
“That was you thinking you should ride Flex out to the ravine. He threw you and you broke the hell out of your arm. I got in so much trouble.”
“Good,” Evie said with her own chuckle. “That scar is not small. It must have hurt like hell.”
“When you were high on painkillers, you told me you loved me for the first time. You said we had to get married because it’s what the baby Jesus would have wanted and I didn’t want to disappoint the baby Jesus.”
“Sounds like I was on some good drugs. How old was I?”
“Fifteen.” Evie did the mental math and made note of the year. She’d have to go back and check her journals. “I feel like you owe me another apology.”
“Oh, I’ll apology you good.” He leaned down and kissed her softly on the mouth. When he pulled back, she was surprised her glasses weren’t steamed up. He flashed her that cocky smile, claiming his job well done without saying a word.
“Come down here. Meet Sam’s horse, Majesty.”
Majesty was a gorgeous all-black horse with a beautiful black mane, but she didn’t seem to give a shit about their visit or the fact that Zach had apples.
“Fine, then more for Steve.”
Majesty stomped her hooves and blew a breath out of her nose as if she was telling them to fuck off. A sudden wave of fatigue hit Evie. Maybe it was the quiet of the barn or maybe she’d pushed herself too far, socializing and ta
lking to horses. She tried to cover a yawn, but Zach caught it.
“Let’s get you home.” They stopped once more at Steve’s stall and gave him the apples. Evie watched as Zach literally kissed the horse on its face. “Night, bud.” If it was possible, Evie was sure Steve would have said goodnight back.
When Zach stepped away, Evie pulled out her phone and snapped a quick picture of Steve. She sent it to Blaire. No barn sex, but I met a great horse named Steve.
Chapter 17
“Why is this so hard?” Evie looked down in the pan as her egg yolk started to spill out of the side of the slowly cooking white. There was nothing over-easy about this. “Darn it, I ruined it. I’ll eat this one.” She reached for the spatula and flipped the egg and finished frying it all the way through.
“I’ll eat it. I shouldn’t have said anything,” Vega said. Evie could hear the regretful wince in Vega’s voice even though her back was to her.
Vega had asked a simple question. Did Evie know how she liked her eggs? Evie had no clue. She’d enjoyed the few ways Miss Leona had shown her how to prepare them, but the next thing she knew, she and Vega were going down an internet rabbit-hole of cooking videos. After they watched a woman cook an egg in the dishwasher, Evie realized it was time to get to work. Almost a dozen eggs later and she was starting to know the true meaning of frustration.
“No, no, you were right. I need to know this. If there are four hundred ways to prepare an egg, I should figure out which is my favorite. And if I ever get back to work, I need to know how to make things the way people want them. I might love a frittata, but I can’t become the frittata champion of the world.”
“I mean, true. Or you can be one of those snooty chefs who sets their menu, and people just take what they give them. Well, snooty chefs and my mother. She can make eggs fifty-eleven ways, but if you catch her cooking before work, its fried or nothing.”
“Well, I have that down.” Evie looked over at the pan on the right burner. It looked like the water was almost ready. “I should have waited for Miss Leona or Lilah. Ugh! That carbonara recipe was like forty-eight steps. This is like two. Acquire egg. Cook it.”
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