Yes, Chef (Sizzle & Burn Book 1)

by Linda Verji

  Marlene stared at him for quite a while before her eyes and voice hardened. “If he lets go, you know what that means, right?”

  Greyson had no idea what it meant but even he could tell that there was some kind of threat beneath the woman’s words. James’ eyes flickered and his body tensed. If Marlene meant for her word to cool his temper, they didn’t. Instead, the older man seemed to get angrier by the second.

  His eyes stormy, he acknowledged, “I know what it means.” He paused briefly before frostily adding, “And I don’t care. My daughter isn’t for sale.”

  Marlene’s mouth tightened, but James returned her icy gaze evenly. Finally, she surrendered. “Fine. If you want it that way, then let’s do it that way.”

  With that ominous threat ringing behind her, she turned and stormed towards Charlie’s table. With a lot of fanfare, she dragged her son to his feet then towed him by hand to the door. This time Greyson stepped aside to let them out – something told him that they were done with Snow. Neither Marlene nor Charlie spared a glance at James or Greyson. Expressions stony, they left Tellers. Hopefully, this time it was for good.

  As soon as Marlene and Charlie gone, James extracted his phone and dialed. He held his phone to his ear, listening to the ringtone before mumbling to himself, “Why isn’t she picking up?”

  Taking a guess that the older man was trying to reach Snow, Greyson reached for his own phone. “Let me try.”

  James watched Greyson as he dialed Snow’s number. The phone rang several times but she didn’t pick up. Worry nipping at him, Greyson mumbled, “She’s not picking up mine either.”

  However, before his worry could balloon into full-blown panic, his phone buzzed indicating the arrival of a message. It was from Snow. She said, ‘Don’t worry about me. I’m okay. I’d just like to be alone tonight.’

  Greyson read the message to himself before turning to her father. “She says she’s okay and that she needs some time alone.”

  “Good. Good.” James nodded, his relief palpable. “She probably needs time to cool off.”

  “Right,” Greyson agreed.

  James’ gaze rose to meet Greyson’s. “I didn’t catch your name.”

  “Greyson.” He stretched out his hand. “Greyson Teller.”

  “Thank you for keeping her from following Snow.” James took Greyson’s hand and pumped it strongly. A second later, the older man canted his head and studied Greyson. “Teller. Teller. Teller…” He tested the name against his tongue as if he was racking through his mind for a lost memory. His eyes lit up. “You’re Snow’s boss, right? You own this place, right?”

  “Yes, I am and I do.” Greyson could have left it at that but something prodded him to confess, “I’m also her boyfriend.”

  His confession seemed to startle the older man. James gave Greyson a keen once-over. “I see.”

  The older man’s expression was too indecipherable for Greyson to guess whether he approved or disapproved of the relationship but before Greyson could prod further, James excused himself. “I need to get my wife out of here.”

  With a final shake of the hands, James strode away leaving Greyson staring after him thoughtfully. That man gave the word ‘enigma’ new meaning.

  CHAPTER 25

  Greyson’s night was plagued by worries about how Snow was doing. Sure, she’d said that she was okay, but he doubted that it was true. After the rough evening she’d had, there was no way she was fine. Out of respect for her request for alone-time he didn’t call or pass by her place after the restaurant closed. However, first thing the next morning, he called her. This time she picked the call.

  As soon as she answered the phone, he asked, “Can I drop by your place to drive you to work?”

  “Sorry,” she said. “I’m not at my place.”

  “You’re not?” It wasn’t even seven a.m. yet which meant she wasn’t at the restaurant either. He frowned. “Where are you?”

  “I slept at a hotel,” Snow explained. Perhaps sensing his surprise, she rushed to add, “My dad and Yvonne kept calling me and I was afraid that they – or Charlie – would drop by announced. I didn’t want to deal with any of them.”

  Ah! That explained it.

  “Greyson?” She paused briefly before saying, “Can I ask a favor?”

  “Ask away.”

  “Is it okay if I skip work today?” She rushed to add, “Just today. I already asked Ed if he was willing to cover for me, and he said he would as long as I give him my day off next week.”

  “If you and Ed have already agreed then it’s okay.” He would’ve asked her why she needed a day off but considering what she’d gone through yesterday, she was due for a break. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I am.” A note in cheeriness creeping into her voice, she added, “I just need to relax a little. I’ll probably take advantage of the spa here. Maybe treat myself to a massage and mud-bath.”

  He chuckled. “I’m still your boss you know. You’re not supposed to tell me how much fun you’ll have skipping work.”

  “Oops! Sorry, Chef.” Snow laughed. “I’m just used to telling you everything.”

  Her laughter and words sent immediate warmth coursing through him. He liked being the man who made her laugh and the one she told her every secret to. Smiling, he asked, “Do you want me to pick you from the hotel when I get off work?”

  “No. I’ll probably be home by then.” Her voice turned coy. “But I wouldn’t mind you passing by my place.”

  His smile widened into a grin. “Whatever my lady wants. I’ll see you at eleven-thirty.”

  Even after the call ended, Greyson’s smile remained in place. Now that he knew she wasn’t crying her eyes out somewhere, he felt more at ease and capable of going about his day without worrying about her. After a quick breakfast, he headed off to the restaurant. Since it was supposed to be his day off anyway, Ed was more hangover than usual but that didn’t affect the quality of food he put out during lunch service.

  About halfway through lunch service, Roman entered the kitchen and sidled up to Greyson. “Dude, your mum is in the restaurant.”

  Greyson’s whole body stiffened as his hand and the knife he was holding paused over the beef-wellington he was about to slice. Struggling to keep his voice even, he asked, “I thought she went back to New York?”

  “She did. And now she’s back.” Roman’s eyes were filled with concern as he added, “She didn’t even tell the older folks that she was in town.”

  “What is she doing here?” Greyson asked as he resumed slicing the meal in front of him.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Roman leaned back against the counter as he studied his cousin. “She came to see you.”

  Greyson didn’t respond to that. But even as he calmly and expertly plated the beef-wellington then sent it out to the dining-room, his mind whirled with questions. Was Lana really in Santa Barbara just to see him? If so, then why? They didn’t have anything to talk about – their last meeting had proved that.

  “Are you coming out to see her?” Roman asked.

  Greyson thought over it for a minute but at the end could only come up with, “I don’t know.”

  Roman studied Greyson for a while before straightening from the counter. “Okay then, I’ll keep her company until you decide what you want to do. If you don’t want to see your mom, send one of the waitresses with a message and I’ll find a way to get her to leave.”

  “Thanks, man.” Greyson started on the next order.

  I should take Roman up on his offer, he thought as he plated and sent out order after order. There was no need to go out to the dining-room because if he did, the meeting with his mother would likely be extremely awkward, and one or both of them would end up walking out. Yes, taking Roman up on his offer to get rid of Lana was the best thing to do.

  Yet an hour later Greyson found himself walking into the dining-room.

  Roman spotted him first and smiled. “Greyson’s here.”

  Lana, who
had her back to Greyson, turned her head in search of him. When her gaze met his, her eyes widened and perceptible nervousness flashed in their blue depths. Her mouth widened in a tentative smile when Greyson came to a stop by their table and she greeted, “Hello.”

  “Hello,” Greyson returned.

  Lana’s smile faltered slightly as she said, “You look well.”

  “Mm.” He grunted because he didn’t know what to say. Hell! Now that he was here he didn’t even know what to do.

  “Ah, I see some guests just walked in.” Roman pushed back his chair and stood up. “You’ll have to excuse me.”

  Greyson was no fool. He knew his cousin was trying to give them privacy. But he didn’t need it – he didn’t want to be alone with his mother. If it wasn’t for his pride, he would’ve begged Roman to stay. When neither Greyson nor Lana offered any protest, Roman beat a hasty retreat, leaving them all alone.

  “Why don’t you have a seat?” Lana offered Greyson the seat opposite her.

  This is my restaurant. Why are you offering me a seat? He wanted to say. Instead, he found himself quietly taking the proffered seat. Now that he was so close to her, he could see that age had caught up to her. Her skin wasn’t as soft and flawless as it had once been and her shoulder-length hair had thinned and lightened to an almost straw-blonde as if preparing to gray. The wrinkles that lined the edges of her eyes and mouth were fine but still visible. But it was the sadness and remorse in her blue eyes as she studied him that held his attention.

  She broke the silence. “I heard that you and Roman own this restaurant together.” Her words rushed out fast as if she was nervous. “You boys have done well for yourselves. This place is really nice and the food is-”

  Greyson cut her off mid-sentence. “What are you doing here?”

  Caught unawares, she blinked once then stared at him. When she finally spoke, her voice was shaky and small. “I just wanted to see you.”

  “After all these years?” He laughed, but there was no amusement to it. “Now you suddenly want to see me?”

  His mother was quiet for a long time then she reached for his hand. “I’m sorry, Tiger.”

  “Don’t call me that,” he gritted, hating the sound of the nickname she used to call him when he was younger. The days of her charming him using endearments were over – she’d ended them. He wanted to pull his hand away from her grip but for some reason couldn’t.

  Lana squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry that it took so long for me to come back for you. Leaving you behind is my biggest regret, the biggest mistake I ever made.”

  “Then why did you do it?” He glared at her.

  “I thought it was the right thing to do at that time.” Her voice shook as she explained, “I wasn’t financially capable of supporting both you and Georgie, and I didn’t want either of you suffering.”

  When she said it that way it made her sound so noble and selfless. But Greyson knew better. The real Lana was selfish as hell. He snatched his hand away from her grasp. “Are you trying to tell me that pretending like I didn’t exist when you remarried was also so that I wouldn’t suffer?”

  “No.” Lana’s eyes lowered to her lap. “That was all for me.”

  Greyson, who was poised to call her out on her bullshit, slumped back in surprise. He didn’t expect his mother to take responsibility for her bad behavior so easily.

  “At first I pretended that I was doing it for you and Georgie. That we needed Henry too much to risk his dumping me because I had a teenage son-” Her breath caught in her throat and she exhaled sharply. “But those were just excuses. I chose to hide you because it was easier for me that way.”

  He should’ve felt triumphant at hearing her confession. After all, these were the same things he’d accused her of – though not quite as eloquently - when they’d had their last fight. Yet all he felt was disappointment. He wanted her to lie to him, come up with a good excuse about why she’d ditched him. That way he’d have an excuse to forgive her.

  “You were right to be angry at me.” She lifted her gaze to his. Tears swimming in the depths of her eyes, she murmured, “This rift between us is my fault. I’m sorry, Grey.”

  Greyson wanted to stay angry at her. But how could he in the face of such genuine remorse? He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as frustration coursed through him. Finally, his gaze met hers again and he mumbled, “You didn’t even call once after we had that fight.”

  “Believe me, I picked up the phone to call you so many times,” she confessed. “But each time I did I remembered the pain in your eyes when you told me to stop calling you. The pain that I’d caused. I didn’t want to put you through that kind of pain ever again, so I did as you asked. Not seeing or speaking to you was torture, but it was no less punishment than I deserved.”

  Greyson wanted to rage at her and tell her that while she was punishing herself, she’d ended up punishing him too. He wanted to tell her that he was an angry, hormonal teenager back then, and she shouldn’t have listened to him. But he didn’t because he knew that he was as guilty as she was.

  All this time, he’d blamed for their lack of contact when it was at the very least partially his fault. He was no longer that angry teenager, yet he’d done nothing to mend the rift between them. Instead, he’d worked to make the crack wider.

  If only he hadn’t assumed that she was a mind-reader who could figure out that his angry words were just that – angry words said in the heat of the moment… If only he’d let her know that he didn’t mean them and wasn’t serious about cutting off contact… If only he’d reached out to her first instead of letting the wound fester year by year… Maybe by now they would’ve resolved their issues. Snow was right; his habit of holding in what he really wanted to say until it was too late was hurting him. He’d caused his own misery.

  Feeling disappointed in himself, Greyson pushed his seat back and stood. “I have to go back to the kitchen.”

  “Oh.” Disappointment creased Lana’s expression but she tried to mask it with a smile. “I completely forgot that you were running a restaurant.”

  Perhaps it was that disappointment that got to him because Greyson found himself asking, “How long will you be in town for?”

  “I was planning to stay for another week or maybe two.” She looked up at him expectantly, as if the length of her stay depended on him.

  “Why don’t you pass by sometime?” He offered, “I’ll make you the Chef’s special.”

  The bright smile that lit up his mother’s face was enough to dispel some of his misery.

  * * * * *

  A DAY OF pampering was exactly what Snow needed. Her father and Yvonne had been calling her incessantly since early this morning but she hadn’t picked up their calls. She couldn’t. Not when she was still reeling from the painful blow they’d dealt her last night. She still couldn’t believe that they were in on the whole thing, that they’d even attended it. She felt hurt and betrayed, and she wasn’t sure she could speak to either one of them without saying something she’d regret later.

  She got home at around five p.m. and distracted herself with the latest season of her favorite cooking show while waiting for Greyson. At precisely eleven-thirty, a knock sounded on her door. A smile on her face, she hurried to the door and threw it open. Her grin widened when saw him standing there, looking as delicious as ever.

  They didn’t need words. With one step, she was in his embrace and his lips were lowering to hers. The fire between them was there as always. It sprang to life when he slanted his mouth over hers and deepened the kiss. She instinctively responded to it, kissing him back and giving as good as she got. When he finally ended the kiss, both of them were breathless.

  He smiled against her lips. “Well, hello to you too.”

  “Hello.” She pressed her lips against his for a brief kiss. “I missed you today.”

  “I missed you too.” One arm still around her waist, he lifted his other arm to show her the white paper bag he
was carrying. Instantly, the smell of seasoned and still-hot fries assailed her senses. He waggled his eyebrows. “Look what I brought you.”

  “A man after my own heart.” Snow smiled as she stepped out of his embrace and reached for the bag. A peek inside revealed the presence of a box of fries and another box containing a burger. “Thank you, Baby.”

  “I figured you’d be hungry.” Greyson skirted past her to enter the apartment. “And I know how you love your junk food.”

  “Potatoes are a vegetable,” she retorted cheekily as she closed the door. Narrowing her eyes, she asked, “This is all for me, right? You’re not expecting us to share it, right?”

  “You greedy little thing,” he teased, his blue eyes dancing with amusement. “Don’t worry, it’s all yours.”

  As it turned out, he was serious about the meal being all for her. Snow had to plead for him to even taste a fry.

  “It’s weird for me to eat alone while you’re there,” she complained as they sat on the carpeted floor.

  He raised his eyebrows. “Then do you want me to leave?”

  “No.”

  Her quick response brought a smile to his lips, and he leaned forward. “Okay, just one.”

  She picked a fry and fed it to him before smiling. “Tastes good, doesn’t it?”

  “Hmm.” He made a face but chewed anyway. Once he was done, he asked, “So what did you do the whole day while you were playing hooky?”

  “Nothing much. Swam a little, got some sun, a massage, window-shopped… Boring stuff.” She shrugged. “To tell the truth, I would rather have been at Tellers.”

  “Then why didn’t you come in?”

  “Cause I was scared.” Smiling sheepishly, she confessed, “I knew everyone would be talking about what happened last night and I didn’t want to be teased.”

  “No one would’ve teased you,” he soothed as he set his arm over her shoulder.

  “You obviously don’t know your employees.” She chuckled. “They’re savages. I should be used to the gossiping by now, but I’m not. And today I was in no mood to deal with it.”