Her phone rang and her heart nearly stopped.
It was Gigi calling to ask about tonight’s plan. “You sound nervous, honey,” she said. “How about if we go to the spa at the Four Seasons and get massages and get our hair done? Liam can spare you for the rest of the afternoon, can’t he?”
Longer than that, apparently.
Jane’s heart ached.
“I called and they have appointments available,” Gigi continued. “But I need to call them right back.”
When Jane didn’t immediately answer, Gigi added, “My treat, of course. To celebrate your nomination.”
“Gigi, it’s so sweet of you to offer, but all I want right now is a long, hot bath and a quick nap. I’ll see you and Charles at the table tonight.”
“Are you sure?” Gigi sounded disappointed and Jane hated that, but she knew Gigi too well. If they got together, Gigi would sense something was wrong and would pepper her with questions.
“I’m sure. I’ll take a rain check, though.” Jane infused as much happiness into her voice as she could muster. “We’ll make a day of it when we get back to Savannah.”
Four hours later, Jane was sitting at the table in the Marriott ballroom with Gigi and Charles, but no Liam.
Jane made an excuse for him during the salad course, but when the wait staff began clearing the entrée plates and serving coffee and after-dinner drinks, Gigi glanced at her watch.
“Should we call him? The ceremony starts in ten minutes. His steak is cold.” She had been guarding his plate like she was secret service on special detail, glancing around the room every couple of minutes, as if she expected to see him.
“Is everything all right, honey?” Gigi asked after Charles had excused himself to say hello to someone at a nearby table.
“Of course.” Jane forced her best smile.
“I thought you and Liam had been getting...closer?”
Jane pulled a face.
“I mean you two have been spending a lot of time together.”
“Gigi, we have been working hard to reopen Wila. That had required a lot of togetherness.”
“I sensed that there was more between you.”
By the grace of God, the room lights dimmed and a spotlight directed everyone’s attention to center stage.
Charles took his seat and Jane officially gave up on Liam.
Her earlier remorse had dissolved into a slow, boiling anger. This award wasn’t just about her. It was about Wila, too. It brought recognition to the restaurant. If not for her, he should at least be here for Charles. It wasn’t as if they were going to hash things out at the table in front of Gigi and Charles. If he didn’t know her well enough by now to know that she wouldn’t cause a scene, then he obviously didn’t know her at all. Maybe she had overstepped by calling his father and setting up the surprise meeting, but Liam was overreacting.
The emcee had taken the stage when Liam slipped into the empty seat next to Jane.
“Sorry I’m late. Something came up at the restaurant.”
The time wasn’t conducive for talking. Otherwise they would’ve had to talk over the speaker and that would’ve been rude. But Liam wasn’t even looking at her. That was fine. At least he was there.
A half hour later, when they announced Jane as the Rising Star Pastry Chef of the Southeast, Liam clapped and congratulated her with a sound pat on the back, but the same walls and air of disconnect that she’d experienced with him when he’d fired her were firmly in place. While Gigi and Charles hugged her as she stood to walk to the podium, Liam seemed to sink deeper into his seat, arms crossed over his chest, his face unreadable.
He wasn’t just in boss mode, it felt as if she didn’t even know this remote man sitting next to her.
Well, screw him.
At least he wouldn’t get the chance to fire her this time...not from the kitchen, anyway... But it felt like he’d already let her go from his life.
Tears stung her eyes as she made her way to the front of the ballroom. Oh, God, she hadn’t even written an acceptance speech. It’s not that she hadn’t had faith in herself. She’d been too busy worrying about him—about how she was going to make amends for what she’d done.
This was a big deal. Her peers were recognizing her talents.
Liam was right about one thing; this weekend was about her. Or at least this moment was. He may have decided to withhold his love, but she wasn’t going to let him take this moment away from her.
She knew exactly how to fix that.
She climbed the stairs onto the stage and lowered her head to accept the medal that was hanging from a red, white and blue striped grosgrain ribbon. As she stepped up to the podium, she took a moment to look at the silver medallion hanging around her neck. The metal was cold in her shaking hand. An etching of Oscar Hurd’s face smiled back at her—but he was upside down.
Right now, everything felt upside down.
“Wow,” she said into the microphone. “This is such an honor.”
First, she thanked the Oscar Hurd powers for recognizing her and bestowing the honor. Then she thanked Gigi and Charles for their love and encouragement before shifting the focus to where it counted.
“I wouldn’t be standing here if not for the guidance of Liam Wright.”
She paused so everyone could applaud.
“He trusted me enough to give me my first job as an executive pastry chef at La Bula. Then our paths crossed again at Wila in Savannah.
“Liam is the consummate professional. Not only did he teach me the importance of teamwork, because it really does take a village to make a restaurant successful. He has shown me that if you’re going to get anywhere in life, you can’t be afraid to go for what you want. Sure, you might make mistakes. You won’t get anywhere if you’re afraid to try because you’re too afraid of getting it wrong. Because no one is perfect. It’s by learning through our mistakes that you can soar to new heights...
“Liam, here’s to only new mistakes.”
Chapter Nine
Liam stayed in New York for the week following the Oscar Hurd awards. The night of the ceremony, La Bula’s chef du cuisine had walked out fifteen minutes before they opened the doors for dinner. That’s why he’d been late to the awards dinner. He should’ve texted Jane to let her know why, but he’d been furious over her betrayal. Because that’s what ambushing him and expecting him to make up with his dad on the spot like that had amounted to. A betrayal.
Even so, after too many sleepless nights, he’d called his dad and apologized for acting the way he had. To his surprise, his old man had been cordial. Or at least willing to listen. Because after Liam had thought about it, despite his dad’s transgressions of the past, the guy had schlepped all the way to midtown to begin the process of healing their relationship. He’d explained to his father the element of surprise coupled with the impending La Bula crisis made him lose his cool.
Hearing the words coming out of his own mouth had made him realize he was more like his old man than he cared to admit. It had also underscored how hard it was to maintain relationships when you’re married to your restaurant. When a crisis happened, everything else took a back seat. Every day seemed to be a new crisis of one kind or another, which was exactly why Charles wanted to lighten his load and live a little before it was too late.
Even so, Charles had agreed to oversee things at the restaurant while Liam was in New York mending things at La Bula. By this point, Liam knew he had to trust his team.
Trust.
He had a hard time with trust. Jane had pointed that out after the awards ceremony. Only, she’d called it trust issues. What did she expect when she’d interfered in the situation with his dad? After the dinner, she’d apologized, but before she’d turned around and walked away, she’d said that she thought there was more to his reaction than simply being put off by the element of surprise
.
“Clearly, I overstepped and I’m sorry for that,” she’d said. “But I think there is more going on here.”
“More?”
“I don’t want to turn this into something that’s all about me. But I think this has something to do with where our relationship is going as much as it has to do with the issues between you and your father. Since we’ve been back in New York, I sort of feel like I’m your secret, Liam.”
“What are you talking about?”
He’d known exactly what she’d been talking about.
He wasn’t by any means embarrassed to be seen with her—on the contrary. He certainly wasn’t an A-list celebrity, but his dating life had been tabloid fodder. If someone had gotten a picture of them, the paparazzi would be all over it and people with cell phone cameras and social media accounts could be downright mean. He hadn’t wanted to put her through that. Savannah was a different story. It was her turf and the chances of someone recognizing him out of context—well, before Wila reopened and word got out that he was involved—it wasn’t as likely as in New York.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” she’d said. “It was cozy living in our bubble, but...”
She’d pulled a face that was regret mixed with hopelessness.
He hadn’t known what to say.
She hadn’t given him a chance. “I’m starting to put it all together. Until you make amends with your dad and forgive him for however he wronged you—until you work through this injury you’re nursing—I don’t know that you’re going to be able to sustain a relationship with anyone.”
Her words had felt like a well-aimed arrow. No one he’d dated in the past had cut to the heart of the matter like she had. With the others, they’d enjoyed themselves and then when it was time to move on...they’d moved on.
This felt different. Jane felt different. Maybe that’s why he’d been so hesitant to go public in New York. Or maybe things had just run their natural course and it was time to move on. This was why he dated people outside his industry.
“You’re probably right,” he’d said. She did love being right. Even when she was wrong. Because obviously she couldn’t see how very wrong he was for her. “Maybe we need to give ourselves some space to think about things.”
She’d shaken her head. The look on her face had broken his heart.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” she’d said. “Goodbye, Liam.”
The only problem was, even after a week away from her, his heart hadn’t been as willing to let go. It had been a long time since a woman had stayed in his system like this when he should’ve been well into moving on with his life.
But all he could think about was her.
That’s why he was nervous about going to Jane and Gigi’s birthday party. But he was back in Savannah and Charles had asked him if he was coming.
His stomach tightened at the thought of seeing her.
It would be the first time they’d talked since New York. He did need to know if she was still willing to supply the desserts for Wila. With all the turmoil, he hadn’t been able to look for a new executive pastry chef. She was a businesswoman. He knew her well enough to know that she wouldn’t want to lose this opportunity.
But he needed to know for sure, because on the off chance that she’d changed her mind, he needed to interview other candidates. That was a task he didn’t relish. He couldn’t settle for anyone who was less than the very best.
Jane was the very best.
Yet he was letting her get away. But that’s the way it had to be right now. He was being pulled in too many different directions to add a relationship into the mix. If he was married to La Bula, Wila was his mistress, which meant there wasn’t much of him left for Jane.
She deserved so much more than leftovers.
He’d walked the half mile from his apartment to the Forsyth, carrying two bouquets of flowers and a bottle of champagne. Because what did you get an octogenarian who seemed to have everything?
And how did you break the ice with the woman you could love when you’d already shattered your chances with her?
When he turned the corner from Gordon Street onto Whitaker, he’d expected to see cars lined up on both sides of Whitaker and spilling onto the side streets, but there wasn’t an excessive number of vehicles.
As he got closer to the inn, he recognized Charles’s Cadillac, Ellie’s white car and Daniel’s truck parked near the Forsyth, among a handful of others that might have belonged to guests invited to the party. But he’d expected there to be more.
He stopped and pulled his phone from his pocket and glanced at the time, wondering if he was early. He wasn’t. In fact, he was right on time. Maybe the others were late. Because the way Gigi had talked about the party when she’d announced it at the brunch he’d attended a couple of weeks ago, this was going to be a shindig. That was good, because it would allow him to wish the birthday girls well, have a drink with Jane where he could talk business, and then leave without it being obvious that he was cutting out early.
When he got into the lobby, he could see that the dining room was decorated with balloons and streamers and the table was set for a formal dinner.
A knot of people he didn’t recognize was clustered at the side of the room. The next person he saw was Jane.
His heart stopped for the span of two beats.
And then she smiled at him.
“You’re here,” she said as she walked toward him. “I was afraid you wouldn’t come.”
“I wouldn’t miss it.” He suddenly realized he could breathe again. He remembered how she hadn’t held a grudge and had made such an effort to put the past behind them when he’d first arrived in Savannah. She was that warm now, too. “Happy birthday.”
She smiled at him, but her eyes looked sad. He wondered if he’d made a mistake coming tonight.
“Is this a dinner?” he asked, gesturing toward the table. “Or is it more of an open house?”
“It’s a dinner. Just close friends and family.”
“I didn’t realize that,” he said. “I’m honored to have been included.”
He waited for her to smirk or scoff or do something to indicate the only reason he was there was that he was Charles’s business partner, but she didn’t. She led him into the dining room, where she took the flowers and champagne from him and set them on a small table that held other gifts.
Ellie hugged him hello and had just put a glass of wine into his hand when Gigi walked over.
“Liam, you handsome boy, you.” She pulled him into a hug. “I’m so glad you could come and help this old lady and her granddaughter celebrate their birthdays. Charles tells me you just got back from New York today. Did you hire a new chef? Sounds like it was quite the emergency.”
And just like that, Liam was swept back into the warm embrace of Jane’s family. He didn’t know what Jane had told them—if she’d told them anything about what had transpired in New York. If she hadn’t, Gigi and Charles had surely sensed the tension at the awards ceremony. Sure, there’d been an emergency at La Bula, but he’d acted like a jackass. Still, they weren’t reminding him of it. They weren’t holding it against him. They were making him feel like family.
They were the family he’d always wanted.
Charles greeted him and was explaining that Gigi and the girls had self-catered the party—“They’ve been cooking all week. All we had to do was hire the servers. That’s one of the perks of being a food family—” when he was pulled away and Liam finally found himself alone with Jane.
“How have you been?” Liam asked.
“Terrible,” she said. “I owe you an apology for putting you on the spot like I did, Liam. I was just trying to help you connect with your dad because family is so important to me. I just... I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he said. “Actually, I c
alled my dad a couple of days ago.”
Jane gasped and her eyes brightened.
“Don’t get too excited. This will be a slow process. We’re going to have dinner when I’m there next month. So...” He shrugged. “We’ll see.”
“Will you keep me posted?”
Her words were a punch in the gut. She’d delivered them perfectly fine. Friend-to-friend. They felt like a handshake in lieu of a hug. Because her asking for him to keep her posted meant she didn’t expect to be in the know, in his intimate inner circle where personal details were shared like a cup of sugar. But wasn’t that the way he wanted it?
“Sure,” he said. “And you know, we need to talk because I need you—er—I, uh... Wila needs you.” He cleared his throat. “I need to know if you’re still interested in preparing the desserts for Wila.”
Her face went white a split second before she flushed.
He’d just said he needed her. Ugh. Nice choice of words, idiot.
But it was true. He needed her help. Help with desserts at Wila. And, in a different world, a different time and space and situation, he would’ve needed her. Her smart mouth, her stubborn streak, the way she could always make everything that was wrong feel right...
Her. He would’ve needed her.
His body and his heart tried to convince him that he did need her. But his brain reinforced the only way he could have her was if she supplied desserts to Wila.
“I need to... I, uh... Have you given any thought to what we talked about in New York? Whether you want to do that?”
A few beats passed between them. Finally, she said, “You need me, huh?” The corners of her lips barely tilted up as she shook her head. “That arrangement might work, but we will need to set some ground rules. First, I’ll need for you to cut me some slack. I’ll be making my desserts now. You won’t be my boss. So, if you’re interested in what I have to offer, I think we can work out something. But that’s the only way you can have me, Liam.”
Southern Charm & Second Chances Page 16