by Natalie Ann
He would have never realized that back then. And now, as an adult, it never crossed his mind, but his mother was right. He was also glad he’d never known that it was her idea for him to take the test over and if he failed, they’d leave that day. The pressure might have been too much for him. There was just so much on the line back then. “What if I’d messed up?”
“You weren’t going to. You’ve got a photographic memory when it comes to anything in the kitchen. I’ve always known that. If you make something once, you remember it. You don’t need your recipes.”
It was true, but he’d had no idea she knew that. “Why didn’t you punish me back then? You’ve got your ways of making us all learn our lessons with your horrific punishments.”
“I didn’t need to punish you. You’ve spent the past several years punishing yourself.”
It wasn’t worth arguing with her. Not when he knew deep down she was right. “Then I guess I owe you everything.”
“You don’t owe me a thing. All I want is for all of you kids to find your passion in life and run with it.”
“That’s all? Nothing else?” he asked, his lips twitching. Not a tall measure at all.
“Well, I wouldn’t mind if you all learned from your mistakes and moved on. Brody was the first. It’s your turn.”
He wanted to ask what Brody learned, but decided not to. His mother kept enough of his secrets that he figured she had everyone’s. “I’m moving on. I guess the first step is talking to Nic.”
“You could do that. Or you could wait for her to come to you.”
“So do you think she was in the wrong?” he asked, finishing his cookie. This whole conversation was making his head spin.
“You’re still my baby. I’ll always think you guys are right. Now go on and wash that stale burnt cookie down with the rest of your milk. Even your father wouldn’t eat them this time.”
He burst out laughing. Yeah, she still found a way to punish him. She was sneaky.
Make Excuses
His laughter was short lived, though, when he finally got to work and noticed that Nic wasn’t there. When he asked where she was, Aimee said she’d called in sick. That no one was in the kitchen and the phone just kept ringing so she ran back and grabbed it.
He didn’t need Aimee’s sympathetic look. He thought Nic was stronger than that. He thought that she’d at least be professional enough to come to work. Even if she was mad at him, he didn’t figure her to be such a coward she’d hide from him. Maybe he was completely wrong about her—and that might be the hardest thing for him to accept out of everything that had happened in the past few days.
“I’d better get her shift covered,” he said.
“It’s taken care of. Ella called someone in when I went up and told her. We didn’t know when you’d be in so she found a replacement for Nic.”
“Thanks,” he said. “Any noises coming from the staff right now?”
“Nope. Not a word. Bill doesn’t come in until tonight and Abby was scheduled off today. Bill isn’t the type to say much anyway, so at the moment, no one is uttering a word. I honestly don’t even think they know what happened.”
He nodded his head. “Guess I’ll go talk to Ella and see what’s going on on that front.”
He made his way up the stairs, stopping in Ella’s doorway. She and Cade were talking and both looked up in surprise. “Am I interrupting anything?”
“No. Come on in. Perfect timing,” Ella said.
“So catch me up. What happened when you called Abby this morning?”
Ella sat back in her chair. “I left her a message. She didn’t answer, but I told her I was concerned and of course wanted to make sure any medical expenses were covered. If she could call and let me know if she went to the hospital or not before she returned to work.”
“But I fired her,” Aiden said, feeling his frustration mounting. He couldn’t believe he was going to be overruled on this.
“I pretended like I didn’t know what happened,” Ella said. “That I didn’t know anything other than the fall. I want to see what her next move is. Sometimes it’s just lip service.”
“That doesn’t mean I want her in my kitchen again. How could you want to keep someone like that employed?” Was Ella losing her mind?
“We won’t,” Cade said. “But we have to see what her next move is before we start making accusations.”
“Abby did text me back about an hour ago. All she said was she didn’t go to the hospital, that it’s nothing more than a bruise. She was feeling fine, and thanks for asking. She obviously didn’t want to talk because she didn’t answer when I tried to call her again”
“So she thinks she’s coming into work tomorrow?” Aiden asked. What was he missing here?
“Let’s see if she does. I’ve got it covered,” Cade said.
“How? Tell me what the plan is,” Aiden said.
“Shut the door first. No one else should hear this.”
***
Later that night, Aiden was just pulling into his garage when he saw headlights come into the driveway. He got out and waited a second, then realized it was Nic.
He didn’t say a word. Just stood in the garage with his arms crossed waiting for her next move. “Can we talk?” she asked, making no attempt to come in.
“If you’re feeling better,” he said. He was being petty, he knew, and didn’t really care.
“Sorry about that. I’ve never called in sick a day in my life.”
She walked forward now and he could see her face. She looked like hell. Her eyes were swollen and her nose was red. “Come on in,” he said, holding the door for her and hitting the button to shut his garage.
“I really didn’t feel good after you left,” she said, following behind him into the kitchen.
“You look like crap,” he said.
“I feel worse. My stomach hurts and I want to throw up. Did I toss what we have away?” she rushed out. There were more tears in her eyes right now.
“What do you think?”
“I don’t know what to think. I’m stupid. I’m so insecure and I shouldn’t have said what I did. I didn’t mean a word of it. I know you would never do what she accused you of. But when you made that funny comment about knowing how to make the cannoli, I just thought…I don’t know what I thought.”
“Why are you so insecure?” he asked. Was his mother right all along?
“That’s such a stupid question, Aiden. Look at my life. My grandfather kindly pointed out to me that I’d been abandoned by my parents. I never wanted to believe it, because I had my grandparents. I had my aunts and uncles. I still had a family. I never wanted sympathy or to be looked at like that. But he was right. And he’s right that it’s affected all the decisions in my life.”
“Meaning what?” he asked. He wasn’t about to assume anything at this point. It seemed like whenever he did that, it bit him in the butt. Pretty soon it was going to be uncomfortable to sit down.
“I don’t want anyone to get close to me. I’m afraid that when it happens and I open myself up, they will just leave. So I put up walls and make excuses. I’ve had time to analyze this all afternoon and I don’t like what I see. What I figured out.”
Damn it, his mother was right. “What was that?”
She wiped her hand under her nose. “That I’m so afraid of losing something that I never give myself a chance to hang on. I started to with you…but when you wanted us to go out in the open with it, I didn’t want to. I was too scared that when things ended that everyone would look at me with pity. I was either going to be referred to as a gold digger, or compared to a whore that was sleeping with her boss.”
“What made you assume that things would end?” He didn’t realize how negative she could be.
“Nothing ever goes my way. Nothing good. I’ve pushed and pulled and dug myself out of holes and assumptions and stereotypes. I thought I was getting somewhere with the store, trying to help my family so I could move on to my dreams. But e
ven doing everything right, it still ended up being taken away in the end. Why would I think I could have someone as great as you?”
“Because I love you. Because I believe in you and wanted you to believe in yourself.”
“Yeah, well, that’s the thing. Not too many people have believed in me in my life.”
“You’re selling yourself short.”
“It’s my fault,” she said, bursting into tears. “This thing with Abby is all my fault. If everyone knew about us, then maybe she wouldn’t have thought you were the type of person to sneak around. To hide a relationship. Because of me, because of my insecurities, I could be ruining your career. Ruining Fierce’s reputation. I couldn’t go into work today knowing that. It wasn’t just you I was afraid to face, but your family as well. They’ve been nothing but wonderful to me and this is how I repay them.”
“This isn’t your fault.”
“How can you say that?” she said, sniffling some more.
“Come here,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “Because a wise woman once told me that we don’t know what would have happened if Abby knew or not. When someone is that greedy, there is no way to predict their actions.”
“Now what’s going to happen?” Nic asked.
“I guess we’ll find out tomorrow when Abby shows up for work.”
“She’s still working there?” Nic asked, pushing back, her eyes flashing daggers at him. “Sorry, that was wrong. I’ve got to get over this.”
“Yeah, you do. I kind of like your jealousy, but it’s unwarranted. I didn’t want her. I don’t want anyone but you. Until you realize that, you’re just going to be causing yourself a lot of grief.”
She nodded. “Now what?”
“Now we both say we’re sorry. Me, for walking out on you. For letting my temper get the best of me. For only thinking of myself and that you weren’t going to support me. That maybe you didn’t believe in me.”
“I’ve always believed you. I didn’t mean what I said,” she rushed out again. She was almost stumbling over her words.
“I get it. We all say things we shouldn’t in the heat of the moment.” He pulled her over to a chair in his kitchen, sat down and tugged her onto his lap. “I love you, Nic. Maybe I’ve got some insecurities too. Maybe I always wanted to separate work from my personal life too because, aside from Crystal, I dated someone else in college. Someone else with a lot of the same goals in life as me. Someone who took advantage of me and could have cost me everything.”
“You aren’t going to tell me anymore, are you?” she asked, when he stopped talking.
“No. No one knows. No one needs to know. It’s all in the past, anyway. But what I do know is that it took me this long to see that I had to move forward. That I had to stop making decisions based on something I couldn’t control back then.”
“Like we couldn’t control what happened with Abby?” she said.
“Exactly. Let’s go to bed. Tomorrow could be a long day.”
“Aiden?”
“What?”
“I love you. I love you more than I thought I could love another person. So much so that I was almost sabotaging myself in the process. Promise me you won’t let me do that again? I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to lose the best thing that’s happened to me.”
“I’ll promise you that, if you promise to do the same for me.”
Never Survive
At ten the next morning, Aiden was upstairs with Cade, Brody and Ella. Nic was in the kitchen and Abby on her way, scheduled to work in the pub kitchen…if she even showed up.
“Do you think it’s a good idea to have them both downstairs?” Aiden asked Ella. “Maybe I should have had someone cover Nic’s shift until this is over with.”
“Are you kidding me? I haven’t seen a cat fight since college.”
Aiden turned to blast Cade for saying that, but Ella beat him to it by punching Cade in the arm. “Ouch,” Cade said, rubbing his bicep.
“Do you ever learn?” she asked him.
“It was funny,” Cade said. “Come on, Brody. Admit that was a funny comment.”
Brody grinned and shook his head. “Sorry, Cade. It was funny in high school, but not now.”
“Can we be serious, please?” Aiden asked. He was dying inside right now, waiting to see how the next hour was going to play out. “Do you think she’ll show up?”
“I called her and said I needed her to sign paperwork before her shift. Either filing the claim or releasing us from it. One or the other. It had to be documented either way, just like all falls and injuries are.”
“She said she’d be here?” Aiden asked again.
“Chill out, dude,” Brody said. “Once Abby pulls in the parking lot, I’ll go down and make sure she and Nic are separated.”
“So you think Nic will say something to her?” Aiden asked. He knew it was a bad idea.
“If she is anything like Aimee she would, so I’m not giving them a chance,” Brody said, laughing this time.
“There she is,” Ella said, when they saw the car pull into the back parking lot on the monitor. “I told you.”
Aiden looked at the computer monitor closer and saw Abby get out of the car, then walk confidently toward the back door as if the past few days never happened. As if his life and reputation weren’t on the line. Nic was right—what a bitch.
“I’ll bring her up to your office, Ella,” Brody said, then walked out.
“Let’s go in the conference room, Aiden,” Cade said. “Bring her down when you’re done, Ella. We’re all set up in there.”
“Stop fidgeting,” Cade said to Aiden as he walked around the conference room. “Have a seat and relax. It’s not going to be much longer.”
“This isn’t your reputation though,” he argued. “I’ve got a right to be nervous.”
“Don’t be selfish. It’s all of ours. You didn’t do anything wrong and we know it. But it’s not all about you. It’s never been about just you. Why can’t you see that?”
Aiden narrowed his eyes at Cade, not liking the tone. “That’s not fair.”
“Nope, it’s not. Just like it wasn’t fair when Brody got mixed up with Craig, but he was innocent. Or when Aimee had issues with her ex. It’s always been about all of us together, not one of us independently. We’d never survive that way.”
Maybe Cade was the smart one all along.
It’d taken Aiden years to figure everything out. All those years he’d spent traveling and learning everything he could. He’d said he was doing it for himself. But he was really doing it for the business. Him being his best would make them all great. It was for them as much as it was for himself.
“You’re probably right.” When Cade went to open his mouth, Aiden pointed his finger. “Don’t say it.”
They both turned when there was a knock at the door, then Ella pushed it open. “Come in, Abby.”
“What’s going on?” she asked, looking at Aiden and Cade in the room. Ella walked in behind her and ushered her to a chair, shut the door, and took a seat at the table next to Cade. Aiden sat on the other side of Cade, all three of them facing Abby now. “I didn’t fill out the workers’ comp papers. I’m fine. I just told Ella that I tripped trying to show Aiden something on his computer and fell into his chair and to the floor.”
“That’s the story this time?” Aiden said.
“Aiden,” Cade said, reaching his hand over. “Abby, we called you in here to talk about your other accusations.”
“What are those?” she asked, frowning and looking confused.
Wow, she was good. Playing it up for the camera. If she only knew.
“That you came on to me and when I asked you to stop, to get off my lap and your lips off of mine, you threatened me with sexual harassment.”
She looked around the room surprised, her eyes filling with tears. “Aiden, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never said any of that. Maybe you just misunderstood when I fell into your lap.”
“I don’t remember,” Abby said quickly. “It all happened so fast. First I was trying to see what he was showing me on his computer and the next thing I’m on the floor.”
Aiden clenched his fists on the table and then caught Abby’s glance as it landed on him. Her eyes were glistening but she smirked. It was the smirk that set him off. “You know damn well what happened in my office.”
“I just told you what happened, Aiden. I guess it’s your word against mine,” she said, her voice cracking, more with smugness than fear. More with victory than nervousness, or even remorse, let alone guilt.
“Actually, that’s where you’re wrong,” Ella said.
“Before we get to that,” Cade said, “let me ask a few questions. Abby, have you ever had any relations with employees at Fierce?”
“That’s none of your business,” she said.
“Well, it kind of is. At least for the context of truthfulness. So have you ever been involved with any employees at Fierce?”
“I don’t need to answer that,” she said, pushing her chair back to stand up.
“Sit down,” Cade said sharply, causing both Ella and Aiden to glance over. Aiden didn’t think Cade had it in him. Damn.
Abby sat just the same, but pressed her lips closely together.
“Are you going to answer Cade’s question?” Ella asked.
“No.”
“Very well,” Cade said, opening a folder. “I didn’t think you would have. And if you did, it would have spoiled the look on your face when I show you these anyway. I believe this is a picture of you kissing one of the executive chefs outside the building one night. This is one of you and a line cook in a cozy embrace by the back cooler. This is my favorite, though it’s a little racy. It’s a picture of you with your hands down one of the chef’s pants.”
“How come they aren’t up here for this?” she asked. “Why am I the only one being embarrassed over it?”