Hired: The Cinderella Chef

by Myrna Mackenzie

  The unthinkable might happen. If she didn’t make the break clean, she’d be begging him to come back and let her work in his kitchen again, and she would suffer far too much when he finally settled down and started looking for a bride.

  It was time to go. This was it. The last time she would ever see him.

  “Patrick.”

  He knelt by her side.

  “Are you making yourself small for me again?” she whispered.

  “No, I’m bringing myself close.”

  “I’m glad.” She threw caution to the wind and risked eternal heartbreak as she reached for him and kissed him with all her heart. Then, without saying goodbye, she let herself in her room.

  One hour later, she left the hotel. Her heart stayed behind.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  PATRICK had been in a bad mood for days, and he wasn’t sure why. Or…maybe he was sure why, and that was the problem. He’d just discovered something about himself. He was in love with a woman he couldn’t have.

  That brief visit of Darcy’s should have reassured him and helped get her out of his system. She was well, she was beyond well. She was vivacious and outgoing and sparkling and…she had absolutely no need of him anymore. Her life had moved beyond him. He should be happy for her.

  He was. He also missed her like crazy.

  And as the day for her televised event came close, he turned into a ragged fool, forgetting to sleep or eat. He forgot duty. He missed an appointment for the first time in his career.

  Now, he sat in the dark, private auditorium and waited tensely for Darcy to appear on the screen.

  And then she was there. But…what was she doing?

  Patrick sat up straighter. He leaned forward in his chair.

  Darcy moved to the center of a makeshift stage. She held a microphone, and while she was getting ready to speak, the camera panned over the crowd in front of the stage. The area dead in the center was crowded with people in wheelchairs, far more than the Able House residents could account for. But beyond that, Patrick made out his sisters, what looked to be most if not all of his neighbors, friends and even some politicians. Camera crews from local television stations were in evidence.

  The camera zoomed in on Darcy again. Dressed in pale yellow with that smile, that incredible smile he loved, she was riveting. Patrick couldn’t have looked away if the roof of the auditorium had caved in. A banner behind her came into view. It read, The First Annual Patrick Judson Able House Festival.

  Patrick swore beneath his breath.

  Darcy cleared her throat. “First of all, let me welcome all of you and thank you for coming. Today is a day that heralds what will, hopefully, become a new tradition in the city and in this neighborhood. In a few moments, we’ll begin a day of competitions, classes, food, fun and togetherness, and all of that has been made possible by Patrick Judson who spear-headed Able House and served as an intermediary between us and the community.

  “Unfortunately Patrick can’t be with us today. He’s in France but he’s watching us and I know that he’s here in spirit. It was Patrick’s idea to have those of us at Able House share our skills with the community, and as a result, we’re now involved in a community education program teaching evening classes as well as participating in an enrichment program at the local grammar schools twice a month. Patrick’s idea has proven to be so successful and popular that we’ve decided to take it to the next step. We don’t just want to live in this community, we want to be a vital part of it, so to that end, for the past two weeks we’ve fanned out into the community to approach our neighbors and invite those who were willing to come here today to share their talents with all of us. The result is this community festival. In addition, we’ll be opening our doors one weekend and one weeknight a month so that we can all join together for classes, book discussions and a meal.

  “All of this has been made possible by those on both sides who have been willing to reach out to each other. When we first came here, many people were skeptical and nervous, but you’ve welcomed us and now we welcome you into our home. We’re so glad to have you here.”

  The crowd broke into applause. Someone called out, “Way to go, Darcy!”

  She waved and held out her hand for silence. “And now, I have just one last thing I want to add before we begin and that is this: “Patrick, wherever you are, we’re—we miss you.”

  Patrick had moved from his chair and was standing directly in front of the huge screen now, staring into a larger than life Darcy’s eyes. Those beautiful eyes were filled with unshed tears and her voice had broken.

  She had never been more beautiful. His heart had never hurt this hard.

  “We miss you,” she continued, “and all of us here at Able House want to thank you for…for enriching our lives, for championing us, but mostly for helping us and the world to realize that each of us, every one of us in the world, whether on two legs or four wheels, have gifts to give, and those gifts are meant to be shared with others. I’ll—I’ll miss you,” she finished. Her last words were barely a whisper.

  Were those tears streaming down her face? Undoubtedly.

  Patrick moved closer, but—dammit—this was just a screen. The real Darcy was a continent away. He heard her whisper, “I—I need to make the sendoff announcement, but—I—would you please do it for me?”

  A gruff male voice said something Patrick couldn’t understand. Then Cal Barrow appeared on stage and took the microphone from Darcy. She moved out of view.

  Outrage filled Patrick’s soul. What was that guy doing forcing Darcy off the stage?

  Patrick whipped out his cell phone. He started to call his sister and had hit the first three numbers when Cal cleared his throat.

  “It’s time to get started, folks,” he said. “The schedules are on the table, the food is in the dining room, events are in the rooms, in the lobby, on the stage, in the pool and out on the lawns. Go to it and have a great time. Oh, and—could we please give a cheer for Darcy and Mr. Judson? She’s made me crazy and I’ve been a total ass. Me and Billings—who has, thank goodness, decided to move—were the lone holdouts and were pretty mean to Darcy and everyone here, but…what can I say? She knows how to win a guy over and make him feel like a stupid heel and now she’s got me teaching woodcarving, so…let the games begin!”

  The crowd exploded in applause.

  People were starting to file out to wherever they were going, cutting in front of the cameras and such when Cal fiddled with the mike again. “Oh, and Judson? If you’re wondering how a little bit of a woman who took me down and punched me in the unmentionables managed to make a believer out of me…she got me with her brownies. Came over every damn day for nine days and brought a different kind every day. I cursed her up and down and all she would say was, ‘Cal, don’t make me hit you again. Do you want a brownie or not?’ So, the fact is…I don’t know how you can stay away from her. She’s a hard one to ignore. She’s a total bully and a sweetheart, too. Makes me want to beat myself up for what I did to her and all the fine people here.”

  Then the mike went dead.

  The screen broke into four areas, each one covering a different event taking place on the grounds. Every thirty seconds the areas would switch in a round robin random kaleidoscope. There was a group of knitters, a film discussion group, Cal’s woodcarving, relay races with teams alternating a racer on foot with a racer in a wheelchair, a photography group, swimmers, a homemade miniature golf course and numerous other activities. Patrick was impressed, but despite the ever-changing footage and the fact that he had seen almost everyone else, his sisters waving to the camera as they assisted at the races and in the pool, the woman he wanted most to see eluded him.

  Patrick cursed the cameramen who didn’t seem to know what was important. Once again he took out his phone. Surely one of his sisters could remedy the situation. This time he got Lane.

  “I miss you. I love you. Where the hell is she?” he asked.

  “Whoa, Patrick,” Lane said. �
�Who is she?”

  “Darcy.”

  “Ah.”

  “Don’t ah me, Lane. I need help.”

  “Sounds like you need Darcy.”

  “Yes.”

  “I might tell you if you stop being so cranky. Darcy and Cara and Amy and I have bonded while you’ve been gone.”

  “That’s great.” He meant it, too.

  “She knows you almost as well as we do.”

  “You might be right about that, but…where is she?”

  “How’s Angelise?” Lane suddenly asked.

  “I don’t know. I don’t care. Where’s Darcy?”

  Lane chuckled. “Right answer, big brother. She’s been cooking and other stuff. I’ll get a cameraman over to her.”

  “Thank you, Lane. I do love you.”

  “Me, too. Just…be careful. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Darcy’s leaving soon. She’s moving to Seattle. She told me last night.”

  Patrick’s heart fell right onto the floor and shattered at his feet. He clicked off the phone. He ignored the ringing when it began. He watched as the camera zoomed in on Darcy. She was sitting on a couch reading a story…and she had a toddler on her lap. Davey and Charlie were snuggled up beside her. She was surrounded by children. As she read the story, something about a bunny, she smiled at something Davey said and leaned over and dropped a kiss on his head.

  Patrick felt as if he was going to collapse. His Darcy had mastered her demons. She was happy.

  She was leaving. And she hadn’t told him.

  For a long time he sat there. The screen flickered as the cameras switched from room to room, except the one on Darcy never moved.

  His phone rang again. He answered it.

  “Patrick?” Lane’s voice was worried.

  “I’m all right,” he said. But he wasn’t.

  “You didn’t know that she was leaving, did you?” she asked.

  “I know now.”

  “Do you care?”

  “Lane, let’s talk later. I have something to do now.” He was already starting to move by the time he clicked the phone off. Within hours he was flying over the Atlantic.

  Darcy awoke with a headache and a deep sense of sadness and distress. Yesterday had gone well, but she hadn’t heard from Patrick. Lane had mentioned that she spoke with him briefly, but that was all.

  So, there was nothing left to do but make her final arrangements to depart. Patrick’s new life had obviously taken hold. She had to make her own way, too.

  That’s what she should get started on. Definitely. It would be the height of stupidity hanging around today hoping that he would call so that she could say goodbye to him.

  “You call him,” she told herself, but she knew that she wouldn’t do that.

  Listlessly she took a shower and got dressed. She opened her door and went out into the hallway.

  Patrick was leaning against the wall opposite her room, his arms and ankles crossed. He didn’t smile when he saw her.

  Her heart leaped, then fell.

  “What’s wrong? Why are you here?” she finally asked.

  “When were you going to tell me?” he asked, pushing off the wall.

  “Tell you…”

  “Lane said that you were moving to Seattle and…dammit, Darcy, not a word? Not a hint? Why?”

  “I—I thought you might worry about why I was going.” But, of course, that was only part of the truth.

  “You’re darned right I’m worried. Did we run you off? Did something happen? I know it wasn’t Cal, because he seems to have fallen totally under your spell. What happened?”

  You, she wanted to say. Just you. Love.

  “I—well, I’m not so scared of being out and about in public anymore and I—”

  “That’s no reason.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Or…maybe it’s a perfectly good reason. I shouldn’t be badgering you. It’s your life. You’re free to live it the way you want to.”

  No. No, she wasn’t. Darcy bit her lip.

  “You’re supposed to be in France,” she said.

  “I was. Now I’m here.”

  “Why?”

  “I had to see you. I was afraid you would leave and I wouldn’t be able to find you. I had to tell you…thank you for yesterday. You were magnificent. You’ve accomplished so much. Seattle is going to love you.”

  He crossed the hall, reached out and gently touched her face. “Not half as much as I do, but they’ll adore you.”

  Darcy froze. Yearning swept through her and she looked up, his fingertips sliding across her jaw. His touch was heaven. Love? Had he said love? Did he mean—?

  No, of course not. He’d meant it in a generic way, like “I love cookies.” Not “I love you so much that it kills me to be apart from you.”

  That kind of love and hurt was what she was feeling right now. The kind that made your throat hurt and your eyes sting. She was staring into those green eyes that did awful, wonderful things to her and she felt herself falling apart.

  “Don’t go,” he said, in a ragged, broken voice.

  She closed her eyes. “I have to. I can’t stay here.”

  “Why?”

  Again she looked into his eyes. “You have a plan for your life. You’ve had it for years. It’s a good plan, a great plan, a totally wonderful plan. You have things to do overseas. There are people counting on you. You’re the center of everything happening there. And you want it. You’ve always wanted it, and I want you to have it, too. More than anything.” She bit her lip, fought the tears.

  Patrick dropped to his knees in front of her. “That plan of mine? It was a good plan, Darcy, but plans change. You came into my life and changed everything.”

  “No!”

  “Yes. I can hire people for France and Spain. I have money to pay people to take my place everywhere but here. With you.”

  “You wanted to be free. I want you to be free.”

  “I love you, Darcy. Being apart from you taught me that freedom is so much more than being alone. Being with you frees me. You opened my eyes to pathways I hadn’t even imagined. All those years ago when my parents died and left me alone to raise my sisters, I thought I needed my freedom, but what I needed, what I wanted, was someone to share my life. Someone to talk to and love as an equal. What I wanted, Darcy, was you.”

  “Patrick…”

  He placed two fingers over her lips. “You don’t have to let me down easy. Just tell me if I have any chance of convincing you to stay, yes or no.”

  He opened his mouth to say something more, but she leaned forward and placed her fingers over his lips this time.

  “I love you, Patrick,” she said. “Just in case it isn’t shining through in my eyes.” She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “Is that a yes, you’ll stay, Darcy?”

  “It’s the loudest yes you’ll ever hear. I’ve missed you so much. You complete me. You make me want to do more and be more than I’ve ever been.”

  Patrick drew her close and kissed her. “You don’t have to be more,” he said. “You’re already everything I want and need.”

  EPILOGUE

  SIX months later, Patrick came in to find Darcy baby-sitting Charlie and Davey. She gave them each a hug, then sent them over to Patrick for more hugs before they ran off to find Olivia in the kitchen.

  “They’re so precious,” she said. “Your sisters have let me hog them lately. I wonder what Amy and Cara and Lane will think when they find out there’s a new Judson on the way.” Darcy looked down at her still flat abdomen.

  Patrick kissed her. “I suppose they’ll be just as happy to hear about the baby as they were when they found out you were marrying me. And then they’ll probably take turns filling in the calendar so they can baby-sit.”

  Darcy looked up at him, a slight trace of concern in those lovely eyes. “I hope I’ll be a good mother,” she said.

  Patrick did a double
take and raised one eyebrow. “Have you ever found anything you’re not good at? Since we got married, you’ve mastered downhill skiing and wheelchair tennis and probably a few other things I’ve forgotten about. If I hadn’t begged you to consider my heart and not take up skydiving you probably would have excelled at that, too. Do you seriously believe you won’t be a good mother?”

  She reached out and slid one hand around his neck, pulling him close for a quick kiss. “I’m so glad I met you.”

  Patrick smiled. “Me, too. From the minute I walked into the kitchen and found you defying me, I was lost.”

  “I was, too, even though I didn’t think I’d survive you. I didn’t think I’d ever want to have a child, either, but…do you think we might have more than one?”

  What did I ever do to deserve this woman? Patrick thought. “Yes,” he said. “Absolutely.”

  He laughed.

  “What?” she asked.

  “You,” he said. “You have so much energy, so much love, so much life. I can’t imagine why I ever thought I needed to go looking for adventure when living with you is the greatest adventure of my life.”

  “What a catch you are,” she said with a teasing smile.

  “Does that mean I get to kiss you again?”

  “It means a whole lot of things. I’ll show you later,” she said. “After everyone has gone home. It’s going to take a little while.”

  “Hours?” he asked, raising one eyebrow.

  “Years,” she said with a mocking smile and love in her eyes. “At least fifty. Now, kiss me, please.”

  He did. Then he smiled against her lips.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Kissing you has to be a whole lot better than flying,” he confessed.

  She kissed him again. “Let the adventure begin, love,” she said.

  Oh, but it already had. And it was so much better than he’d ever dreamed.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-3800-2

  HIRED: CINDERELLA CHEF