An Acquired Taste

by Kelly Cain

  He turns on the shower and comes into the room completely naked, and surprisingly my attention is drawn to his tattoo of all things. Clearly, I’m past tired if I’ve overlooked the incredibly hot body attached to it. It reminds me of his aunt’s house and the paintings. He says, “Do you want to take a shower?”

  “Uh, yeah. You don’t even want to know what I’m covered in.”

  He laughs. “Probably not. But I meant with me.”

  I nod and stand, a smile on my face. I’ll never not want to take a shower with Knox, even if it’s only a shower.

  I shrug out of the rest of my clothes and throw them into my suitcase. Everything’s packed except my jeans and sweater for tomorrow’s airplane trip back. When I slip into the shower, the hot water unlocks my tense muscles and I nearly slump to the tiled floor. Knox is there as always, ready to hold me up whenever I need it. I vow to myself to be that person for him too.

  We soap each other up, and when I get to his chest, I take special care to really take in the painting there. “Are you sad when you see your aunt and she looks so much like your mother?”

  The corners of his mouth drag down for a moment, but then he shakes his head. “No. It’s nice to be around her because she has mannerisms like Mom, and although I was young, those are the things I remember most about her. Second to that is the cooking, which my aunt can’t do to save her life.” He chuckles and uses the washcloth in his hand to wash my neck then shoulders, slowly working his way down.

  “You look so much like your mom, more so even than Weston and Declan, although anyone could tell you’re brothers. But your hair is so different. I’m curious where you got your black hair.”

  “Height and hair color came by way of the Everhearts.”

  “But your father’s hair is brown, not even really dark brown.”

  He nods and bends to wash my legs and feet. “Yeah, but my grandmother’s family was from Wales. They all have the midnight-black hair, but somehow it skipped my dad’s generation. Neither he nor my uncles have it.” He stands back up and rinses the cloth under the shower spray.

  “Wow, genetics are really something. Well whatever happened, you got all the really good genes.” I smile and reach up to kiss him, our slick bodies sliding against each other in the small shower. Suddenly I’m not feeling quite as tired as before as our kiss becomes more urgent.

  We fall into the bed and I’m not sure if we’re facing up or down because we’re all lips and hands and tingles. Sex with Knox is like a hike through a forest of redwoods. He worships my body and takes his time, but we have places to go early in the morning and we were up until late last night. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

  The warmth of his laugh tickles my ear, and I dig my fingers into his hair, still wet from the shower.

  He tears a foil packet open and with the bathroom light filtering through into the room, I can see every crinkle next to his eyes when Knox enters me, reflecting a type of painful pleasure. When we move against each other, his face relaxes but his crystalline topaz eyes light on fire.

  I clench around him, the thousands of tiny nerve endings inside me reaching for him, bringing him closer, capturing everything he’s giving me, and never wanting to let it go. My release doesn’t take long and when I come, I only call his name.

  Pâté de Campagne

  3/4 cup cognac

  3 tbsp unsalted butter

  1 cup onion, chopped fine

  2 1/2 pounds ground pork

  1/2 pound chicken liver, chopped fine

  3 garlic cloves, pressed

  2 1/2 tsp kosher salt

  2 1/2 tsp dried thyme

  1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

  1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

  1/4 tsp ground ginger

  1/4 tsp ground coriander

  1/4 tsp ground cloves

  2 tsp white pepper

  1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

  2 large eggs, lightly beaten

  1/3 cup whipping cream

  Bacon slices (enough to line 9x5x3-inch pan)

  Coarse sea salt

  Preheat to 350 degrees. In a saucepan, boil cognac until reduced to 1/2 cup. Cool. In a cast iron skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add onion and sauté until soft. Set aside. Combine ground pork and liver in large bowl. Mix together until well blended. Add onion, garlic, salt, thyme, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, coriander, cloves, and peppers to bowl and stir until incorporated. Add eggs, cream, and reduced cognac. Stir until well blended. Line pan with bacon slices, arranging slices across width of pan and slices on each short side of pan and overlapping pan on all sides. Press meat mixture onto bottom of pan on top of bacon slices. Fold bacon slices over, covering pâté. Cover pan tightly with foil and place in a 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Pour boiling water into the baking pan to come halfway up sides of the loaf pan. Bake pâté about 2 hours 15 minutes (thermometer registers 155 degrees). Remove loaf pan from baking pan and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Place heavy skillet on top of pâté to weigh down and chill overnight. Place loaf pan with pâté in larger pan of hot water for a few minutes to loosen. Invert pâté onto platter; discard fat from platter.

  Yield: 15 to 18 servings

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Lillie said what?

  In the week we’ve been away, Mama has improved considerably. Her peach coloring is back, and she isn’t hunched over or fatigued. My heart pounds from the excitement and hope I have for her. And for our family. She’s been taking it easy just as she promised, leaving the restaurant to Sue. Daddy hasn’t left her side, just as he promised.

  Wyatt and I are perched on the sofa, while she sits in her favorite chair swathed in a blanket, because even though it’s ninety plus degrees outside, the air conditioner is cranked all the way up. More than likely that’s Daddy’s doing because he has always run a little hot. He’s sitting at the dining room table with his laptop open, uncharacteristically quiet.

  Lillie says, “Well, out with it. You two have been bouncing around like a couple of grasshoppers. I’m guessing you won.” She glances at Daddy, and he puts his head farther into his laptop.

  “Daddy already told you. I can’t believe it.” I jump to my feet to make sure he can hear me. “I can’t believe you.”

  She claps her hands with a big smile plastered on her face, then opens her arms wide. “Come here, you two.”

  She hugs us in turn and whispers to me, “I’m so incredibly proud of you. And I never doubted it for a minute.”

  “Thanks, Mama.” I go back to the sofa and relax against it. “Everything’s going to be fine. The, uh, adviser will call next week to set up their first appointment with you so you can start looking for a property and getting the ball rolling.”

  Wyatt clears his throat and looks uncomfortable. I don’t blame him, because she’s not going to be happy about Knox being the adviser.

  Mama picks up her cup of herb tea from the side table. “What adviser?”

  I take a deep breath to settle my nerves about this bit. “Part of the prize is accepting the services from Chef Buccola’s consulting company. You know he has a bunch of Michelin-star restaurants, so it’s really an honor. He helped me a lot during the planning of the on-set restaurant.”

  “Sure, but that’s because you’re fancy. I don’t want fancy. Since we’re being forced to move, whatever we get needs to be in line with what we have now.”

  My blood starts to heat, because this stubborn streak of hers is past ridiculous. “Mama, be reasonable. You have everything open to you now. You can create a restaurant from scratch that can accommodate your growing clientele, add the latest appliances, improve the dining room furniture…”

  “What’s wrong with the dining room we have right now?”

  After her episode, I promised myself I wouldn’t stress her out and I intend to do my best to keep that promise. Besides, this is Knox’s problem now, and he’ll be better equipped to deal with it. I’m obviously too close. “Okay, Mama. You and Knox can work it out.”r />
  She draws her eyebrows together and frowns, setting the cup down, then pulling her blanket tighter. “I beg your pardon?”

  Ugh, I did not mean to let that slip.

  “I told you that Knox quit and Flynn subbed in for him. Well, we just found out last night that he took a job with Chef Buccola’s consulting company. His first project will be yours. Tada.” I use jazz hands to drive the point home.

  Daddy grumbles and Wyatt adjusts himself on the couch.

  Lillie surprises the hell out of me. “Okay.”

  “Okay?” I get back up and walk over to her, placing the back of my hand on her forehead.

  “Stop being so dramatic, Rowan. Goodness gracious.”

  “You hate the Everhearts. Now you’re okay with one of them bossing you around?”

  She quirks an eyebrow and twists her lips. “Oh, there won’t be any bossing going on.”

  I bark out a quick laugh. “Have you met Knox?”

  “As a matter of fact I have. I’m told he saved my life.”

  I’m not sure how I forgot that bit of information. Well, since she’s in the loving-Everheart mood, it seems like a good time to spring our relationship on her. “Oh, well then you’ll be happy to know that we’re together now.” I give her my most beatific smile.

  She huffs, “I wonder who couldn’t see that coming.” She glances behind her at Daddy and they exchange a look. “I just hope you’re being careful.”

  Oh no, surely, she isn’t about to have the birds and the bees talk with me right here, right now. I slink lower into the cushions, hoping to disappear.

  Wyatt gets up and joins Daddy at the table.

  She must realize what I’m thinking because she adds, “I’m saying that you can’t trust an Everheart. You should know that better than anyone. And although I appreciate him knowing how to do CPR, they’re not good people.”

  “That’s not true, Mama.”

  “Have you forgotten you were waitlisted because of Flynn’s bribery? You had to go to that summer program just to get in?”

  “Where did you get that information, Mama? It’s not true. Flynn donated money to the university. It was an endowment.”

  “Right. Like I said, he bribed them.”

  Is she fucking kidding me right now? This is what she’s been calling a bribe for the past ten years? “So, you knew this whole time that he’d made a contribution to the university? It wasn’t some under-the-table, palm-greasing? How could you let me blame Knox all these years?”

  She purses her lips and studies me. “How can you not see it’s the same thing?”

  That brings me up short. Sure, one is legal and the other isn’t. One is an accepted practice and the other will land you in jail, but they essentially serve the same result. “I see your point, Mama, but Knox was in the top five applicants. He got in on his own merits. Turns out Flynn wasted his money.”

  She grunts. “Doesn’t change the intent.”

  “The thing is, Mama, I’ve been hearing about the Everhearts since I was a little girl. Long before I went off to college, you had something against Flynn.”

  She looks uncomfortable then. Moving around in her chair, avoiding eye contact with me.

  “Mama?”

  Daddy says, “Leave it alone, Rowan.”

  “No, you may as well know. Especially since you’re pursuing this thing with Knox.”

  I sit up and perch myself on the edge of the couch. I start worrying the inside of my cheek because I have a feeling I’m not going to like what’s coming next. I almost tell her to stop. Almost.

  “You know I met Flynn when we were in grade school.”

  I nod.

  “There was a group of us. We all hung out together and were mostly inseparable growing up. When we figured out we had the same interest, Flynn and I agreed to start a restaurant together once we finished school.” She stops and takes a couple of deep breaths.

  “As soon as he got out there, he met Lia. He said it was love at first sight. She was a pastry chef but had no interest in starting a restaurant, so he said he was still committed to our plan. He married Lia before they even finished school, had those three boys back-to-back.

  “By that time, I’d married your father and put my dreams on hold while I helped him build up his business. You came along in the meantime too.”

  I get up and sit on the floor at her feet.

  “Lia died. He was heartbroken and turned into the man you know now. He poured everything into his restaurant and into his boys, becoming an overbearing nightmare, but willing to do anything for them. Control became second nature to him. But he also decided to honor that promise he’d made all those years before and bought the building where Smothered in Love calls home. Or at least we did up until a few weeks ago.”

  I stare at her with raised brows. “I don’t understand. He owned the building but not the restaurant?”

  She nods. “Exactly right. He bought the building, but withdrew support at the last minute when it was time to sign the contracts. Thankfully your father’s business had been doing well for a while so we were able to open the restaurant on our own. Flynn kept the lease reasonable so it was manageable. It was also easier to forgive him for breaking his promise.” Her face clouds over and her next words are tight. “We had a big falling out over the whole college mess, and it’s been downhill from there, but I had an airtight long-term lease. The lease is up now and you know the rest.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me Flynn was the landlord?”

  “You were never interested in the business part of running the restaurant. Plus, I guess I was embarrassed that I’d allowed him to have so much power. And when you called me crying that Knox had said Flynn was taking care of us, I called him right up and gave him a good piece of my mind. How dare he tell his son that nonsense when we were paying fair market value in rent? We were supposed to be business partners, but in the end, it was just him trying to lord control over me. It’s all worked out for the best though.”

  “I’m sorry that happened to you. If it helps, I didn’t like him much before you told me he was the one kicking us out.”

  Daddy gets up and walks up behind her, rubbing her shoulders. “Now that you two have gone down memory lane, Wyatt and I have something important to tell you. Keep in mind what you just said about it all working out for the best.”

  I put my head in my hands because I’ve had enough surprises today.

  Lillie’s Herbal Tea

  8 ounces cold water

  1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

  1 tsp fresh turmeric, grated

  Lemon zest from 1/2 lemon

  1 lemon, sliced

  1 tsp coconut oil

  In a pot over high heat, bowl water. Remove from heat and add the next 4 ingredients. Cover and allow to steep. Add coconut oil while warm.

  Yield: 1 serving

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Damn right.

  Knox and I lie on top of the seafoam-green comforter on my bed, legs tangled, utterly spent after everything I’ve told him after meeting with my family earlier in the afternoon. It’s dinnertime, but neither of us have mentioned eating.

  He leans into me, tentatively kissing the corner of my mouth. “How do you feel about our parents and all their secrets?”

  “I don’t like it, but it’s almost over. I just hope they’ll be able to get along in the future.” I tense up when the thought hits me that maybe Knox knew his dad was our landlord the whole time. “How do you feel?”

  “Same. I just hate that my father is such an ass. I still can’t believe that while you were trying to save the restaurant, he was the one putting you in such a tough position. He never said a word.” He kisses me full on the mouth then.

  Relief surges through me and I have to remind myself to stop doubting Knox when we hit the tiniest blip. Old habits die so hard. “He is an ass. Thankfully this isn’t a ‘like father, like son’ situation.”

  He grins, and those topaz-blue eyes are so full of
love and devotion, my heart stops a moment. Then speeds up considerably. He must recognize the look in my eyes because he takes my mouth again, slow and deep, sending flutters through my belly.

  When his stomach growls, I pull back and laugh. “Let’s get you something to eat.”

  He rolls off me, slow and reluctant, and stares at the ceiling fan making its lazy rounds. “Are you hungry?”

  “I sure am.”

  We walk downstairs, hand in hand, and circle around the front of the building. The smells coming from the restaurant make my stomach growl too, and I try to remember when I ate last. After Mama’s—and Daddy’s—bombshells, food was the last thing on my mind. I couldn’t wait to meet Knox and tell him all about it.

  When we enter, the restaurant is full. Since I don’t work here anymore and it looks like I never will again, I don’t want to take any special liberties. I walk up to the hostess and ask her if she can squeeze us in. She can’t, so either we eat in Mama’s office or we have to order our food to go. That’s a no-brainer.

  I hand a menu to Knox. “See what you want.”

  He hands the menu back to me. “You already know what I want.”

  I smirk and shake my head, handing the menu back to the hostess. “We’ll have a bowl of gumbo, crawfish pies, and crab cakes. Oh, and some peach cobbler, please.”

  Knox taps the hostess stand. “Excuse me. Can you add some sweet potato pie and, um, a side of collard greens to that, please?”

  I rotate his way, eyebrows thoroughly knitted.

  He raises his hands in surrender. “Okay, maybe you do know how to make greens better than I do.”

  I can’t do anything but laugh. Of course I know how to make greens better.

  We take our food upstairs and I plate it in my kitchen, looking around at the space I’ve made my own. The space I truly love. “I’m so happy I don’t have to give up my apartment any time soon.”