15. Daphne
Chapter Fifteen
DAPHNE
“Oh, my God,” I moaned, speaking just as I finished swallowing. “This food is divine. If I was trying to run a restaurant here in Diamond Creek, this would be serious competition. Actually, it would be serious competition anywhere.”
I took another bite of the balsamic glazed salmon, savoring every second it was in my mouth. “How’s yours?” I asked as I paused to take a sip of wine.
“Divine, just like you said.” Nora had gotten the halibut tacos. I’d already taken a few bites and offered her some of my salmon in return. Halibut tacos were a distinctly Alaskan dish and scrumptious. The creamy and subtle fish was perfect with cilantro and peach salsa.
Nora took another bite and leaned back in her chair. “I need to slow down. I can’t overdo it and ruin the amazing. I have to say, though, your food is just as good as this.”
“You don’t need to shower me with compliments,” I said before taking another bite of my salmon.
“I know I don’t need to, but I just want you to know your food is freaking amazing. If I understand right, you once ran a bakery. Is that so?”
“True story. It was my big accomplishment. I love to cook. It worked out perfectly that your last cook quit. I get to do what I love without the pressure of running an actual restaurant.”
Nora took another bite of her halibut tacos and then eyed me speculatively. “Can I be nosy?” she asked with a grin teasing the corners of her mouth.
“I’m pretty sure you’re just going to be nosy anyway, but I’ll give you permission since you asked,” I returned dryly.
Nora laughed just as a woman approached our table. It wasn’t the man who seated us or the young woman who waited on us. Nora clearly knew her, though, because her face broke into a wide smile. “Hey, Delia.” She stood and pulled the woman into a quick hug. “This is my friend Daphne,” she said, gesturing to me. I didn’t know if I counted as Nora’s friend, but my heart warmed a little at having her describe me as one. “She’s our new chef.”
I started to stand, and Delia waved me back in my chair. “No need to get up. I’ve heard your food is amazing,” she said, her blue eyes twinkling. With her honey-blond hair and warm smile, Delia was simply lovely.
“You’ve heard about my food?” Anxiety spun in my chest. Although the kitchen was one area where I felt confident, it was always intimidating to wonder what other skilled chefs might think. Having come from a city where trying to start a new restaurant was a cutthroat business, I’d been enjoying my anonymity here.
Delia’s eyes twinkled. “Of course. I’m sure you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere out there, but you’re only twenty minutes away. All of the guests come to Diamond Creek for shopping and more food.”
“We love her, and I told Flynn not to be an asshole to her,” Nora piped up.
My laughter bubbled out. “He’s stayed out of my way so far.”
“He knows a good chef when he’s found one,” Nora said firmly. “By the way, did you hire the last chef we had who quit?” Her eyes swung to Delia.
Delia shook her head. “Marley told me that she actually complained about Flynn at the interview. Although I’m not here to defend Flynn, that’s never a good look.”
Nora nodded while I remained silent, thinking there wasn’t much for me to offer on that point. Delia glanced back at me. “Welcome to the area. If you keep turning out food as good as the rumors say, I don’t think you’ll need to worry about Flynn being a jerk to you.”
Delia departed with a light squeeze on my shoulder, immediately stopping to check on another table as she moved away.
“She seems really nice,” I offered after taking a sip of my wine.
“Delia’s great. Although we both grew up around here, I didn’t really get to know her until the past few years. She was a few years ahead of me in school, and you know how that goes. Anyway, she manages the restaurant here. She was a single mom for years, but then she fell in love with Garrett Hamilton, whose family owns this ski lodge. He’s a hotshot attorney who moved up here from Seattle. His brother, Gage, runs this place with his wife. Garrett came up for a vacation and fell in love with Delia. It was all very romantic,” Nora explained. “It’s nice to see her doing so well. And if she’s heard about your food, that’s a good sign.”
I rolled my eyes. “I appreciate the compliments as much as anyone, but it’s not a business issue. The people are going to eat there no matter what. They might come to Diamond Creek for lunch or dinner occasionally but…” My words trailed off with a shrug.
“I know, but we like the food to be good. You do seem to be immune to Flynn’s attitude,” she offered with a cheeky smile.
“I don’t know about that. He gets cranky; he just doesn’t snap at me too much.”
Nora looked as if she was considering something, but she simply lifted her water and took a swallow. “Do you like that wine?” she asked, gesturing to my wine glass. She was sticking with water since she was driving, but she’d insisted I try this particular wine.
“It’s delicious. Did you say it’s local?”
“Yes. It’s from Diamond Creek Brewery. They make wine too. I keep telling Flynn we should buy from them occasionally, but he says it’s too expensive. He worries about money constantly.”
“I noticed.”
I was so curious, so freaking curious about Flynn, but I wasn’t about to get nosy with his sister about him.
Nora offered up answers anyway. “He worries because he came home to a bunch of debt. Grant had just started college, and I was in high school when our mom died. He put me and Grant through college, and he’s raised Cat since she was nine. He’s making sure he has enough saved up for her to go to college too. So I tease him, but he’s the best big brother I could imagine. Even if he’s cranky sometimes.”
My heart did a funny tumble in my chest. I didn’t need to go and think Flynn was amazing, in addition to being so sexy that I could hardly stop thinking about that one night between us.
“Wow,” I said. “You’re lucky to have him.”
Nora nodded vigorously. “Yeah, he left the Air Force to come home. I think he was probably ready anyway. We all give him hell sometimes, but we’re really protective of him.”
Just when I thought Nora had forgotten to be nosy about me, she asked, “So what kind of life did you have that you could afford to come to Alaska for a month on your own? How could you change your plans to stay and work for us?”
“Well, that’s more than a question,” I said with a startled laugh.
Nora shrugged unabashedly. “I guess so. We all love you, and we’re beyond happy you stayed.”
“I’m pretty sure Flynn doesn’t love me,” I murmured.
Nora laughed at that. “He loves your food, he loves that you helped him out in a pinch, and he’ll love you even more if you stay.”
I took a gulp of my wine, twirling the glass in my fingers before I set it down. “My answer isn’t simple. One thing I’ve learned in the past year is it’s always better to be honest. It’s kind of heavy, so if you don’t want to hear it, that’s okay.”
Nora’s gaze sobered as she looked back at me. “Tell me.”
“To answer your first question, I was able to afford a month in Alaska after I closed my restaurant because I grew up with money.” I lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “That’s just luck. I don’t think I deserve the money, or my family, for that matter. Trust me, I would trade the money if I could. My whole life kind of blew up about a year and a half ago. I had a son, Brandon. I was married, and I had my restaurant and friends. I thought my life was pretty good. Then Brandon was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer when he was four.”
Nora’s eyes widened, and she pressed her hand on her chest over her heart. “Oh, no. I’m so sorry.”
I’d practiced saying this so many times that I could actually get through it without completely breaking down. My chest tended to feel a little hollow, but I could breathe, and my heart stubbornly kept on beating.
“Thank you. The survival rate for that cancer is not good at all. We knew almost right away that it wasn’t likely he would live.”
“What kind of cancer?” Nora asked softly.
“Medulloepithelioma. It’s rare and usually diagnosed in young children. Five months is the average survival rate.”
I swallowed through the painful knot in my throat as the tears wicked from it. Blinking rapidly, I pushed ahead. “He died four months later.”
Nora reached across the table and caught my hand in hers. We weren’t close, at least not yet, but her touch was so warm and so heartfelt, and that alone almost had me crying.
I kept it together and forged on. “All of that was awful, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. But the month before Brandon died, I found out my husband was having an affair with one of my closest friends.”
“Oh, my God. That’s just… it’s just awful!” Nora looked horrified.
My anger usually buoyed me through this part of the explanation, and it did yet again. “Yeah, it was awful. He said it was because I was so emotionally unavailable. I don’t know. I don’t think I’ll ever really know. I don’t really think he loved me. In all honesty, I don’t know that I really loved him. Maybe I loved the idea of what we had, but it was all exposed for the superficial sham that it was when something real happened. That last month was brutal. My friend, or rather my not-friend,” I said with air quotes, “tried to apologize. She was horrified when it all came out because I didn’t bother keeping it a secret. I was too raw. Keeping up appearances for somebody else’s sake just didn’t matter.”
Nora was shaking her head, her eyes wide. “My God. Did she think you’d keep it a secret for her sake?”
“I don’t really know. It doesn’t matter to me either. After Brandon died, I kind of fell apart. I’d already closed my restaurant after we found out about Brandon’s diagnosis, but I refused to go back to work for my family’s business. My father runs an investment consortium, and my ex-husband’s family is partners with him. My friend, who had an affair with my ex, worked there too. My father was nice enough to fire her, but he told me I had to deal with my ex, that he was too important for the company. I don’t hate my parents, but I don’t share their priorities. It’s all business.”
When I glanced over to gauge Nora’s response, she was quiet, so I continued. “I saw a therapist for a while. When I finally had my shit together enough to be able to deal with anything, I wanted a change so extreme that maybe I could figure out what I wanted with life going forward. I found your resort almost by accident. There was an ad when I was searching online. I clicked on it and decided it was far enough away and so totally different from anything I’d ever done that maybe it was what I needed.”
“I can’t believe what you’ve been through,” Nora breathed.
“I’m okay,” I said. I meant it too. “As awful as all of it was, at least I didn’t have to worry about paying the bills. I inherited some money from my grandmother, so that floated me. I can sleep through the night now. I still don’t really know what I want to do long term, so you don’t need to worry about me leaving my job anytime soon. Plus, I like it. Y’all don’t have any expectations, so I’m just switching it up every day and doing whatever I want. It’s fun.”
Nora was looking really worried, with her brow knitted in concern and her eyes scanning my face. “Really, Nora, I’m okay. Either I lie to people about what happened, or I just tell the truth. I promised myself I was going to tell people the truth if they asked. You don’t need to feel sorry for me. Period,” I said firmly.
“Your son died. I just can’t wrap my head around how hard that must’ve been.”
“Oh, it was hard, all right. But I’m still here, and I can find joy. Loss is hard, no matter what. Your mother died when you were still in high school, right?”
“Well, yeah. That was hard, really hard. But she was my mom, not my child. Even though she died sooner than I ever wanted, you always expect your parents to go first.”
“I don’t think you can really compare situations. It’s all relative. Instead of feeling sorry for me, tell me about your family.”
Nora was quiet for a few beats before she dipped her chin in acknowledgment. “You’re one of the strongest people I know. Okay, my family. Well, you know all of us. Flynn’s the oldest by seven years. He has a different father, who we never knew. Our mom didn’t have the greatest judgment in men, but she was amazing. Flynn’s dad took off before he was even born. She raised him on her own until she met our dad. Then it was Grant, me, and Cat came last, but definitely not least.”
I snorted a laugh. “Definitely not.”
“Anyway, our dad was kind of an ass. He wasn’t horrible, but he screwed around all the time and came and went pretty much as he pleased. Money-wise, we scraped by. My mom inherited this property from her parents after they passed. He was a builder, so they started on the resort and started the business, but then he left again. He actually died from a heart attack one day, leaving our mom with a ton of debt and a bunch of other problems. Flynn would send money whenever he could, but it’s not like he made a ton in the military. Our mom had a genetic auto-immune disorder, and she eventually died from complications of that. I still miss her.”
“I bet. I’m glad y’all have each other.”
Nora smiled softly. “That we do. Sometimes we drive each other crazy, but Flynn held us all together. If he hadn’t come home when our mother died, Cat and I might’ve ended up in foster care. Grant was in college, but he didn’t have much money, and the court was concerned he couldn’t financially support us. Flynn immediately intervened from a distance. They let us stay at the house since Grant came home from college. Flynn had to come home really fast. Then he had to deal with me when I was sixteen.”
I smiled. “I bet that was fun.”
Nora shrugged lightly. “It was. It’s funny now, but I was probably a bitch.”
“He loves you, that much is obvious.” Because it was. Flynn might’ve been cranky with me, but his love for his family came through loud and clear in every action.
“My new goal is to find him a girlfriend,” Nora commented.
I almost choked on the sip of wine I’d just taken. “Are you serious?”
“Yes! He needs to lighten up. Maybe if he gets laid, he will. It’s all work, work, more work, and no play for him.”
I decided to remain silent. I didn’t even know what to think about the flash of possessiveness I experienced. I had no right to feel possessive about Flynn in any way.
It’s just I wanted him all to myself. Even though I didn’t believe I’d want anyone ever again. Not to mention, I was pretty sure he didn’t consider me his type.
“Maybe you,” Nora said as she eyed me with an assessing gaze.
“Oh, no,” I said, holding a hand up. “Don’t you dare try to set me up with anyone, much less Flynn.”
“Well, the reason I think he doesn’t get cranky with you in the kitchen is because he’s totally got the hots for you.”
My cheeks flamed, but I managed not to choke on my drink.