Chapter 8
Ruben
Late summer was in full swing, and we had seized the opportunity to travel further along to sell at a marathon.
That meant new tasks lay ahead. The stands around us were selling burgers and street food.
But I wanted to offer something special for the runners.
I wanted it to be the ideal food after a competition.
Easy to digest, but with everything the participants needed.
Soup might not be the first pick for a sporting event, but I was convinced my idea was perfect.
And I had something more substantial to offer the spectators. So far, the outlined plan and preparations had worked out fine, thanks to Sway’s help.
We had found an excellent supplier in a short space of time. The small organic farm outside the town limits had supplied us with everything we needed.
Unfortunately, the stress of the last-minute preparations prevented us from enjoying fall in the pretty little town.
But even I had noticed the historic town center, the colorful houses with their gables and window crosses.
With their covered porches and columns in front of the entrances, they were nowhere near as magnificent as Southern mansions.
But the golden-red leaves of the forests surrounding Oakfalls made the place a cozy gem.
We hardly noticed the marathon itself. We were standing far behind the finish line that we were only able to see the people leaving it.
But since this was our target audience, that was enough.
The bamboo bowls and spoons were extra costs I hadn’t initially planned with. But we would easily recoup them, given the number of customers. It wasn’t cold yet. But many fancied warm electrolytes. I was pleased that my research proved me right.
For over an hour, applause had been roaring in the finish area. Since the first runners had crossed the finish line, the stream of finishers had been slow but steady.
In the few months we had worked together, Sway had become an indispensable help. One day she would make an excellent cook.
A customer praised me and my soup to the skies and tried—not very skillfully—to get me to reveal the recipe. I laughed when she ordered a second serving, supposedly sulking, and predicted that she would keep doing so until she had tasted all the ingredients.
I raised my head in appreciation of her stubbornness, and the smile froze on my face. Although they were still at a considerable distance from my truck, I recognized him. I’d recognize him anywhere. He radiated pure energy. Was this man even more gorgeous than I remembered him?
The fact that he had obviously finished a marathon only seconds ago did not detract from his overall appearance. On the contrary. His muscles were even more prominent. His face radiated the triumph of athletic success. Similar to when he came out of the water. Those bright eyes. The relaxed mouth.
An arm wrapped around Shane’s shoulders caught my attention. Right. Shane wasn’t alone. Next to him, an equally fit guy pulled him into his arms. My stomach clenched. It was the same guy from the beach. He leaned toward Shane and licked his ear. I felt sick. Shane laughed.
While he was here with his beau or whatever, I was still pining for him like a lovesick teenager.
While he looked hotter than ever, I stood in front of him in my pear-shaped figure, love handles on my hips and my dirty apron.
After being rejected a month ago, I hadn’t imagined ever facing Shane again. And certainly not here.
Shane lifted his head, and our eyes met. Shock spread across his face. Astonishment. And no matter how hard I tried, there was an emotion that I couldn’t interpret. Anger? Disgust? Frustration? Disappointment? Nothing that suggested he was happy to see me again.
“I’m taking a break!” I whispered to Sway.
“Excuse me?” she called after me, obviously annoyed.
But I only heard her muffled voice as I walked away from the truck.
Automatically, my hand went to my pocket, and I fished out a piece of gum, which I popped into my mouth.
The door slammed behind me, and I walked and walked.
Through the rows of exhibitors. Away from the crowd of onlookers.
The shock of seeing him again was eating away at me.
It took me a few minutes to catch my breath again.
With the oxygen in my lungs, reason returned.
Shane was here with his sweetheart, while I had spent the last three months . . . What exactly had I been doing, apart from still searching for my calling in the culinary world?
I checked me over. It wasn’t that there was anything fundamentally wrong with my body.
But doubts always crept in when I let outside opinions get to me.
I didn’t always succeed in keeping them at bay.
In fact, my body served me perfectly fine.
In the kitchen. In bed. Running through parks.
Reading. Laughing. Talking to friends. In the twenty-six years we had spent together, it had been a loyal and reliable companion.
The shock of my replacement had made me forget that. My perspective was completely off-balance again. My steps slowed down. Even though we had only had those few days together, I missed him. His laughter, his jokes, his tenderness. I sighed.
Was it Shane I missed? Or was it the idea of someone who wanted to be with me?
Damn it. I should never have decided to spend a whole season in this food truck.
If I had thrown myself into the stress of a Michelin-star kitchen, I wouldn’t have had any time for any of those silly thoughts.
A partner? What about my plans? All my life I had been able to focus, and suddenly I was thinking… what?
I slowly made my way back through the crowd to the truck. My cheeks burned with embarrassment as I thought about the stunt I had just pulled. Shane must have been laughing his head off at me.
It’s time to grow up, Ruben. I talked myself into going back as if I were a lame donkey.
Step by step, I got closer to the truck.
I’d put on my most charming salesman’s smile, greet Shane and his partner, and serve them their food as I should.
Then I’d finish the season in the truck and go to the luxury hotel to work for a chef my boss in Paris had recommended me to.
So. There. Life planned out perfectly.
As I stepped through the truck door, Sway glanced at me. “Did you have a good break?”
“Sorry,” I muttered. “Had to stretch my legs. I’m back now.”
I glanced at the people standing in front of our counter. Shane was nowhere to be seen.
“Hmm. Hey, Sway.” As I filled the bowls with soup, I turned slightly toward her. “Weren’t there two surfer guys here before I left?”
“You mean your surfer and another dude? They were here. One of them even asked about you, but you left so quickly that all we saw was a cloud of dust.”
“What? Which one?”
“Which one?” She mimicked my tone but didn’t lose her smile. “Yours, of course. I forgot his name.”
Fortunately, my hands worked without me having to think, because my stupid heart was beating in my throat.
“Where did they go? I can’t see them anymore.”
Sway handed a bowl of stew across the counter to a waiting customer and tilted her head. She pointed her chin somewhat randomly across the lawn in front of us.
“That way, I guess. I didn’t check to see where they went. I was busy here.”
My guilty conscience battled with my curiosity about what Shane wanted to know. “Sorry!” I muttered again. “That was . . . but you know what?”
Narrowing her eyes, Sway turned to me and gave me an angry glare. “What?”
Even though I had decided that I had to get Shane out of my head as quickly as possible, this was my last chance to find some kind of closure. I quickly lifted an empty pot off the stove and put it in the sink.
“I’ll be gone for two minutes and back right away.”
As I disappeared from my truck for the second time in half an hour, I clearly heard Sway muttering, “Kindergarten.” She was right, but just as in kindergarten, I had to fail once more to understand that the situation was hopeless.
With every step, I got faster. But Shane and his partner remained missing.
A hole ate away my stomach. I had only myself to blame for missing the opportunity. Melancholy took the place of the hole.
I scolded myself inwardly. It was goodbye. One way or another.
It was my own fault that it happened this way.
I turned around. People. Too many people. And the forest surrounding the town. Autumn in New England was truly one of the most beautiful things in the world. It was time to leave that behind too.
The cold season couldn’t come soon enough. Hopefully it would bring me to my senses.