Chapter 24
Ruben
TopDavey had booked Shane and was driving with him through the ski world of North America.
On day three of Shane’s ski circus to Canada—oh no, ski safari, of course—my mood plummeted. We had only been able to talk to each other on one evening. The rest of the time, he was in some kind of dead zone, had to go to an event, or they moved to the next accommodation.
Shane wanted to know how I knew Dave. I thought I had made it clear that Davey wasn’t important and that our onetime encounter was completely irrelevant. But Shane had become strangely quiet and said we would talk about it later.
The last thing I was interested in was TopDavey. Luckily, I was neck-deep in work, and it was only a matter of hours before the crew returned.
Connie and I trudged across an organic farmer’s field. This part of the job was one of my favorites. Testing new products, trying out new suppliers. Knowing where the products came from. The winter salad we were testing today had an excellent reputation.
“Help yourselves,” Albert urged us. “I’ll deliver it to you every morning, fresh from the field.
” I plucked a few leaves and popped them into my mouth.
No dirt, no fertilizer, nothing. The crisp flavor and crunchy freshness of the leaves were overwhelming.
I nodded to Connie with a smile. She crushed a few leaves between her fingers, smelled them, and put the rest in her mouth.
“We’d still like to see the harvested produce. Where and how is it stored?” Connie continued.
“No problem. Come with me.” Albert led us back to his Jeep. “We don’t store much. We harvest to order. But we do have a small stock for the farm shop.”
We drove back to the farm, and Albert continued his tour of the greenhouses. I checked every corner curiously. It was a real privilege to be here with Connie.
“What do you think?” she asked me.
I pointed to the sprout beds in a greenhouse. “I could use the sprouts in salads. We have our own, but these are crisper and more flavorful. I’d love to experiment with these!”
Connie raised an eyebrow. “We don’t have the time or the resources to experiment.”
I laughed and waved her off. “I have a specific idea of what I want to do with them. If you’d consider trying it.”
“You think I’d put one of your experiments on my menu?” She smirked.
I nodded confidently. “Yes. I think my idea could be a perfect complement to your creation.”
Connie shook her head. “Now don’t get cocky.”
At first, I flinched. I never took rejection lightly.
But I quickly shook off the blow. If she didn’t want to, I couldn’t force her.
No one could stop me from working with the ingredients.
Even if the finished dish would never make it onto the menu here, my fingers and my mind were itching to get started.
Lime, cayenne pepper, edible flowers, honey, or maple syrup—I wasn’t sure yet.
But in any case, pistachios had to be part of the mix.
Nutty, fresh, strong in flavor with a hint of spice.
That’s how I imagined the overall package.
Connie placed the order. When we were finally in the car on the way back, I glanced at my phone. Sorry, we’re running late. See you tomorrow. <3
I sighed. I didn’t need this. I wanted to crawl into Shane’s extra-small bed tonight and talk about my latest salad creation. And do other things.
“When can I test your experiment?”
Surprised, I turned my head. Connie glanced at me and raised the corner of her mouth. “What? If your salad is any good, I want to know. And add it to my repertoire.”
Laughing, I looked back at the road ahead of us. “I just found out I have the evening off and will dive right into it.”
As we drove along the resort’s driveway, we were greeted by an unexpected sight.
Two of the three minivans that had left for the ski safari three days ago were parked in the driveway. People were bustling around, unloading them.
I searched hard for Shane among the arrivals. Had there been a change of plans? But it hadn’t even been two hours since he had texted me.
But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t spot Shane.
Connie drove on to the staff parking lot.
When we got out, she handed me the box with the samples we had taken with us. “Have fun. I’ll be in the kitchen from three o’clock this afternoon.”
I nodded. “No problem. You’ll find me there. I’ll quickly put this in the fridge.”
I quickly ran into the warehouse and put the salad in an empty cold storage room. I wanted to find out what had happened to our snowboarders. If that meant seeing Davey, I was willing to accept that.
I hurried back to the forecourt, where the luggage was now piled up.
I walked determinedly toward Matt. “You’re already here?”
He nodded wearily. “Yep. The candidates here were pretty exhausted from the tour.”
My gaze drifted around nervously. “And Shane . . . ?”
“Oh, no. They’re off again. His snowboarding student couldn’t bear to part with him.
When he heard that most people were already planning to head back, he made quite a fuss because he wanted to go to the last lodge on the program.
With a view of the lake and the mountains.
” He leaned toward me and whispered, “If you ask me, he saw his last chance to seduce Shane, since he wasn’t taking the bait. ”
I grimaced as if I had bitten into a lemon.
In front of me, Matt stumbled into my arms. “Ouch!” he cried.
Chloe punched him again. “Nonsense. Don’t worry, Ruben. The two of them will finish the tour as planned. While we’ve already taken the wimps home.”
She gave Matt a meaningful look.
He grimaced. “What? It’s true. Dave didn’t miss a chance to hit on Shane.”
“Goodness, Matt, your manners!” Chloe put her hands on her hips in exasperation.
He threw his arms in the air. “I don’t know what you want from me.”
She pointed her chin meaningfully in my direction.
“What?” Matt asked again, and I rubbed my face in frustration.
“Leave it alone, Chloe!” I said. “They’re not coming home today?”
“No,” she said calmly. “But you don’t have to worry.”
“Why should Ruben worry?” Matt wanted to know.
I relieved Chloe of the task of tactful rephrasing and answered him myself. “Because Shane and I are together.”
“Oh!” Matt stared at me with wide eyes. “I didn’t know that.”
“Sometimes I wonder if you live under a rock,” Chloe muttered to herself.
I waved it off. “I’m not worried. Shane wrote that it would probably take longer.”
Chloe nodded. “We were supposed to leave tonight as planned. But the others insisted on cutting it short. Dave wanted to make the most of the whole day there, though. And he had booked Shane privately. So . . . ”
“It’s okay.” I shrugged. “I was just confused for a moment.”
Sighing, I turned away. I had a new salad creation to make.
Later, after Connie had enthusiastically sampled my salad and I had cleared away the staff’s food, I checked my phone again. My last message hadn’t gone through. That could mean about anything. From a dead battery to a stashed phone to no signal.
Chloe helped me put everything in the dishwasher. “No message yet?”
I shook my head. “It’s ten o’clock now. They should have arrived over an hour ago.”
She nodded. “Adriel is trying to reach the driver. No luck either. They must be stuck somewhere without reception.”
“I’m afraid so.” I shook my head in annoyance. “Hopefully nothing has happened to them.”
Chloe put a hand on my forearm. “I’m sure they’re fine. It snowed a lot in that area last week, but the roads were clear when we were traveling.”
I sighed.
“You don’t think . . . ?” She glimpsed at me with furrowed eyebrows.
Now I laughed. “No. I don’t think that. I trust Shane. Besides, we talked about it.”
“Okay. Sorry.” Chloe raised her hands defensively. “I was trying to reassure you. The guy he’s with is a model.”
I raised an eyebrow mockingly. “You’re not very good at reassuring me, Chloe. And I know Davey is a model. A hair model.” After all, he hadn’t missed an opportunity to tell me that over and over again. Until I couldn’t hear it anymore. “But he’s not Shane’s type.” And he would never do that to me.
“Oh. Okay.” She didn’t look convinced, but I was done talking about it. “I’m going to go to the cabin and hope Shane arrives soon.”
She nodded with a tentative smile and hugged me again.
But all my hopes were in vain. When I was awakened at six o’clock the next day by a hammering on the door, I was lying alone in our room.