Heart of Gold – by Tiffany Carby #3
I had recruited Rory Armstrong, the town’s princess, amazing pastry chef, and a Griffin herself—to help with the desserts.
I planned to dazzle the family with a fourteen-karat-gold vanilla bean crème br?lée with homemade ice cream made by yours truly, but I also wanted other things to serve alongside the expensive treat.
Gold anniversary petit fours, cheesecake-stuffed strawberries, and mini almond tortes were items she had suggested.
I told her to run with it. She’d be attending as a guest but offered to help me with anything behind the scenes as well.
I was closing the restaurant at 6 p.m. to prepare for the party to start at eight and planned to keep my whole staff on to make sure everything was perfect.
After all, Raleigh was paying for it, and I wanted to impress. His chef had already ordered some special ingredients and booze, so Raleigh was planning to drop that off at the restaurant to save me some time. But I had additional plans that required a few extra ingredients.
Caviar, white truffles, gold leaf, vanilla beans, and saffron were being held for me at one store, and foie gras from a locally owned, ethically raised butcher just outside of Lexington was also on my list. I wanted to stop at a larger supermarket to get a few things as well.
Living in a small town was nice, but it often meant traveling to the bigger cities for things you couldn’t find at home.
Adam came in as I was shuffling around the kitchen.
“If your hair was any messier …”
“Hush!” I didn’t let him finish teasing me.
I was thankful for a slow Thursday and that my staff were on time and could handle the dinner “rush” while I trotted around trying to figure out the menu and preparations needed for the anniversary party.
It was all in my head—at least the expensive, hard-to-get ingredients were—and that was what mattered at the moment.
“Any chance you’re off?” I asked Adam. He had plopped himself up on the counter next to the sink of dishes.
“I mean, no, but it’s slow as Christmas. I could probably ask for the rest of the night off if I wanted. Why? You need help with the dishes?” He looked down at the pile in the sink.
“No, but I could use some moral support and a ride to Lexington to pick up stuff for the anniversary shindig,” I told him. “You girls good?” I said to Holly and Katie, my two best sous chefs. I knew I was leaving the place in good hands with the two of them in the kitchen.
“Yes, Chef,” they said in unison.
“I’m not sure what time we’ll be back, but we will return with stuff for the fridge and freezer, so if you have time, could you make room?”
I was ready to go when I saw Adam looking through the glass on the door to the dining room.
“Hey, I know her,” he said and pushed the doors open. I followed to see who had come in.
“Pippa?” Adam said, walking to the ma?tre d's podium like he owned the place. “I figured you’d be on your way home by now. Something wrong?”
“Officer, I mean Adam. Hey, yeah … they had the tires, but something was bent on some wheel-bearing thing or something and they can’t get the part until tomorrow. I walked over here to see if I could get some dinner and find a place to stay for the night.”
“Oh, wow, that stinks. And you have no cell phone. You’re welcome to use mine. Would you want to call your girlfriend in Lexington and see if she could come to get you?”
I walked up closer behind Adam and watched as this conversation unfolded.
“As silly as this is going to sound, I have no idea what her cell phone number is. None of my friends. They’re all stored in my phone.
I thought about calling an Uber, but by the time I pay for that and inconvenience my friends to bring me back here tomorrow, I figured I could just get a room for the night. Is there a hotel nearby?”
I slid up next to Adam’s side and linked my arm in his, staking my claim. Yes, we were just friends, but I didn’t like the idea of Pippa getting close to him.
“Hi. I’m Henley. I own Baldwin’s. Is there something I can help with?” I butted in.
“Hen, this is Pippa. Her car broke down on the way to Louisville today, and I helped her get towed over to Griffin’s,” he said, knowing I heard the rest of the story.
“Hen and I were just getting ready to go to Lexington. Why don’t we just give you a ride?
Yeah, Hen?” He looked over at me for approval.
It wasn’t like I could refuse since he had already put the offer out there.
“Oh, I can’t impose. You’ve done enough to help me today already …”
He’s done enough? Already? Oh, really?
“It’s fine, really. We can drop you off at your friend’s place in Lexington. We’re on our way there now anyway,” Adam said.
“You wouldn’t mind?” she said and now I felt bad, both for not wanting to help my fellow man and for gritting my teeth.
“It’s settled,” I said and encouraged them to get the show on the road. “I’ve got people waiting on me, so let’s hustle, Walker.”
As we went outside to the cruiser, an unintentional standoff for who was going to sit in the front seat occurred. I heard her mumble something about it being her first time in the back seat, and I wanted to puke. Luckily for her, Adam kept an exceptionally clean car.
ADAM
“I’m so sorry for the pitstop—these guys are staying open late just for me,” Hen said as we dropped her off at the door of the butcher shop.
“She won’t be long, and we can head over to your friend’s house so you can retrieve your phone.
Do you want to stay there or head back to town with us and get a room like you had planned?
” I asked. Wondering and kind of hoping she’d come back to Spring City.
I was enjoying her company and the excitement of someone new.
“If you don’t mind me hanging out with you guys, it really makes sense for me to go back to Spring City, that is if there’s a hotel or motel nearby.” Our arms brushed as we stood outside the cruiser waiting on Henley to return. Her soft skin made me want to touch her again.
I explained the local bed and breakfast would be her best bet. I called Mrs. Armstrong while we waited and booked her a room for the night.
“That is just awful about her car. I’ll make sure the dear has a comfortable night and is on her way tomorrow morning with a full belly.
” she assured me. As I hung up, I noticed Henley was coming out with a large cart full of items. I hadn’t thought to unload my trunk before this excursion, so I quickly went around to rearrange things and help her pack the car.
Out of earshot, she asked me about Pippa.
“What’s her deal?”
“Unlucky day, it seems,” I said and told her about the tire mishap. “She’s staying at the Verboden Mansion tonight. Mrs. Armstrong was able to get her a room.”
“She’s going back with us. Why not just stay at her friend's house? where her cell phone is?”
I then explained that she lives in Louisville, and she didn’t want to impose on her friend another night. “Wait, why do you care?”
“I—I don’t.” Henley harrumphed. “I’m just stressed and have a busy two days ahead of me.
I was hoping to count on a little help from you if you’re not too busy galivanting Miss Pippa all over Kentucky.
Hell, I’m surprised you haven’t offered to drive her to Louisville and back to pick up her car, or better yet, offer to let her stay at your house. ”
Well, that was an unexpected outburst. Was this jealousy? Or just stress like Henley said? She should be able to count on me. She would . Will . She will be able to count on me.
“Hen, you’ve got me. I’m already off for the next three days, so you can work me to the bone. Don’t ever think you don’t have my help. I was just trying to do the right thing for this girl.”
Yeah, that’s what it was. The fact that I liked being with her didn’t help my case, but I wasn’t going to continue to stand in the butcher shop’s parking lot whispering loudly about Pippa who was sitting in the back seat of my cruiser.
“I’ll even do dish duty,” I said, trying to smooth things over.
“Next stop?” Henley said and got back in the car.
Henley said she’d be in the specialty store a little longer than the butcher shop. Since we were close by, she suggested we get Pippa’s cell phone while she was shopping and talking to the owner. Her friend’s apartment was just a mile away, and we were able to retrieve it quickly.
“Marcia told me to just stay with her and that she’d bring me to Spring City tomorrow,” Pippa said as she got in the back seat of the cruiser. “She thought it was a little weird that a cop was chauffeuring me around.”
“I mean, it is kind of weird but warranted by the situation. And don’t feel pressured by me not to take Marcia up on her offer. Save you a hotel stay.”
“I know …” Her words fell off and she looked down at her hands. “But I kinda liked hanging out with you, and I’ve already told her no.”
So I wasn’t the only one who felt that attraction.
I got out of the car and opened her door.
“At least sit in the front seat when Henley isn’t with us. You want to talk about weird? It’s weird having you in the back like I’m taking you down to the station.”
She smiled and obliged.
Give me about 15 more minutes and I’ll be done , Henley’s message read.
“You like milkshakes?” I asked Pippa and after she nodded, we headed over to a little drive-in that Hen and I frequented when we were in town.
I ordered my usual chocolate shake, Henley’s cherry shake, and Pippa picked peanut butter. It wasn’t long before we had our treats in hand and went back to pick up Hen. Waiting in the parking lot for her to come out with her purchases, I told Pippa a little about our lifelong friendship.
“We’ve always said that chocolate and cherry go well together,” I said and took a sip of Henley’s shake. It was our thing. We shared our shakes just like we shared our breakfast, and she wore my T-shirts, and I left her silly notes on her refrigerator.