Chapter 26
Easton
Lila had come downstairs looking like an absolute vision, pausing just on the stairs long enough that I wondered if she’d even take the next step into the kitchen.
She’d been biting her lip and tugging on her sweatshirt so much that I wanted to go over and kiss her right away, but Kipp was right there, and my dick needed to calm down before I laid hands on her.
Then she’d made that comment about her hot dreams, and I couldn’t keep my mouth or my hands off her. I’d bet a lot of money that she was sopping wet in those little panties of hers.
Now, she looked like she was having all sorts of doubts about something, the way her mouth was pinching and her fingers were winding together. I was hoping she wasn’t having doubts about us. She was too good for me, but I more than liked her.
“How about I get you some breakfast and you sit here with Kipp before we head out, okay? He can tell you all about what happened to Phiny last night at her San Francisco catering gig.”
She nodded, but I could tell she looked unconvinced. I listened as Kipp began to share the story Delphina had told him that morning about her experience at last night’s service.
“So, the customers there are something else. It sounds like a snooty place. Can you even imagine catering something where they tell you what they want you to make, taste it in advance, and then complain when you make exactly what they ask? Like, come on?” Kipp curled his lip in disgust. If there was anything that Kipp hated, it was snooty people.
Lila laughed, and my heart lifted a little.
“Yeah, customers can be that way sometimes. For a while, Grams was making cakes for birthdays and stuff, but she stopped because the changes to the orders were wild. One time, someone, I won’t say who,” she smirked at Kipp.
“Asked her to make a birthday cake, but wanted her to leave out the sugar and put extra salt in it.”
“Why? As a joke or something?” That didn’t seem like smart business for many reasons. Plus, you could make someone sick doing something like that.
“Grams said it was some kind of mean-spirited thing she didn’t want to be involved in, but the customer got mad and left her a bad review because she wouldn’t take the order.”
“People have too much time on their hands playing dumb games.” Kipp rolled his eyes.
“Tell me about it.” Lila agreed. “So, Sage told me Phiny was having some trouble in the city, but I was hoping she was doing better. Do you think she’ll come home?”
I heaved a sigh, flipping a pancake over. “I hope she does. She’s the hardest one of us all to figure out. Phiny really wanted that job in San Francisco. She thought it’d be her shot in the food scene, but I’m not sure that’s really her at all.”
She’d been the very last to join the Holt family, and while we all struggled with feeling included, it seemed like she felt it the most. She wanted to prove she had earned her place.
Success was important to her, and I was worried that if she failed, it would deal a big blow to her self-esteem.
Both Levi and Maggie tried to teach her how to get back up when things didn’t go exactly as planned, but Phiny was stubborn.
She’d come up with the idea to do some catering gigs on the side of her restaurant work.
If that didn’t work out either, I’d be really concerned.
She was a talented cook and enjoyed baking on the side, but she’d always longed for something fancy. Maybe I wanted to get away from Wildwood Meadows, but fancy had never been part of the plan. Give me my truck, a pair of boots, and a hammer, and I was good to go.