Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
Walker
Before I got in my car and drove to our company’s corporate office to attend a meeting I’d requested a few days ago—the advance notice to ensure all my siblings would be there, including Beck—I sat in my home office.
I didn’t come in here as much as I wanted to.
Charred monopolized so much of my fucking time.
Therefore, I spent more hours in my office at Charred.
The accomplishments that hung on the walls there were specific to Charred LA.
But in here, the wall art spanned my entire career.
Articles that had been written in the top publications.
The royalty I’d cooked for. The Michelin stars my restaurants had been awarded.
My brain went straight down memory lane as I scanned each of the frames. There were so many that I could no longer see the wallpaper my interior designer had chosen in here.
But out of all of them, there was one I couldn’t take my eyes off. One that captured my attention and wouldn’t let go.
And it wasn’t on the walls.
It was sitting on the back side of my desk.
Where the canvas lacked in size, it made up for in the message. It wasn’t just the only present I’d ever received; it was the best present I could have ever received.
Because it brought me back to the foundation. Where it had all started for me. Why I did what I did.
James’s charity event had only been a few days ago, and the morning after, when I reached out to the family to schedule our meeting, this painting was what had confirmed my decision. This painting had been in my hands seconds before I texted my family.
Its meaning had been swirling through my head nonstop.
Its purpose was a reminder that I needed to change paths.
For a long time, I’d forgotten the art of cooking. What it felt like to want to create. The burning desire to step foot in a kitchen was gone.
In its place was a fucking hate.
A resentfulness so goddamn deep that nothing was safe in my hands. Fingers that couldn’t scream, so they threw whatever they were holding.
Alivia had slowly changed that.
She rekindled a desire I never thought I would get back.
She made me feel.
She made me want to create again.
And she reminded me that it was all about the art.
I wanted to make fucking art again.
I took one final look at the cabin that sat in front of the lake with a sunrise in the back, and I went into my bedroom and en suite, opening the glass shower door to say goodbye to Alivia. She was rinsing the shampoo out of her hair, her beautiful, curvy body covered in bubbles.
“You’re off?”
I nodded.
“Should I say good luck? I’m proud of you?” She smiled. “Or try not to tear any of your siblings apart when they attempt to fight you on this decision?”
“How about you just tell me you love me?”
She hadn’t said it yet. Neither of us had.
I didn’t know if her skin flushed from the temperature of the water or the steam that was building within the shower, but there was a redness in her cheeks, and it was so fucking gorgeous.
“Walker, I love you so much.”
Her eyes backed up that statement.
So did her cheeks.
Her now-closed lips.
Even her body movement as she came over to me.
But before she’d said it, I had felt it.
And I felt it inside me, that feeling growing the longer we were together. “I love you, Alivia.”
She set her wet arms on my shoulders once I leaned down and kissed her, my hand holding her slick face. I took her lips gently at first and then a little rougher, giving her my tongue.
When she pulled back, her eyes gradually opened, and there was that smile again. The one that lit a fucking fire in my chest. “See you when you get home.”
I adjusted my dick, my hard-on throbbing as I closed the glass door and headed for the garage.
Once I was in my car and through my gate, I weaved through the traffic on my way to our corporate headquarters.
As soon as I parked, I took the elevator to the executive-level floor and gave the receptionist a nod before I waved my credentials in front of the locked hallway door.
As I stepped into the conference room, meeting every gaze that was in here, I took a seat at the head of the table.
They were all here.
Eden to my right, Colson to my left. Beck and Hart next to them.
As I was rolling up the sleeves of my button-down, Hart said, “You know, this is the first time in years that you’re not wearing your chef’s whites in this room.”
I finished cuffing the other side and placed my arms on the table. “That’s because those are getting hung up.”
Hart’s face looked startled, and he grabbed the edge of the desk and leaned forward. “You’re quitting cooking?”
“I’m quitting Charred.” I looked at each of their faces. “That’s why I called this meeting. I’ll continue working there until I’m replaced, but I no longer want to be the executive chef of Charred LA.”
“Shit,” Beck groaned, two of his fingers taped from an injury he’d probably gotten during practice, and he spread the others across the table. “I knew you were unhappy, but I didn’t see this coming.”
Eden and Colson wouldn’t say the same.
I was sure they had seen this coming and they were just waiting for me to announce it.
I held the back of my neck. “Listen, I’ve thought about this for months, and ultimately, I’ve put off my departure for too long.
If I’m being honest, if Alivia didn’t work there, I would have already been gone.
But it’s time I move on. There are things I want to do, and being the chef there isn’t one. ”
I looked at Hart. “You want to change things on Toro’s menu. You want to expand Horned and Charred and Musik, look at properties, build out new locations. All things I couldn’t fathom before. Fuck, I wouldn’t even return one of your goddamn emails.”
Hart shook his head. “Don’t get me started on you and emails.”
“I couldn’t even attend the grand opening of Horned San Antonio, because I was so fucking buried in Charred that I couldn’t pull myself out.
I don’t want that anymore. I want to be there, I want to see the results of our hard work.
” I paused. “I want to love this company again.” I let out a deep breath.
“But I can’t help it grow or help it be better in the current position I’m in. ”
“You lost the love,” Beck said, pulling at the strings of his hoodie. “I can’t even fucking imagine if I felt that way about hockey.”
“But I’ve felt that way about cooking for a long time. I don’t want to live that way anymore. I don’t want to be fucking miserable. I want to want to be in the kitchen. I want to want to create new menu items.”
The room turned silent.
I had no idea what any of them were thinking, but their opinions wouldn’t change my mind.
This was the right move. Even saying the words out loud to them was making me feel better.
“It’s the end of an era.” Eden’s smile was small, but it was there. “I’m proud of you for coming to this conclusion. I know it’s been a long time coming.” She pulled her blazer closed and buttoned it.
“I’m fucking shocked,” Hart said. “I just thought … you’d be at Charred forever.”
“I think everyone thought that.” I leaned back in my chair. “But I think you all know this is the right move. If you didn’t believe that, one of you motherfuckers would be arguing with me right now. I don’t hear any of you doing that.”
Hart nodded, and so did Beck.
Colson put his hands behind his head as he reclined in his chair. “Charred LA is our busiest location. It’s going to take someone exceptional to fill your role. Do you have someone in mind?”
“Once the rumor gets out that I’m leaving, we’ll be flooded with applicants,” I explained. “But Keith deserves a shot at the job. He’s put up with my shit for far too long. He might not know how to cook a goddamn scallop, but he’s more than qualified.”
“I think he’s a good option,” Eden voiced. “I also think we should interview a slew of other candidates.”
“We will,” I told her.
“No more Charred …” Beck was bouncing in his chair, and he took the hood of his sweatshirt off his head, revealing hair that still looked wet. “You’re going to have so much free time, you’re not going to know what to do with yourself.”
“That’s not true,” I countered. “I’m probably going to be in the office since I’d like to be more hands-on with the day-to-day. I’ll be in the kitchen, working on menu items. And I’ll be at Alivia’s—the restaurant.”
“I had a feeling you were going to work with her a bit,” Hart said, tapping his pen on the table. “I didn’t think she was going to be the only one in the kitchen of that restaurant.”
“She can handle it,” I said. “She doesn’t need me.
But I want to be there. I want to cook with her.
I want to watch her dreams come true.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Seeing her grow and knowing I’ve been a part of that has been inspiring.
I never thought I’d have any interest in helping others.
Shit, I couldn’t even help myself. But I’ve liked mentoring her.
And I think that’s something I’d like to tap into more.
Say, travel to some of the other Charred locations, along with Toro and Horned, and work with the head chefs, bringing out the best in them. ”
“I fucking love this idea,” Hart said. He licked the inside of his bottom lip as he stared at me, his eyes narrowing.
“But I just want to make sure of something … what you find in those kitchens, it can’t make you explode.
The last thing this company needs is to have a mass exit of chefs after you chew their asses out. ”
I chuckled. “I’ll play nice.”
“You don’t know how to do that.” Colson smirked.
“I don’t know …” I scrunched my lips together. “I think I might have it in me. I’ll have to dig, but it’s there.”
“Walker”—Eden put her fingers on my arm—“I think once you’re away from Charred—in the executive chef role, I mean—you’re going to feel completely different about everything.
The separation is going to bring out a whole new you.
” Her head tilted as she looked at me. “I already see a difference. I even hear you’re barely drinking anymore. ”
“Who told you that?” I asked.
She released my arm. “I have my ways of finding things out about all of you.”
I’d seen Alivia and Eden chatting at Charred on several different occasions, and I had a feeling some of that conversation had been Eden checking up on me. It didn’t bother me. Eden would forever be worried about all of us.
“You heard correctly,” I said. “I’m sure some of that has to do with Alivia not being a drinker, and maybe some of it has to do with how badly I’d been relying on whiskey to get me through life.
” Some people don’t like to let it all out, in fear that once those words are spoken, they can’t take them back.
Except my family deserved to hear the truth even if it was hard to admit.
“I’m not saying I had a problem. But the amount I was drinking wasn’t helping the problem.
Now, when I do sip a bourbon, it’s for an entirely different reason. And I feel really good about that.”
“You should,” Eden agreed.
I’d had no idea how this conversation was going to play out. I had zero expectations. I wasn’t coming in to negotiate. I had come in to tell them how it was going to be, going forward.
But their responses were everything I needed.
I looked at their faces one more time and said, “Do you have anything to say to me before I take off?”
“Yeah, I do.” Hart was grinning like a fucking fool. “I like the way happy looks on you,” Hart said. “I wish it hadn’t taken this long to see it.”
“Same,” I replied.
“You’d better bring Alivia to my next home game,” Beck said. “Last time I saw her at Charred, she told me she’s never been to a hockey game. Your ass needs to change that.”
I chuckled. “I will.”
“I’d like to know why you haven’t called me back after that text I sent you.” Colson was eyeing me.
Fuck. I’d completely forgotten.
“My bad, buddy. I promise you’re going to get that call. I’d come to your office now to talk if I didn’t have to head into a meeting.”
“Don’t forget,” Colson warned.
I couldn’t tell what was going on with him, but I was certainly curious.
I gave him a nod and got up from the chair. “You know, back in the day—I believe it was one Sunday evening a month—I used to have you all over for dinner. I think it’s time I bring back that tradition.” I looked at Beck. “I’ll work it around your schedule to make sure you’re home.”
“Looking forward to that, brother,” Beck said.
“We all are,” Eden added.
I said goodbye, and I took my cell out of my pocket, hitting Jenner’s number. I held the phone to my face as I walked down the hallway.
“Walker, my man, you’re not canceling on me, are you?” Jenner asked.
“Shit, no. I’m just running a little early. I should be at your office in about ten minutes. Should I stop for coffee and buy myself some time, or can you meet earlier than we planned?”
“For you, I can meet earlier. But if you want to bring some coffee, I wouldn’t hate that either.”
I chuckled. “Consider it done. I know what I’m asking is far outside your scope of service. I want you to know I appreciate it.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got you.”