Chapter 40
CHAPTER
FORTY
The call they’d been waiting for came.
Of course, she missed it.
Madison clicked out of the message the moment she heard the man in the voicemail say he was from Michelin.
Staring at the phone, hands trembling, she could hear herself panting.
“?a va?” Pierre crooned, flying to her shoulder.
The kitchen was empty. She was the last one in the house. Taking a moment of silence at the end of the night had become her new ritual in the lead-up to the Michelin announcement.
She’d told herself all week that she wasn’t going to let the announcement—whatever it was—distract her. So she’d only kept her phone on while they were prepping for dinner. Nothing was going to rule her entire focus. No guy ever had. Neither would the Michelin people.
They’d waited to call until three days before the official ceremony. Three days!
Rico had heard he’d won two stars yesterday—great news—but when the night had ended without any kind of notification, she’d feared Nanine’s hadn’t won.
Now, here she was, alone in the kitchen with the message she’d been waiting for on her phone and no idea what the news was. She’d heard they called people to tell them they’d lost. But were those people who’d already been granted a star? She still wasn’t clear on that.
All she knew was, she had the message, and she needed to run home.
Fast.
Because there was no way she was listening to it without Kyle.
“Pierre, it’s going to be a rocky walk home,” she told him, gathering him up and readying them to go. “Mama’s going to run.”
And she did, pretty much the whole way, her brain telling her she’d totally lost her mind.
She’d just referred to herself as Pierre’s Mama.
She might have just won her first star.
When she reached their exterior street door, she was struck with the enormity of how much her life had changed. She was living in a mansion in Paris with the guy she loved more than anything and, again, she might have won her first Michelin star…
God, who would have believed it? Not her, but this was simply her Spicy New Reality, the one she’d finally started to believe was actually hers.
She burst into the house, panting, and heard Spike’s adorable barks greet her ears.
“Kyle!”
Sprinting toward the kitchen, past the flickering Romance Shrine, she yanked Pierre’s throw off and onto the floor. Because her little cooking buddy deserved to be out of his cage when they heard the news.
As a family.
God, she was totally a dope.
“You got the call!” Kyle was racing toward her pretty fast for a man wearing Italian shoes, his gorgeous hair perfect with a totally joyous expression on his face. “How many?”
“I don’t know.” She lifted her shoulders before setting Pierre down on the floor, sucking oxygen into her straining lungs. “I waited until I got home. I couldn’t listen without you. It’s possible they didn’t grant us anything.”
“You didn’t listen?” He had his arms around her before she could open Pierre’s cage door, Spike jumping on her legs. “Oh, Mad, what were you thinking?”
“Funny you should ask. On the way home I was thinking I’d completely lost my mind.”
“Where’s your phone?” he asked, patting her coat pocket where she usually stashed it, making her give a high-pitched laugh when he accidentally tickled a sensitive spot in his haste.
She blocked Spike as she freed Pierre, setting the parrot on her shoulder to keep him from the excited puppy.
Kyle suddenly thrust her phone out. She grabbed it and pulled up the message on speakerphone. His arm came around her, and she leaned against him as she hit the button, not breathing.
Chef Garcia, this is Gaston Montmorency from the Michelin committee. We’re proud to inform you that Nanine’s has been awarded three Michelin stars this year for its exemplary…
She started screaming. Kyle uttered a loud cry. Pierre cried out. Spike barked madly.
The phone in her hand, she didn’t hear the rest of the message. She launched herself at Kyle, making Pierre squawk.
“We won! We won! We won!”
Her jumping up and down stopped when he wrapped his arms around her. The grip he had on her was tight—perfect—everything she could ever want in a moment like this one.
“You did it, Mad!” He gave another deafening shout. “Three stars! Didn’t I tell you from the beginning?”
She pulled back and gave him a playful shove before kissing him smack on the lips. “Do you know how long ago that was? We’ve walked on shattered glass to get here, dragged our bodies through fire.”
“And now look at you.” He traced her cheek, a loving, joyous glint in his baby blues. “You’re a Michelin-starred chef.”
“I’m a Michelin-starred chef,” she said in a hushed voice, her entire being filling with awe.
The moniker settled around her with a weird kind of reverence.
She remembered the moment she’d put on her first chef’s uniform.
There had been something sacred in the act, the kind of pulsing power of a greater presence—a sensation she’d also felt when Nanine had given her the boning knife Paul Bocuse had gifted to her father.
“I can’t believe it!” She put her hands to her face, practically nailing herself with the phone she still held.
Kyle gently took the phone from her and stuffed it in his back pocket. “I always believed.”
Dammit, her eyes were headed to the waterworks, and she had to bite down on her lip so she wouldn’t go all girly and cry. “Yeah, you sure did, didn’t you?”
He cradled her in his arms, not seeming to care that Pierre was ruffling his feathers to keep his balance or that Spike was launching himself at their legs repeatedly. In this moment, she felt like she was his whole world.
And given this new reality she was living in, she realized there was one more piece she needed to write in. “Kyle…”
“Yeah, Mad,” he said huskily, tracing her cheek with the greatest tenderness.
“Do you still have that ring you showed me?” she asked, feeling her smile grow even wider because all she felt was joy, the purest kind she’d ever felt, knowing this was the next step for them.
He became very still. “Are you serious right now?”
She nodded.
“It’s always with me.” He reached into his suit coat, his baby blues gleaming. “Part of me being positive.”
Hadn’t she known that in some strange way? He needed this step to complete Operation Kyle and Madison, but truthfully, she’d decided it would really be nice, being officially committed to her best friend and lover. Forever.
“Well…I’ve reached my goal of winning a star.” Kyle’s lovesick grin had her tightening her grip on his shirt. “I thought telling you officially that you’re my ride or die seemed like the next step.”
“Does this mean what I think it means?”
“Yep, and I won’t even ask you to get down on one knee.” She gave an easy laugh. “Spike would go crazy.”
“Like that bothers me, and here I thought—never mind…”
And then he lowered himself. Spike did go a little nuts, but Kyle managed to tuck the puppy to his chest while he opened the box. Her beautiful, simple—perfect—ring flashed in the light, warming up her heart.
When he gave an amused smirk, she only shook her head. “The man with the plan.”
“You bet. That’s not just me being positive. That’s me believing you were going to ask for this. For us. For our forever. I had a new plan.”
“Of course you did.” She held out her left hand. “Is this where I ask you to marry me?”
“Not if I ask you first,” he bandied back, laughing. “Mad, will you make me the happiest man on earth and spend the rest of your life with me?”
Sinking down on her heels next to him, she laid her hands on his arms and met his gaze straight on, like she had the first moment they’d met and become unlikely friends. “I’d love to.”
He slid the ring on her finger, and of course it fit. “Me too. And don’t worry, I already asked Pierre and Spike to make sure they were on board.”
Cuddling closer to their little family, she cupped his jaw and leaned in for a kiss. His mouth moved over hers with the pure precision of the finest car engine, sealing the deal.
He was definitely her ride or die.
When they could breathe again, they leaned back against the wall, stretching their feet out as Spike happily crawled all over them. “I know we should get up,” she said with a laugh, “but my whole body is tingly. And this is another crazy thought…”
He looked down at her. “Let’s hear it.”
“I want to text everyone the news.” She practically slumped against him. “I can’t believe I’m saying this. I want to tell them Nanine’s got three stars.”
God, she was really feeling light-headed now.
“And…I want to tell them we’re getting married.” She gave a crazy laugh, feeling happier than she ever had in her whole life. “I might even go so far as to suggest we put on those T-shirts Dean gave us.”
He nuzzled the side of her neck. “Now I know you’ve lost your mind.”
“Completely.” Turning in his arms, she made sure not to squash an excited Spike. “For you. For us. For everything. Kyle, I love you so much.”
“I love you too.” He kissed her softly. “With all my heart. And I have something to show you. Can you get up?”
“Can you?” she shot back, laughing as they pulled themselves off the floor.
He took her by the shoulders to steady them both, letting the moment sink in more.
She was so many things to him. Best friend. Business partner. Lover. Michelin-starred chef. And now fiancée. He’d thought he’d have to convince her to marry him eventually, but no, she’d up and dove into it with the kind of dedication and determination he loved about her.
“Come on.”
Her brow wrinkled. “What did you do? Kyle, I can’t imagine you topping our private dance club.”
Didn’t she know how much he loved a challenge?
“You grab Pierre while I take Spike,” he called, taking her hand and dragging them off to his office, her black high-tops slapping on the marble floors and Spike’s excited barks filling his ears.
When he flung the door open, he pulled her inside and pointed to the wall where he and Sawyer had hung the portrait of her, right across from his desk for him to look at every day.
Her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my God! That’s me!”
“No,” he joked, nuzzling her neck as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.
“Of course that’s you. Even better, it’s how you look at me when I’m not looking.
I’d planned to show it to you today, regardless of the Michelin decision, to remind you how much we mean to each other.
It was Phase One of my Operation Marriage plan, which we achieved today, thank you very much. ”
She turned slowly to face him. “That’s how I— Wow! Okay, if that’s how I look, thank God you tucked this painting away in your office. It’s official. I am no longer a badass.”
“Sure you are, just not with me. Are you going to let Sawyer display it in his first gallery show?” he teased.
She blanched. “Oh, jeez, that would help him, wouldn’t it? I mean, it’s really incredible. I can’t believe that’s me.”
He kissed her soundly since she looked like she was in complete shock. Who knew a painting to immortalize her would do that more than getting engaged?
“Do you have your phone?”
“Don’t you have it?” she murmured, her eyes locked on the painting as she dug it out again.
“Right, clearly I’m a little off balance myself.” He pulled it out of his pocket and stepped back. “Chef Madison Garcia, you just won three Michelin stars. How do you feel?”
Her face swung back to him and when she started to grin, he snapped a photo. “I told Sawyer I wanted a painting of this moment, but I decided a photo I can frame in my office will be even better. I need a wall of honor, because today is only the beginning. Now us…”
He stepped closer and lifted the phone and felt his heart beat faster when she slid her arm around his waist, shot him a huge grin, and then turned her head toward the camera.
When he looked at the photos, he could already envision them situated around his office.
They would be the first of many other great moments with her and the others in their family.
A tradition…something only a family would do.
“Okay, you’ve got your photos!’ She grabbed the phone from him.
“Now, let’s text everybody to come over.
But I’m not telling them the news yet. That way we can see their faces in person.
I’ll start with the Michelin announcement and then you can tell them we’re engaged.
You should take more photos, because I bet their reactions are going to be hilarious.
Any bets on whether Thea is going to scream or cry? ”
“Both,” he answered with another chuckle. “Except I think you should text Nanine the news and let her gather herself in private. She’s had a long journey to this moment too.”
They shared a look, and the relief that Nanine wasn’t going to have to do the exposé hit him in full force. They’d been waiting to hear the Michelin announcement to make sure they were in the clear.
“I’m going to tell her about us too, because it will make her really happy,” Madison added with a soft smile he returned.
They had good instincts, which made them good partners, because when Nanine’s message came back to them, her response had them both leaning against each other and holding hands tightly.
My dear ones. Words cannot express my happiness.
For you, Madison, and for Nanine’s. This has been a long journey for us all, but now I am completely at peace knowing you two will always be together and that our family will continue to thrive here in Paris.
Because one should always have those dearest to them close. Love makes life worth living.
Madison swiped at a tear that leaked out and pressed her face to Kyle’s chest as his hand tangled in her hair.
Nanine was right as always.
Love was everything.