Chapter 58
fifty-eight
ROWAN
Ellie has not stepped out of the kitchen in four days . The only time she has is when I force her to shower, eat, and at least sleep for five hours. I don’t know how she’s working on no sleep. Then again, this is what she did throughout her 20s.
When she told me what happened, I wasn’t sure if I should have been happy or worried. Happy because she’s officially moving back home, or worried that she now has two weeks to produce five dessert items for her boss.
After she told me that, she started writing down ideas and making a list of everything she needed. I insisted on going shopping for her so she could stay home and continue to come up with more ideas. I’ve even cracked an egg or two for her while she was running around with flour on her face and arms.
There was a night when I made her go to bed with me and she woke me up by reciting a recipe in her sleep. Call me crazy, but when I heard her talking to the ceiling in measurements, I grabbed my phone and started typing what she was saying.
She swears she doesn’t remember doing that but kissed me about ten times while thanking me for it. It was for some sort of blueberry dish that had to do with a crust. I wasn’t exactly sure. It did sound good, though.
Watching Ellie work in the kitchen, doing what she does at The Red Table, no wonder people go to her for her work. This is some straight-up fancy shit. I don’t necessarily understand why she needs to break something that was placed perfectly on a plate. But it’s a thing.
I watched her make a key lime tart with berries and white chocolate, and it was interesting. It took her an hour just to perfect one. She made dough, key lime filling, raspberry foam (I told her that sounded like a cleaning product, and she rolled her eyes at me), and a whipped white chocolate ganache.
After she completed putting everything together and made it look like a fancy building you would see in New York, she took multiple photos, wrote it on the menu, and then had us try it.
I was wrong about the foam. It was awesome.
“Okay.” Ellie claps her hands and flour puffs in the air. “I have four out of five desserts. We have the key lime tart, the mini blueberry mousse cakes, the caramel apple mascarpone vanilla mousse cake, and the three chocolate plaisir sucre.” She lets out a breath after naming off all four of the dessert names. “I just need one more, but my mind feels like mush.”
“You have time to think about the last one. You were able to get all of these done in almost a week. Take this extra time to give yourself a break.” I lean on the marble counter.
“I can’t. I have a rhythm now, and I don’t want it to stop.” She continues to move things around: bowls, plates, whisks, spoons.
“Okay but you can’t think of anything else, so you should take this time to let your mind recharge. Don’t force it, or it won’t be something you’re happy with.”
Ellie slumps her shoulders and tilts her head back. “I know. I just don’t want to stop.”
I walk around the kitchen counter and pull her into my arms. “I know, but it’s healthy to give yourself a break. And a shower.”
Ellie pulls away and tilts her chin up to look at me with squinted eyes. “Are you saying I smell?”
I pinch two fingers together. “Only the tiniest bit.”
She deadpans and starts to walk away toward the stairs. “Well, I’ll go scrub my ass nice and clean just for you,” she says over her shoulder.
“I can help with that if you want,” I reply while I stay back in the kitchen, watching her take the first step on the stairs.
She looks at me with a glare, and I laugh, holding up my hands. “I’m joking.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I’m not. But I will clean up the kitchen for you.”
She leans against the railing, exhausted. “Ugh, thank you. I love you. You’re the best.”
“I will never get tired of hearing you say that.” I smile at her, and we lock eyes until she makes it upstairs.
* * *
An hour later, Ellie is sparkling clean and wearing a smile. “Ah, that feels much better.” She sits next to me on the couch while I scroll through my phone.
“I’m glad.” I give her a kiss on the side of her wet hair and look through my phone some more.
She lays her head on my shoulder before asking, “What are you looking at?”
“I’m looking at the line-up of vendors for the Taste of Dove Point.”
“Shit, it’s already coming up?”
I nod and say, “Mm hm.”
She peeks to look at the list I have pulled up. We have about fifty businesses taking part, which is more than I thought we’d have this year. Addie even rented a table to offer free tastings to the tourists who will soon be pouring into town.
“I think you should do it. It couldn’t hurt to see where it takes you. What else would you be doing now that you’ve decided to stay here?”
“Crap,” she whispers. “I didn’t even think about what would happen after. I just knew I wanted to be back home and fuck everything else.” She waves a hand.
“Well, it’s a good thing you’re staying with me. You can figure out what to do without worrying about expenses.”
She pulls back her head to look at me. “I’m not doing that.”
I angle my head and give her a Don’t be stubborn look.
“I'm not going to mooch off you. If I wanted to do that, I would just go live with my parents until I figured things out.”
“You’re not going anywhere. You’re staying here, and you are going to figure out what your next move is. I don’t want you to worry about anything else. That is your job, for now, to figure out what you want to do. Don’t feel any pressure.”
“Do you know who you’re talking to?”
“Fine. Let’s start with the festival. We can sign up right now.”
“Right now?”
I nod. “Right now.”
“Do they have any spots left? I don’t even know when it will happen.”
I click on the vendor signup sheet and sure enough, it’s still open. But the deadline is today.
“It’s next weekend, so you have about a week. And with what I saw in the kitchen this past week, I think you’d be able to do it, especially when it’s desserts you want to make and not for someone else. You already have a town full of people who are familiar with your work, but now you will get to show off to people coming to visit for the festival.
“It’s a great opportunity to see how well you do by selling whatever it is that you want to make. Do you want to make a simple chocolate chip cookie? That will sell out because that’s just how good you are at what you do. I will be there to help you out every step of the way and I’m sure our friends would also pitch in. I’m not the only one here that wants to see you succeed and be genuinely happy.”
She stays quiet and thinks about what I just said.
“The deadline to sign up is today ,” I say to her.
She looks at me with raised brows and says, “Oh, shit. Okay.” She bites the corner of her lip and spins the ring on her finger. “I guess it couldn’t hurt if I’m making simple things, that is. What’s the signup fee?”
I look at my phone and read the information and then I show her.
“Two hundred.” She keeps her eyes on the phone screen. “I don’t know.” She looks at me.
“I’ll pay the fee.” I bring my phone back to me and start to type in her information.
“No, you won’t.” She reaches for my phone, but I snatch it away quickly, holding it toward the opposite side of her.
“Ellie,” I say sternly. “You’re going to let me do this for you. It doesn’t matter if you won’t let me do it now, but I will do it. The moment you’re not around, I’m going to pay the deposit.”
She sits back down on the couch and crosses her arms. “Fine. But I’m paying you back.”
I bring my phone back down and continue to type. “You can pay me back in extra cookies.”
I finish filling out the application, pay the fee, and hit send. I have a giant smile on my face when I look at her and show her the phone screen that it’s been accepted.
“I still need to come up with one more dessert for my boss. Well, ex-boss now.”
“Continue to brainstorm, but not today. Start again tomorrow. You need to give yourself time to rest. Me and the guys will look at the list of everything you will need to bring. I can buy all the baking items you need. I’ll even make sure to put the speed on the mixing stand at one and not five.”
I get a laugh out of her for that, and my heart thrums at the sound of it. She shakes her head and then tilts it. “What would I do without you?”
I get up from the couch while she keeps her eyes on me. I hold out my hand to her, and she looks at it.
“What?” she asks.
“I want to take you somewhere. Come on.” I gesture with my head.
She hesitantly takes my hand, trying to hide her smile. “Okay.”