The Chef's Cutie (The River Hill Series Book 5)

by Rebecca Norinne

  Max followed them when it was his turn, his mind racing. He hoped Lizzie wouldn’t vanish again. His time with her was coming to a close, and he knew deep in the marrow of his bones that if he didn’t think of something, and soon, she’d hop on a plane to Portland and start her new life, the one he wanted to share with her, without ever knowing how he truly felt.

  After a few frantic moments of weighing all of his options, Max did the only sensible thing he could think of. There was a time and a place for a grand gesture, and a wedding recessional wasn’t it. He knew better than to do something outlandish that would turn him into a cautionary tale shared all over the internet, but he could get a message to one person subtly.

  When he drew even with Lizzie and Mia, seated alongside the aisle at the end of their row, he gave Lizzie a warm smile and then bent to speak quietly and quickly into Mia’s ear. “Whatever you do, don’t let her leave.”

  Mia beamed at him and nodded as he passed. He kept going, never breaking his stride in the slow march back down the long lantern-dotted aisle. Once inside, he congratulated Noah, gave Angelica the required hug, and then left them to go check on his staff.

  The reception was well underway by the time he managed to pull himself away from handling various minor emergencies. When he wasn’t putting out small fires—both literally and figuratively—he’d been stopped multiple times by people who wanted to meet him and talk about restaurants. On any other day, at any other occasion, he would have been basking in it, smugly shaking hands and accepting business cards and outlining expansion plans with airy confidence. Today, all he wanted was to go find Lizzie before she left.

  An hour later, he finally got his wish. She was sitting alongside Mia in the parlor, an oasis of quiet in the crowded inn as they chatted comfortably to each other. He sank down next to his niece, who immediately popped up onto her feet. “Took you long enough,” she whispered loudly, any pretence of subtlety vanishing in the blink of an eye.

  “Sorry.” Max opened his mouth to explain himself, but she was already turning to leave, saying something about finding Mrs. Travis.

  “I was starting to suspect something was up,” Lizzie said.

  He glanced over, and caught a look of amusement in her eyes. “Oh?”

  “Mia’s not really a chatterbox most of the time, so she was kind of stretching for material. Did you know baleen whales have two blowholes?”

  He reached for her hand, and she let him take it. “Lizzie. I—”

  “Don’t ask me to stay, Max.” She met his eyes, and the raw pain he saw there made his breath catch harshly in his lungs.

  “I would never do that,” he blurted. “You earned that spot, and you’re going to be an amazing therapist.”

  She lowered her eyes, watching their fingers twine together. “Thank you.”

  “I just wanted to tell you how I feel,” he said quietly. “And see if you felt the same.”

  “You know I do,” she said.

  He swallowed thickly. He’d thought so, but having her say it warmed every inch of him. “I love you, Lizzie.”

  “I love you too, Max. But I have to take this opportunity.”

  “I know. I want you to. I want you to have anything you want.” He slid his thumb along her palm and cleared his throat. “What do you want, Lizzie?”

  She met his eyes again, and there was something fierce in her gaze. “I want everything, Max. I want grad school, I want a job, and I want you.”

  “You can have me,” he said.

  “But I’m leaving.”

  He pressed his lips together around the smile that wanted to steal over his face. Lizzie was so used to denying herself to help others. But it was his turn to help her. “Lizzie. We’re both adults, with careers that are important to us. I just signed a franchising deal to open another restaurant, and I have meetings set up for at least two more. I wasn’t planning to live in your pocket. We can make long distance work while you’re in school.”

  She stared at him. “Long distance?”

  “People do it, you know. Think of it like this: you’re going to be in Portland for two years, right? Assuming the program goes well, which it will, of course.” She gave him a brief smile to reward his confidence in her, and he plunged on. “Opening another restaurant, maybe a few more—it’s a lot of travel. And when I’m not traveling, there’s Mia to focus on, too. But I want to call you every night, hear what you did that day, stay on the phone with you for an hour just to hear your voice. I want to visit you, and have you visit me, whenever we can.”

  He thought about one of the emails in his inbox that he hadn’t answered yet, from an investment group in Portland. He’d once considered opening a restaurant in Oregon’s hipster foodie mecca, but the idea of shuttling back and forth so often hadn’t been all that appealing. Now, though, the idea had a lot more going for it. He wouldn’t mention it to her just yet, though. Not unless the financing seemed viable and he could be assured he had complete control over the endeavor. Weekend visits would do for now.

  “You think it would work?” she asked him with wide eyes. He watched her as realization, wonder, and finally hope flickered over her face.

  “I know it would.”

  “But how? It’s not like I’m moving down to San Jose. Portland’s in a whole other state.”

  He suppressed a smile. “There are these magical things called planes, Lizzie. They carry people to and from destinations far and wide.”

  She swatted him on the shoulder. “I know what planes are, Max. I also know how expensive they can be.”

  “Maybe we each drive then, meeting halfway between here and there.” He shrugged. “I don’t have the exact answer right now, but I know there is one. We’ll just have to get creative.”

  This time he didn’t bother suppressing his smile. Honestly, he was so damn giddy he wasn’t sure that he could have. Saying these words out loud to her made his chest practically explode with the sheer amount of happiness he carried inside of him right now. “I love you, and I want to be with you. Whatever it takes to get you your dream job, I’m here for it. And when you graduate with honors, or flying colors, or whatever it is they give therapists, I’m here for that, too.” He grasped her other hand so that he was holding both of them in his. “Please, Lizzie.”

  “Yes,” she whispered slowly, as if she couldn’t quite believe it. Then, more confidently, “Yes. Absolutely!”

  He laughed, and tugged her forward into his arms. And finally, finally, he kissed her.

  20

  ** Two Years Later **

  Lizzie stood at her kitchen table, her gaze bouncing between three distinct piles of papers. The first one was junk mail that needed to be recycled. The second pile was a copy of her lease and a note from her landlord asking her to sign it and return it by no later than next week if she wanted to keep living there. And finally, the third pile contained four flyers for open houses a friend who worked in real estate had given her this morning at yoga.

  It had been a little over two years since she’d moved to Portland for grad school, and now that she’d graduated a couple of weeks ago, she had some decisions to make. Well, she and Max and Mia did, at any rate.

  When he’d asked her to give a long distance relationship a shot, she hadn’t known what to expect, but being separated by six-hundred-plus miles hadn’t been as difficult as she’d feared. In fact, it had been surprisingly easy—once she’d gotten the hang of phone sex. Naomi had been more than willing to talk through the basics with her.

  Not that she ever had to go too long between seeing him. The direct flight between Santa Rosa and Portland was less than two hours long—there were days he could reach her faster than if they’d driven down to San Francisco from River Hill during rush hour traffic. While at first she’d felt bad about him leaving Mia so often, they’d eventually worked out a system. On the weekends that he came up to Portland, his niece stayed with either Angelica’s mom, or with Jess and Sean. She loved helping babysit their little g
irl almost as much as she loved painting.

  And last summer, once Mia’s school year had wrapped up, uncle and niece had spent the entire summer up in Portland so Max could open up a third outpost of Frankie’s while Mia attended some special art camp Naomi had recommended. Lizzie’s small apartment had been very cramped during their stay, but she’d adored having both of them around while she worked on her thesis project at a first-of-its-kind play therapy center.

  It was during that stay that Max had first floated the idea of her getting a bigger place when her lease was up. The lack of space was the most obvious issue, but he also wanted to be closer to where he’d opened the restaurant when he came up. Not that Lizzie was opposed to moving across town; where she lived now was convenient to school, but not much else.

  But for all he’d encouraged her to explore the neighborhoods of Southeast Portland, he’d been somewhat vague about whether this potentially new place was hers, or theirs. Lizzie had absolutely zero reason to doubt Max’s love for her, or his commitment to their relationship, but if she was going to pull up stakes and move, she wanted to know exactly what she was signing up for.

  He was visiting, sans Mia, in a couple of days; they could discuss it all then. After she welcomed him back to town properly, of course. She was busy imagining all the ways that could play out—should she meet him at the door wearing nothing but a trench coat and high heels? Or perhaps she’d make him wait all day and night before they fell into bed together. There was a lot to be said for anticipation.

  Except their relationship was nothing but anticipation, and she didn’t know if she’d be able to be near Max without wanting to undress him. So clearly it was sex first; conversation second. She was on her way to the coat closet in her small foyer when her phone rang. Pulling it out of her back pocket, she checked the screen to see that it was her former colleague Maggie calling.

  They’d kept in touch after Lizzie had quit her job, but the majority of their interactions were done via Facebook or Instagram. While they’d emailed a couple of times over the last two years, and had gotten together for drinks when Lizzie had traveled to California last Thanksgiving, they weren’t all that close. A phone call out of the blue was rather unexpected.

  “Maggie?”

  “You graduated, right?”

  Lizzie’s head jerked back and she held the phone away from her face to stare at it for a moment. That was a rather strange greeting, even for a woman as forthright as Maggie Beringer. She brought the device back to her ear and said, “Hello to you, too.”

  “Sorry about that,” Maggie chuckled. “Hello, Lizzie. How are you?”

  “Good. You?”

  “Excellent! Fantastic! Which is why I’m calling.”

  “I did wonder.”

  “Please tell me you’re still accredited in California, and that you have your counseling degree.”

  “Yes, on both accounts.”

  “Oh, thank god,” Maggie breathed into her phone. “I was worried there for a minute.”

  Worried? “Why?”

  “You remember that I took over Kate’s job last year, right?”

  Lizzie did remember. It was why she and Maggie had gone out for drinks, even though she’d only been in town for three days and hadn’t wanted to leave the cozy confines of Max’s house. But slaying the dragon that had been their boss was definite cause for celebration. “Congratulations, again.”

  “You’re going to be doing more than congratulating me in a minute,” Maggie said, her voice rising with excitement. “Do you also remember Roberta Jimenez?”

  Lizzie scanned her brain to try and pull the name out of her memory. It sounded vaguely familiar, and yet … “Oh! Yes. She ran that wellness program we piloted.”

  “She did,” Maggie confirmed, “and she’s got a new program she’s trying to get off the ground. Because we did such a good job with that one, she wants us to be the first to roll out this new one, but it’s no pilot. Get this—it’s fully funded!”

  “That’s great, Maggie, truly. Congratulations. But I don’t understand what that has to do with me or my credentials.”

  Maggie laughed, that crazy, deep, throaty sound that had been part of the soundtrack of Lizzie’s life for a handful of years. She smiled as nostalgia washed over her. No one laughed quite like Maggie; it was a sound unto itself.

  “It has everything to do with you, chickadee. The program is a play therapy-based one, set to service foster kids throughout the entire county. I want you to come help me run it.”

  Lizzie stood there in stunned silence, her palm sweating as it gripped the phone tight to her ear. Run the program? Surely she hadn’t heard Maggie correctly. She swallowed deeply in an attempt to clear the frog that had taken up residence in her throat. “Did you just say what I think you said?”

  “If you think I said that it’s time to get your ass back here where you belong, then yes. That’s exactly what I said.”

  “Wow,” Lizzie breathed. She was completely stunned. “I’m speechless, Maggie. I never thought …”

  “There was no way you could have. This is brand new. It’s not even announced yet. I told Roberta I’d get a team together so she can get the ball rolling. You’re the perfect combination of local experience and specific credentials to do this. I need you, Lizzie. Pleeeeeaaaasssee?”

  “I …” Lizzie’s gaze wandered to her kitchen table where her lease and the open house flyers sat. She’d already decided not to renew here, and every time she thought about moving somewhere else in town, a knot formed deep in her belly. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Portland. She loved it.

  She just happened to love somewhere—someone—more.

  She dragged her eyes away from the stack of papers and looked to the ceiling, letting loose a silent note of thanks to the universe. She didn’t know how it had happened, but somehow, she’d just lucked into the thing she’d wanted most after graduation. The thing she’d never let herself voice aloud for fear of jinxing it.

  Finally, after two years, she could go back to River Hill. Back to Max, Mia, and all her friends.

  Back to the home of her heart.

  “Yes, I’ll take it.”

  Lizzie sat on her couch, her knee bouncing in time to the sound of Max’s phone trilling. One ring, two rings, three. Just when she was about to hang up, he answered, sounding like he’d had to run to catch the call in time. “Hey, baby.”

  “Hi.” Lizzie chewed her lip nervously. She didn’t know why she was nervous.

  Okay, she totally knew why.

  While Max had been completely understanding about her applying to grad school a whole state away, once they’d officially gotten together, they’d promised each other not to make any major life decisions without consulting one another first. That went as much for his restaurants as it did the jobs she applied for.

  Which, up until tonight had been a non-factor. The clinic she’d worked for as part of her Master’s program was happy to keep her on their payroll as long as they could. After discussing it with Max a few weeks ago, she’d signed another six-month contract with them. She’d already explained this to Maggie, who had assured her it wasn’t a problem. The job back in Sonoma didn’t start for several months anyway—they were laying the groundwork now for a launch early next year. The timing was actually perfect.

  Still …

  “Did I get the time wrong again?” he asked, his voice muffled over the sound of a crowd in the background. He was at Frankie’s. Of course.

  “No. That’s all on me this time,” she said, a smile seeping into her own voice. No matter what they were doing, they spoke every night at nine o’clock. Whether that meant a phone call that lasted an hour or more, or a few quick texts, they never went more than a day without communicating. Often, Max got the time “wrong” when he couldn’t wait to talk to her. She’d been guilty of it a time or two as well.

  “Well, you know I’m not complaining,” he said. She heard some loud, crackling noises, and she realized he
must have put his hand over the speaker to drown out the chaos around him.

  But nothing could ever drown out Angelica. “We miss you, Lizzie!”

  “The gang all there?”

  “Yeah. Taco night.”

  Mmm, tacos. “Tell everyone I say hello.”

  “Lizzie says hello,” Max repeated dutifully.

  “Hey!” That was Naomi.

  “Lizzie!” Noah.

  “Hiya!” That could only be Maeve.

  “When are you coming home?” And Jess.

  “Maria misses her Auntie Lizzie.” Which meant that had to be Sean.

  She smiled, her heart filling with so much warmth she thought it might burst right out of her chest. Max was the great love of her life, but these were her people, too. She couldn’t wait to get back to him and Mia, but she was equally excited to see them all, too.

  “I miss her, too,” she said, feeling her throat catch around the words. She and Max weren’t married—heck, they weren’t even engaged—so it meant the world to her that Jess and Sean had bestowed the honorific on her anyway.

  “Hey,” he said, “what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong,” she said, but her sniffle gave her away.

  “Baby. Tell me.”

  Lizzie pulled another deep breath into her lungs. This was it. She wasn’t afraid to tell him that she was coming back to Sonoma, she only wondered what it would mean for their relationship. They were so damn good together, but they’d also spent the majority of their relationship living in two different cities. What if this changed things? Or, what if he wasn’t as excited as she was?

  There’s only one way to find out, she thought, as she let her breath out on one long gust. “I got a job offer today, Max.”