by Aurora Rey
“Hey.” Drew looked over her shoulder. “I was afraid you might get washed out.”
“Almost.” Hannah chuckled.
Drew remained at the stove, but her mother crossed the room to where Hannah was. She offered a hand. “It was nice of you to come. I’m sure you had a long day already. I’m Angelique.”
Her demeanor might have been more reserved than Rose’s, but Hannah instinctively liked her. She took the hand. “Hannah. And thank you for having me. I’m happy to meet you.” She paused, then decided complimenting Drew couldn’t hurt. “I’m also happy to go anywhere that gets me dinner made by Drew.”
The comment earned her a laugh. Drew offered her a warm smile but didn’t move to kiss her. She wondered if it had to do with her family being there or tending whatever she had on the stove. Which smelled absolutely amazing, actually. As if following the trail of her thoughts, Drew gestured to the pot. “I took the liberty of getting started. You tend to arrive hungry.”
Hannah winced. “If that wasn’t true, I’d be offended.”
Rose gave Hannah’s arm another pat. “A woman after my own heart. Can I get you a cocktail, dear? We’re having Manhattans.”
Of course Drew’s beautiful, poised mother and ninety-pound grandmother were drinking Manhattans. “I’d love to say yes, but I’m afraid I’d nod off into my plate.”
“Wine, then.” Angelique pointed to the fridge. “We have a couple bottles of white chilling.”
“That would be lovely.” Angelique started opening the wine, leaving Hannah with nothing to do. She walked over to the stove and peered around Drew. “So, what are we having?”
Drew leaned in and kissed her cheek. It caught Hannah off guard, both in its casual intimacy and because she’d just talked herself out of being disappointed that Drew hadn’t kissed her when she arrived. “Bouillon with yams and beef patties.”
“Oh, that sounds delicious.” Hannah glanced at Drew’s grandmother, who sat at the small kitchen table with a cocktail glass in her hand. “Did she learn it from you?”
“She did.” Rose flipped her hand back and forth. “She’s taken some liberties, but they work.”
Hannah accepted a glass of white wine from Angelique. She thanked her, then raised a brow at Drew. “Liberties?”
“I knew better than to think I could ever make the original better than either of them, so I had to come up with my own version,” Drew said.
Hannah took a sip. “A very diplomatic answer.”
“My mother didn’t raise a fool.” Drew winked at Angelique and was met with a look that managed to be at once bland and deeply affectionate. It reminded Hannah of her relationship with her mother and added to her own affection for Drew.
She asked Rose and Angelique about their visit and the things they’d done. Dishes were passed family-style. Not unlike the picnic, really, or the meals they’d shared together at Drew’s house or hers. But those times were dates in a way, even if she’d not acknowledged it at the time, and this felt like a family meal. The food was beyond good, but there was an easiness to it that still surprised her. Such a departure from what she’d expected when she first met Drew.
When she didn’t think she could manage another bite, she insisted on doing the dishes as a token of her gratitude for being fed so well. Angelique offered to join her, and the next thing she knew, she washed while Angelique dried. It was at once surreal and completely natural to be at the sink next to Drew’s mom.
“You must be so proud, seeing Drew as an executive chef at such a young age.”
Angelique nodded. “When she puts her mind to something, there’s no stopping her. She’s always been that way.”
Something she and Drew had in common. “It’s obvious having your support means the world to her. Seeing how close you are, I’m sure it was hard when she took a job that required such a move.”
“Harder on her than us, I think.” Angelique shook her head. “I don’t think she ever thought she’d have to leave the city.”
Hannah chuckled. “The first time we met, she was so obviously out of her element. I didn’t think I’d ever see her again. I’m glad to have been wrong.”
“Drew will rise to any occasion if it’s part of her master plan.”
She imagined a young Drew, slogging through some inane task with fierce determination. “How long has this been her plan?”
Angelique stopped drying and looked up at the ceiling. “I think since she was about nine. She discovered the original Japanese Iron Chef series on the Food Channel and never looked back. She’d beg me to buy some random ingredient at the store and surprise her. And when I’d bring it home and present her with it, I had to say, ‘Allez cuisine!’”
Hannah laughed and her heart swelled. “That might be the most adorable thing I’ve ever heard. And now here she is.”
Angelique smiled and took another plate from Hannah. “Yes, one step closer.”
Closer? As far as Hannah knew, a head chef gig was the plan. “What’s next, world domination?”
“I’m sure she wants to open her own restaurant someday. In the meantime, with this position, she can skip a few rungs on the ladder to a Michelin-starred restaurant back home.”
Home. Of course. For as much as Drew had acclimated to life upstate, it wasn’t where the real opportunities were. It wasn’t where her family was. It wasn’t home. She made sure to keep her tone one of mild curiosity. “How long will that take, do you think?”
Angelique waved a hand. “Oh, I’m no expert on these things. But she thought it would be a few years until she had any sort of head chef position, so probably less time than is the norm.”
Hannah kept her eyes on the pot she was scrubbing. Nick had considered it quite the coup to lure an up-and-coming city chef to Fig. She’d been suspicious at first, convinced someone like Drew would never fit in. But Drew did fit in. She’d put Fig on the map and become sort of a fixture in town. Not to mention in Hannah’s life. She’d been so foolish. Just because Drew had grown comfortable, it didn’t mean she’d be satisfied with life here. Of course she would want to return to the city. Her time at the quirky restaurant in the Finger Lakes would be a nice feather in her cap, a bullet on her résumé. Their relationship would be little more than a pleasant diversion.
“I think it’s clean.”
Angelique’s comment yanked her back to the present—to the pot and the sink and doing dishes in Drew’s kitchen with Drew’s mother. “Oh.” She chuckled feebly. “Sorry. My mind must have wandered.”
“It’s fine. I’m the same when I’m doing dishes.” Something in Angelique’s expression said she knew it was more than that, but she didn’t press.
“Yeah.” Hannah rinsed the pot and handed it over to be dried. She tried to shake off the weird sinking feeling in her stomach. Nothing Angelique said should bother her. Even more, it shouldn’t come as any surprise.
Drew, who’d been packing away leftovers, came over to take the pot from her mother. “Why do I get the feeling you two are talking about me?”
Angelique didn’t miss a beat. “What makes you think you’re the only thing of interest?”
Hannah bit her lip, but a laugh escaped anyway. The teasing broke the tension. Did it count as tension if she was the only one who felt it?
“So, what were you talking about?” Drew put the pot away, then crossed her arms and stared at them both.
Hannah looked to Angelique, who shrugged and said, “You, but not because you’re the only thing of interest.”
Hannah thought Drew might come back with a quick dig, but she didn’t. “I have no doubt.”
She lingered long enough to eat a piece of the most ridiculously intense chocolate tart, then begged off for the night, citing an early morning at the farm. The reason was legitimate. The forecast promised a few precious hours of sunshine before more rain and she really wanted to pick the wave of ripe peaches while they were dry. It made for so much less work after the fact. On top of that, she was beat. It
was past her bedtime and she’d indulged in a huge dinner and a glass and a half of wine.
Still, as she drove the winding roads between Drew’s house and hers, it wasn’t fatigue tugging unpleasantly at the corners of her mind. Angelique’s words stayed with her. She didn’t begrudge Drew her ambition or wanting to be where her friends, her family, her life were. And nothing about the relationship, if she could even call it that, had warranted big discussions about the future. That was exactly how she wanted it. Wasn’t it?
Chapter Twenty-two
In spite of the rain that never really let up, Drew was pleased with Manman and Grann’s visit. She’d brought them to the farm. Grann seemed genuinely disappointed not to be traipsing through the fields, but they had a little shopping spree at the farm stand. The wine tour was great, even if the view of the lake was a bit misty, and dinner at the restaurant perfect. Nick had been gracious and charming, treating her family like his own.
And the dinner at her place with Hannah? It had gone well, better than well, actually. Her mother and grandmother had not only liked Hannah, they’d been easy with her. Drew had expected Hannah to be friendly and gracious, but it went beyond that. It was as though they’d all known one another for years, like Hannah was one of them. Like family.
Instead of relief, it left her uneasy and out of sorts. It reminded her of going to Niagara Falls as a child and watching the water rush over the craggy edge—hypnotizing, but with inherent danger. She tried to hide behind fatigue, but Grann saw through it. But instead of taking Drew to task, her usual approach, she kept looking at Drew with what felt an awful lot like pity.
Just like that morning, when they were due to leave. Manman was getting dressed, and Grann sat at the table with her coffee. But she couldn’t just sit there and drink it, she had to give Drew that look. Drew couldn’t take it anymore. “What?”
“You’re in love with her, yes?” Her tone was gentle, but it felt like an accusation.
Drew didn’t make eye contact as she replied. “What makes you say that?”
“I have eyes, don’t I? I’m not blind.”
“I’m not sure I know what being in love looks like.”
“Child, that might be the saddest thing I ever heard.”
Drew chuckled. “I don’t mean it in some tragic way. I just mean I’ve never really been in love. Infatuation, sure. Puppy love. But I mean the kind you and Pépé had. Or Manman and Papa. The forever kind.”
“The thing about that kind of love is that you have to be willing to see it, feel it, in order to find it.”
That made it all sound far more intentional than Drew believed. The idea of having some modicum of control over the heart should have been a solace. But it meant she’d have to work for it, pay attention to make it happen if she decided she wanted it one day. That was a huge responsibility. “Manman always said it hit her like a lightning bolt. The day she met Papa, the earth tipped on its axis and she was never the same.”
Grann smiled as though she was reliving the memory of that day. “For her, yes, it was like that. For me, not so much.”
“I thought Pépé courted you the old-fashioned way.”
“He did.” Grann laughed. “That didn’t mean I wanted what he was peddling. At least not at first.”
Drew had never heard this version of the story. She set down her coffee and gave her grandmother her full attention. “No?”
Grann offered a playful shrug. “I’d known him since we were babies. We grew up in the same village, our mothers were friends.”
“You used to run around the yard naked together.” Drew offered a shrug of her own. “Or so I hear.”
“Yes. And not a soul was surprised when we became sweethearts. But I wanted to move to the U.S., go to college, become a teacher. And your Pépé was a homebody. He was perfectly content in the life we’d grown up with.”
That resonated with Drew, like familiar church bells marking time or calling people to pray. “You weren’t willing to give up your dreams to be with him.”
Grann shifted her gaze to the window and suddenly seemed a thousand miles away. “I was very stubborn. I convinced myself what we had was the love of children, that it wasn’t meant to be.”
“You broke it off and he came to New York anyway.”
“I thought he’d done it out of male pigheadedness. But he was determined to build a life that I would consider good enough, that I would want. He was always one for big gestures.”
Drew’s memories of her grandfather were almost as foggy as those of her dad. His larger-than-life personality—booming voice, big laugh, with stories to match—was one of the few things that remained vivid. “How did he convince you to marry him?”
“He showed up at my apartment every morning before I went to class. He gave me a coffee and told me to study hard so I could be the best teacher there ever was.”
“How long did it take for him to win you over?”
Grann smiled. “One school year. He never missed a day and I’m pretty sure he intended to keep it up until I finished my degree. I agreed to have dinner with him after I finished my exams. He took me to his apartment, and even though he shared it with four other young men, I realized he was more settled into life in New York than I was. That’s what convinced me it wasn’t some romantic thing to get my attention. He was committed, completely and without hesitation.”
“That is a very special kind of love.”
“Yes, it was. He was a special kind of man. Yet I missed almost a year with him because I was stubborn and refused to see what was right in front of me.”
Drew sighed. She certainly aspired to the kind of love that her grandparents had. Her parents, too, for that matter. But it was some mythical thing in the distant future. She always figured that when it happened, she’d know. “It’s a wonderful story, Grann. I’m not sure how much it applies to my situation, but I’m glad you told me.”
“The life you think you want isn’t always the one you’re meant to lead. That is a lesson you can take with you now. And the person you fall in love with is sometimes the last person you’d expect.”
“But that’s just it. I know the life I’m meant to lead. It’s back home, in the city. It’s the one thing I’m sure of.” Well, that and the fact that Hannah wouldn’t move to the city if her life depended on it.
Grann patted her hand. “We’re always sure, child, until we aren’t.”
That might be the least reassuring thing she’d ever heard. She was spared having to respond by her mother coming into the room. “You’re looking especially beautiful today, Manman.”
She waved a hand. “This country air, it’s nice. Good for the skin.”
“Good for the soul, too.” Grann had the faraway look again. Drew had thought of her as a city dweller inside and out. The same way Pépé had felt tied to Haiti. That hadn’t changed, necessarily, but there was perhaps more nuance to it than she’d previously considered.
Drew loaded their bags and drove them into town. As they exchanged good-byes, she lingered in each embrace. She missed her life in the city, sure, but it was not seeing her family a couple times every week that was the hardest.
“We’ll see you in a few weeks, yes?” Manman asked.
“Oh, yes. No way I’m going to miss Grann turning eighty.”
“You should invite Hannah.” Grann’s tone was casual, like she’d just suggested they have fish instead of chicken.
“Uh,” Drew grasped for a reply. She didn’t want to say yes, but she didn’t want to say no either. “I’m not sure—”
“I liked her very much. And she probably never gets to visit the city.” As they so often did, Grann’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “You tell her the invitation came from me.”
Drew shook her head. “Well played, Grann.”
“I just think it would be nice to see her again.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll ask her.” She might not even say yes.
Having gotten her way, she smiled and patted Dr
ew’s cheek. “I love you, child. I’ll see you soon.”
Drew hugged them both again and they boarded the bus. She waited for the bus to pull away, waving as it did. She was suddenly in no rush to get back to her empty house. Fortunately, she didn’t have much time before work. It wouldn’t hurt to go in early, really. Between taking a day off and shaving her hours here and there over the past few days, the kitchen could use some extra attention.
Since she kept a change of clothes at the restaurant, she headed straight there. She arrived even before Nick, letting herself in the back and flipping on lights as she went. She made her way through the pantry and cooler, taking inventory and starting to think about specials for the rest of the week. The task demanded most of her attention, but Grann’s invitation turned over in the back of her mind.
Whether or not it implied anything about their relationship, she wanted to show Hannah the city. Her version of the city, not Times Square and the Empire State Building. Would Hannah accept the invitation? She was even more loath to take time off than Drew. But she and Rose had hit it off. If anything would sway her, that would probably be it. Drew chuckled at the absurdity of it. She’d do it and, hopefully, Hannah would say yes.
Buoyed by her decision, she finished the inventory and started sketching out menu ideas for the next wave of produce that would come from the farm. The official start of fall was a few weeks away still, but she’d swear the air had already changed. The nights bordered on downright cold and the mornings had a chill different from the cool and dewy starts of the summer.
She thought back to the very first meal she’d prepared for Nick, the one that landed her the job. It would be a great fall dish, and the hash could be reworked as a vegetarian entrée. Maybe a coq au vin as the poultry, with lots of garlic and thyme. She was lost in that train of thought when the back door opened. Standing there, as if conjured from her earlier thoughts, stood Hannah. She smiled brightly. “Hi.”
“Hey.” Drew let herself enjoy the ripple of pleasure that passed through her. Don’t overthink it. “I wasn’t expecting to see you today.”
