Recipe for Love

by Aurora Rey

  Hannah sampled a few things, too wired to eat much but wanting to be able to thank and compliment the chefs. She could tell immediately which items were Drew’s. They were complex without being fussy, and to her at least, the most delicious.

  At eight thirty, she moved to where Nick had set up the portable microphone. Nick was already there, waiting for her with an encouraging smile. She gave him a nod and he flipped it on. “Good evening.”

  He thanked everyone for coming, talked about his vision for Fig and how integral Three Willows had been to making that vision a reality. He told a story about bringing his kids to the farm to pick apples, how they spent the whole afternoon having a picnic and running around and just being a family. For the second time that night, her eyes pricked with the threat of tears. When he finished, the room filled with applause. Then he handed her the mic.

  She looked out at the sea of faces. Never in her life had so many eyes been trained on her. Combined with the emotions coursing through her, it was enough to make her dizzy. She scanned the crowd, looking for a friendly face where she could focus her attention. Immediately, as though Drew wore a homing beacon, Hannah’s gaze connected with hers.

  It should have confused her, overwhelmed her even more. But in that moment, the crowds melted away and a sense of calm settled in her. Drew smiled and Hannah knew in that instant everything would be fine. She opened her mouth, trusting the right words would come. “I wish I’d thought to prepare something, because my heart is so full and there is no way I’ll be able to express just how much all of this means to me.”

  Drew’s smile grew and she offered a nod of encouragement. Hannah took a deep breath and continued. “When I started Three Willows Farm close to seven years ago, I wanted to grow good food and give people a place where they could be a part of that. I had no idea that I’d wind up with a huge extended family, all caring about the same thing. It’s been so much fun and so much hard work, all rolled into one. Tonight, seeing how deep that support goes, is more than I could have even dreamed. I’m humbled and I’m grateful. Thank you.”

  Maybe not the most eloquent speech, but the entire room broke into applause. As much as she’d managed to keep it together throughout the evening, her resolve evaporated and the tears came. Maybe not the gross, sniffly kind, but not a single graceful tear either. Nick stepped forward and thanked everyone again for coming. He reminded people to collect their u-pick vouchers before leaving and said he hoped to see everyone at the restaurant, and the farm, soon.

  Conversations resumed and people began milling around. Hannah found herself pulled into at least a dozen more hugs. In spite of herself, she scanned the room for Drew. Hannah didn’t see her, though. She’d probably gone back to the kitchen. Or maybe she’d left already to spend time with her friends visiting from the city.

  By the time the restaurant had emptied, she was exhausted. She had never considered herself an introvert, but apparently she did have a limit to how much interacting she could handle in one day. But she wasn’t done yet. She still needed to talk to Drew. It couldn’t wait any longer.

  She walked into the kitchen and found Drew talking quietly to Poppy. It was like the night of the soft launch, Drew’s first night as head chef. But so very much had changed. The restaurant had established itself as a destination in the Finger Lakes. Drew had left and come back. Hannah had come close to losing the farm, only to have it saved by an overwhelming show of love and support from her community. From Drew.

  Oh, and there was the matter of losing her heart. As much as the last few months had turned her life on its head, none of it held a candle to realizing she’d fallen in love with Drew. Well, falling in love with her, breaking up with her, and now. What now?

  Before she could answer that question for herself, Drew turned. The smile Drew offered was again hesitant. So different from all the confidence of that first night, or all the other nights since.

  As if sensing the magnitude of the moment, Poppy stepped back, then vanished. Hannah took a deep breath. “Hey.”

  Drew’s eyes never left hers. “Hey.”

  “I don’t know what to say.” It might have been a less-than-ideal response to the night, but it was the truth.

  Drew shook her head. “You don’t have to say anything.”

  She fidgeted with the pair of bracelets on her wrist, willing herself to be brave. “I can start with thank you, at least. I’m so completely humbled by all this.”

  “You’d have done just as much for anyone else.”

  Hannah frowned. Was that true? Nick, sure. Some of the other farmers, even. But would she have done it for Drew?

  “I need you to know, though, I didn’t do it to get you back. I believe in what you’re doing. I wanted to be part of making sure you keep doing it.”

  She couldn’t explain why, but Drew’s words did more to Hannah than thinking it was some grand romantic gesture. “I know.”

  “Don’t get me wrong. I still want you back. I want it so badly I can taste it. But I can’t have you feel like you owe me something or that I have some kind of upper hand. We can’t build a foundation on that.” Drew’s eyes flashed with conviction.

  If Hannah hadn’t already been in love, she would have gone tumbling. “Taking you back has nothing to do with tonight.”

  “Good, because—wait. Did you say taking me back?”

  “I did. Although I’m not sure I’m crazy about that phrase.”

  Drew raised a brow. “No?”

  She didn’t like being humbled, but when she was wrong, she owned it. And now was the time to own it. “I mean, the idea that you did something wrong and being together would be because I took you back.”

  “I left.” Regret shadowed her face.

  “You did.” Hannah had a flashback to the emptiness of those first few days after Drew had gone. “But it was your dream. And I kind of drove you away.”

  Drew grinned, so much more like herself. “You did drive me away.”

  “In my defense, it had as much to do with your family as anything else. I couldn’t bear the idea of making you choose.”

  “I can appreciate that now. I’m sorry I couldn’t before.”

  Hannah shook her head. “Don’t apologize. We did what we thought was best.”

  “How could such good intentions go so terribly wrong?”

  She chuckled. “Well, the road to hell is paved with them, right?”

  “So I hear.” Drew looked away, then met Hannah’s eyes again. “Can we go back to the part where you’re taking me back? Or getting back together? Or whatever we’re calling it?”

  Hannah took a deep breath. She could do this. “I’ve missed you, Drew. I’ve missed you more than I thought it possible to miss a person. I’m crazy, stupid in love with you and I desperately hope you feel the same way about me.”

  “I’m crazy, stupid in love with you, too.” Drew smiled slowly. Not an elated sort of smile, the kind that came with the giddy happiness of being all caught up in someone. It was a calmer, sturdy sort of smile that Hannah could count on, day after day, year after year. “I want to be with you more than anything.”

  Hannah resisted the urge to launch into Drew’s arms and pretend their happily ever after was sealed. “But I don’t want to be the reason you give up your dream job, your home, all that.”

  Drew shook her head. “I already quit.”

  “You did?”

  “To be fair, Javier had decided I was miserable and encouraged me to. My family, too.”

  In all her thinking and dreaming about Drew, she’d not imagined Drew miserable. Interesting. “I’m sorry I made you miserable.”

  Drew shrugged. “Turns out, I’m not only in love with you.”

  That didn’t sound right. “What?”

  “I’m in love with this place and the people and the quirky little life I built over the last few months. I want you, but I want it all. I need you to understand that my being here isn’t a sacrifice.”

  Oh. Just like with
the fund-raiser, it meant so much more to hear Drew say that. It gave her this buoyant feeling—hope that things might actually work out after all. “You really mean that?”

  “I do.”

  It was more than she’d even dared to dream. “I’m really glad.”

  Drew lifted a finger. “One question.”

  “What’s that?” Drew wasn’t about to propose, was she? That might be too much.

  “May I please kiss you senseless now? I’m not sure I can take it much longer.”

  “I’ll do you one better.” She threaded her arms around Drew’s neck and kissed her, pouring every drop of longing she’d stored up over all the hours, the days and nights that dragged into weeks, since she’d kissed her last.

  She heard the door from the dining room swing open. “Oh, thank God,” Nick said, and then the door swung again.

  Drew smiled against her mouth, but she didn’t stop kissing her. When the door swung again and was followed by giggling, Hannah pulled away. Kristen and Clare peeked around, phones in hand.

  Clare said, “We’re capturing this moment for posterity. You can thank us later.”

  Drew turned but kept one arm around Hannah. “I’ll go ahead and thank you now, as long as you text me the picture.”

  She’d not been annoyed, but Drew’s comment completely lightened the mood. “Ditto, kid. And no social media, please.”

  Clare shrugged. “I’ll just save it for the wedding.”

  The girls disappeared, leaving Drew and Hannah alone in the kitchen. She turned to Drew. “Where are you staying?”

  “I’m back at my old place, much to my landlord’s amusement.”

  “Ah.”

  “But I’d really love to come home with you, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  Her farm was safe. Drew was back and, by all accounts, truly wanted to be. And they were together. For as low as the last few weeks had been, everything in her life had righted itself. She refused to pick which part made her happier. Fortunately, no one was asking her to. She smiled at Drew, letting the happiness permeate her like a hot bath after a long day. “Yes, please.”

  Chapter Thirty-three

  The down payment satisfied the bank and, a week after the gala at the restaurant, Hannah put in a purchase offer on the land. The owners had received an offer on the house from an aspiring hobby farmer who only wanted ten acres to play with, so she got the fifty she already used and another twenty for little more than the original asking price. What had threatened the very existence of her farm had become an opportunity to grow it. In the span of a few weeks, she’d gone from nightmares about closing to daydreams of putting in blueberry bushes and cherry trees. It made her time on the tractor much more fun. Apricots, maybe, in addition to cherries.

  Hannah looked over from her perch atop Bertie and caught Drew waving at her from behind the barn. She’d gone back to the city for a couple of weeks to help Javier transition and had only returned the night before. The memory of how they’d spent that night warmed her from the inside, despite the chill of the October morning.

  She returned the greeting and steered the tractor that way. Once she was closer, she cut the engine and hopped down. Even though they’d parted ways only a couple of hours before, she didn’t think twice about pulling Drew in for a slow, sensuous kiss. “I didn’t expect to see you here today.”

  Drew was scheduled for her first day back at Fig, but now that Three Willows’ offerings were mostly apples and hardy winter vegetables, there was no need for produce pickups every other day. Drew shrugged. “Uh, cider doughnuts?”

  Hannah rolled her eyes, but laughed. “Of course. Silly me. Did you get some yet?”

  “Clare swatted my hand and told me they weren’t ready yet. I think she was mad at me for walking in on her and Kristen making out.”

  Hannah closed her eyes for a moment. “We discussed no making out on the clock.”

  “To be fair, she was making doughnuts, too. And there weren’t any customers yet.”

  She smiled. “I’m not really mad. I love that she’s young and in love and unafraid to show it.”

  “And I love what a good older sister you are. Makes me wish I had some siblings.”

  “Yeah, but you haven’t met my brothers yet.”

  Drew cringed. “Does it bother you that I’ll be working on Thanksgiving?”

  “Oh, God, no. It’s actually a relief.”

  Drew raised a brow.

  She’d brought Drew home for dinner a couple of times. Despite her anxiety, Drew handled it all so well. If anything, she managed Hannah’s father better than she did. “Not that I don’t want you to meet my brothers. They’re not all that bad. And my dad seems to love you. It’s just, all together, they can be a lot.”

  Drew laughed. “You’re adorable. Thank you for being understanding, but trust me when I say, when the time comes, I can handle it.”

  “Right, right. I know. Maybe Christmas.”

  “Maybe. And maybe you’ll come to the city with me for a few days after New Year’s? Nick’s decided to close the restaurant for the first two weeks of January.”

  Hannah envisioned another trip to the city, but also day after day with Drew, hunkered in from the snow and with nowhere to be. “Absolutely. Especially if we can also have a few days of doing absolutely nothing.”

  Drew kissed her. “Deal.”

  “Did you really just come for doughnuts?”

  “I was hoping to make out with you, but I just learned the boss frowns on that.”

  She gave Drew a look of mock exasperation. “Did I not just kiss you?”

  “Well.” Drew dragged out the word, like she wasn’t quite ready to concede the point. “There wasn’t any tongue. And I didn’t touch your boobs at all.”

  Hannah bit her lip, but a snicker still managed to escape. “What am I going to do with you?”

  “Help me pick out pumpkins for my porch?”

  That sounded like way more fun than turning over what remained of the tomato field. “I suppose I could do that.”

  Drew took her hand and they headed over to the pumpkin patch. It was one of Hannah’s favorite parts of the farm, mostly because it needed virtually no tending after being planted in the spring. Well, that and the fact that it never failed to make her feel like she’d landed in the middle of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

  “Wow.” Drew looked around. Hundreds of pumpkins covered the ground. Complete with vines. She thought she’d seen enough of the farm that nothing would surprise her. She’d been wrong.

  “I know, right?”

  “It’s almost like a cartoon.”

  Hannah laughed. “I was literally thinking the same thing.”

  “How am I supposed to pick?”

  Hannah gave her hand a squeeze. “First, you decide on size, then whether you want one that’s traditionally attractive or wonky.”

  “Wonky?”

  Hannah pointed to a pumpkin that resembled a basketball. “Attractive.” Then she pointed to one more elongated, almost pear-shaped. “Wonky.”

  Less than a year ago, Drew had never set foot on a farm. And now she couldn’t imagine anywhere she’d rather be. “Why do I feel like this is a test of my character?”

  Hannah didn’t crack a smile. “Oh, it totally is.”

  She was kidding, of course, but Drew took the proposition seriously. “I’m fond of physical beauty.” She trailed a hand down Hannah’s back and over her rear end. “But it’s all about the personality.”

  Hannah laughed again. “Well said.”

  Drew selected four pumpkins. Hannah told her she needed an odd number, that it looked better that way. “Thank God you’re here. I could have made a rookie pumpkin mistake. All two of my neighbors would have been horrified.”

  She settled on five. The more the merrier, right? They loaded them into one of the old wagons left in the field just for pumpkin transport and Hannah walked with her to her car. Drew put them in her trunk. “So, you’ll co
me back to my place after work, yeah?” Hannah asked.

  “I’m going to come to your place every night until you tell me I can’t.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that.”

  “Good.” Drew took a deep breath, still a bit in awe of just how happy she was. “I love you, you know.”

  “I love you back.” Hannah grabbed the front of Drew’s jacket and pulled her close. Drew sank into the kiss and allowed herself to think about what a lifetime of kisses might look like.

  “Hey, no making out on the clock.”

  Drew didn’t have to look in the direction of the voice to know it was Clare. It was only fair, really, that she would interrupt them now. She stopped kissing Hannah but didn’t let her go. “Do you have doughnuts for me? I don’t want to hear a word from you if you don’t have doughnuts.”

  Clare lifted a small paper bag and gave it a shake. “Hot and fresh, just for you.”

  Drew walked the short distance to where Clare stood and took the bag. “You’re a goddess. Thank you. Make out on the clock as much as you want.”

  “You really did come for the doughnuts, didn’t you?” Hannah was shaking her head.

  Drew shrugged. “A multipurpose visit.”

  Hannah rolled her eyes but laughed at the same time. “Go to work. I’ll see you tonight.”

  Drew gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Yes, dear.”

  Drew headed into town. She was early shift today and the first one at the restaurant. She’d negotiated with Nick to promote Poppy from sous chef to chef de cuisine. Not only did the promotion lessen the chances she’d leave any time soon, but it allowed Drew to share more of the kitchen management duties with her. The result was two full days off every week and a couple of nights that didn’t require her to stay through close.

  Had someone told her a year ago she’d be looking for less oversight in her kitchen, she’d have called them crazy. About as crazy as the idea she’d choose living in the country, choose a small restaurant rather than one with an international reputation. She had always hated being wrong. Like so many things in her life, that had changed. Sometimes, being wrong was exactly what was required to make everything right.