by Kailin Gow
“Yeah, but you didn’t sleep very much, did you?”
“How d’you know?”
“I heard you pounding the floor.”
“Sorry. I should’ve tiptoed.”
“Want a ride with me, or you want to take it easy and come in a little later.”
“You know I can’t do that. Hopefully you’ll get a bit of traffic and I’ll catch a few Zs on the way.”
“Forever the pragmatic.”
They made it to the restaurant without much delay and were soon caught up in the morning rush.
When things settled down a bit, Samantha came to see Taryn who was helping put away pots and pans. “Honey, I need you to run out to the market.”
Taryn stopped to look at her and Sam ran her fingers through her daughter’s hair. “You look like you could use a breath of fresh air anyway.”
“Sure. What do you need?”
“Fresh herbs, mostly. Check out the lemons and limes, too. There’s a guy down there – Mehmet – he has some really great spices, things we don’t usually use. I go to him every once in a while and try something new. Tell him I sent you and he’ll know what I haven’t tried yet. You’ll find him down at the corner near the girl who’s always there selling flowers.”
“Anything else?” Taryn headed for the back door and reached for her jacket that hung on a hook.
“If the grapefruit looks good, get a few… four or five, and a few pineapples, but only if they’re ripe.”
“Got it. I’ll be back in a bit.”
The minute she stepped outside, she realized just how right her mother was. The cool fresh air and dazzling sunshine felt great on her skin. Though still sluggish from lack of sleep, her spirits rose as she arrived at the hustle and bustle of the Farmers’ Market.
At the first stand she found the lemons and limes to her liking and bought six of each. As she meandered through the next few stands, she picked up a few grapefruits and two pineapples.
The scent of fresh herbs brought her to her next stop. She set her heavy bag of grapefruits and pineapples on the ground, picked up a parcel of parsley and sniffed it.
“Freshly cut this morning,” the vendor said.
Smiling, Taryn looked at him. “Sure smells like it.” But her smile quickly faded as she spotted a familiar figure just behind him.
At a stand selling exotic and rare mushrooms, Errol stood with a breathtaking redhead at his side.
Long and luscious locks played along Errol’s shoulder as the vixen leaned into him. Her hand ran along the waist of his jeans then slipped down to pat his behind.
Though Errol pulled away slightly, he turned to her with a brilliant smile that declared just how much he enjoyed her touch.
Taryn wanted to vomit. Not here. How dare he come and flaunt a new conquest right here in her backyard. Feeling flushed and queasy, she wanted to run, wanted to hide. She wanted anything but to face him with… that.
Too late. He turned and looked directly at her as if he’d sensed her presence. A smile slowly warmed his face as he drank her in.
Taryn paid for her parsley and tried to think of an excuse for a quick retreat. Errol headed her way, the auburn-haired siren at his heels.
“Errol,” Taryn said when she realized she couldn’t escape the inevitable. “What are the chances of running into you here?”
“I was just thinking the same thing.” He grinned, that boyish grin that made her want to run her fingers through his hair, press her body to him and passionately kiss his lips.
Waving her parcel of parsley, she said, “My mom needed a few things.” She tossed the parcel into her bag of lemons and lime, and picked up the bag of grapefruits and pineapples.
“It’s a nice market. I remember coming here a lot when I first opened the restaurant.”
Taryn tried to concentrate on his words, but was infuriatingly distracted by the obvious adoration of the buxom beauty at his side. What was he doing with a woman like that? She was unabashedly leaning into him, practically pawing him. Taryn wanted to vomit. Didn’t he want a woman who offered more of a challenge?
Annoyed by the whole scene, Taryn clucked her tongue, and after a quick sidelong glance at the brazen woman looked up at Errol. “Yeah, right. Whatever.”
“Oh,” Errol said with a nervous fidget. “Taryn, I don’t think you know Suzanne Phipps. She’s the Executive Chef at La Benicoise.”
Great. They work together, Taryn thought as she withheld the urge to gag. “Oh, how nice. Well…” She looked around, seeking a way out of the awkward encounter.
“Suzanne, this is Taryn Cummings. She was a student of mine in Paris.”
A student? Was that all their relationship had been? She’d now been rendered the meager status of having been his student?
Suzanne extended a fluttering hand with meticulously manicured fingernails to Taryn. “I’ve always wondered what kind of teacher Errol was.” Her voice was pure sultry.
Taryn swallowed the bile that’d collected at the back of her throat as she looked up into perfectly porcelain face. Deep green eyes looked back at her, almost daring her.
“Never mind my talents as a teacher,” Errol shot in. “What’s important is the success rate of my restaurants.”
Suzanne smiled, her pulpy red lips visibly aching to connect with Errol’s. Taryn didn’t even want to think of her own stringy strands of hair that’d been hastily pulled back into a haphazard ponytail. The comfort-fit jeans she wore to work were unflattering, and her shirt was slightly soiled.
Yes, she thought with disgust. She was the perfect Quasimodo to Errol’s Esmeralda. She was the pumpkin next to his princess. She was the old, busted up Edsel to his shiny new Corvette.
With a victorious glint in her eye, Suzanne turned to inspect the wares of the vendor across the lane. She fondled a few peaches, rolled plums between her fingers and suggestively grasped a cucumber.
“I had an idea for a fruit salsa,” she called to Errol.
“It was good running into you, Taryn.” Errol reached out to touch her hand, but she recoiled.
Politeness required her to say the same, but she couldn’t quite manage it. She nodded and threw on what she knew was a stupid grin.
“Taryn!”
Taryn turned as she heard her brother’s cry through the crowd.
“Taryn!”
She saw him weaving through the crowd and waved him over. “Bobby, what are…?”
Panting, he stopped in front of her and leaned both hands on his knees as he fought to catch his breath. “Mom… You gotta come…”
“What? Bobby, what are you saying? What happened?”
“Mom… fell… hospital.”
Taryn felt the ground fall out from under her. The fatigue of the past days caught up with her, strangled her and kept her from breathing as she should. The bag of grapefruits and pineapples slipped through her fingers and fell to the ground. As the grapefruits rolled off, she stared blindly at her brother trying to make sense of what he was saying. The stalls around her spun like a tornado of confusion.
“Taryn,” Errol said as he put a hand to her shoulder. “You okay?”
She nodded and pulled away from him, though clearly she was not okay.
“Come on,” Bobby said. “One of us has to go to the hospital and the other has to go back to the restaurant.”
The world was crashing in around her and she didn’t have the strength to resist the pull of the ground as she crumbled.
“Taryn!” Bobby grabbed her arm, but was unable to keep her from hitting the ground.
“I have her,” Errol was quick to say as he grabbed her other arm.
“I’m fine,” Taryn muttered in weak protest.
“Stop arguing. You're far from fine.” He swept her up into his arms, while Bobby still held her hand.
“Hey, I don’t know who you think you are, sir…” Bobby hesitated as he scrutinized Errol’s face. A vague hint of recognition crossed his gaze. “This is my sister. I’ll take car
e…”
“Errol,” Suzanne said as she returned to Errol’s side. “What’s going on?”
“Pick up whatever you think you need and get back to the restaurant.”
“But I thought we were…”
“You can handle this on your own, Suzanne.”
Through the fog and haze of her confused mind, Taryn smiled and felt a moment of victory.
“My friend is having a difficult moment and I’ll tend to her.”
Victory faded and was replaced by a sharp stinging sensation. Friend?
“I have complete faith in you, Suzanne. I’ll call you to give last minute instructions for tonight’s special dinner, but I know you can pull it off.”
Taryn wanted to groan her disenchantment.
“Let’s get you home,” Errol murmured to Taryn as he carried her to his car.
Chapter 5
“We only live a few blocks away.” Taryn’s brother pointed up the street.
Errol opened the passenger door and settled Taryn in the seat while gesturing to her brother to get in the back.
“Take Lyon up to Parker and take a left then right on Glebe.”
Errol followed the directions and smiled as he imagined Taryn growing up in this neighborhood.
“Now take a right on Zerega and left on Frisby. It’s just down there… the door where that yellow Hummer is parked.”
Errol managed to find a parking space a few doors down from Taryn’ home and carried her up the stairs. The building looked like it’d seen a few decades pass by, but it was well kept and clean.
“I can take it from here,” the younger man said.
“What’s your name, son?” Errol set Taryn on the couch in the small, but tidy living room. He sat on the edge of the couch and looked up at him.
“Bobby,” he said with an indignant cock of his brow. “And you’re…”
“Errol. Errol King.”
A quirky and crooked grin came to Bobby’s lips. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. So you're her…” He pointed to Taryn. “Her… teacher?”
Errol chuckled at the implied question, but refused to address it. “I don’t think Taryn will be able to go to the hospital or the restaurant.”
“Yeah. Um.” Bobby patted his thighs with indecision. “I gotta get a few of my mom’s things. I have no idea how long they’re going to keep her.”
“Where is she?”
“Pelham Bay.”
“Gotta car?”
He shook his head. “In the panic of the moment, I just rushed out of the restaurant and headed to the market. It’s actually faster by foot than by car, what with all the one ways and the traffic. Besides, I hadn’t thought far enough to think we’d come here.”
Pulling the car keys out of his pocket, Errol held them out to Bobby. “Look, take the car. Leave me the things that Taryn bought for the restaurant and bring what you need to your mother.”
“But there’s nobody running the restaurant.” He looked at his watch. “We have about only a few hours before the dinner rush starts.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Sam’s isn’t one of your fancy…”
“I said, I’ll take care of it.”
Dumbfounded, Bobby headed to his mother’s room and Errol brought his full attention to Taryn. As he’d spoken to Bobby his hand had gently played with the wisps of hair that played at her brow.
Her eyes fluttered open and a faint smile came to her lips.
“How you feeling, Princess?”
She looked at him as a single tear trickled down the side of her face.
“Don’t worry.” He took her hand and kissed her palm. “Everything’s under control. You're exhausted, Taryn. You just need to rest.”
A knock sounded at the door and Bobby rushed back into the living room to answer. “Hey, man. Good to see you.”
Matt came in, heroic in his FDNY blues, and tall, handsome and concerned. Concern, however, turned to suspicion when he saw Errol.
“Taryn,” Matt said after a curt nod to Errol.
She propped herself up on one elbow and looked at him. “Matt, what are you doing here?”
“I wanted to know if there was anything I could do to help.”
“I’m going to go finish packing Mom’s things,” Bobby interjected as he left them.
Taryn nodded, but kept her gaze on Matt. “But… How d’you know?”
“I was there when your mother fell.” He headed into the kitchen, opened the freezer and popped a few ice cubes into a glass which he then filled with lemonade.
He was obviously at ease and comfortable in the Cummings household, and Errol couldn’t help but wonder how often he’d come to see Taryn.
Matt returned and handed Taryn the glass, all while adeptly ignoring Errol. “You're pale and probably dehydrated. Drink this.”
Taryn struggled to sit up. “Thanks, Matt.”
The beaming smile she shined onto Matt infuriated Errol and he soon realized he’d tightened his grip on Taryn’s hand.
She pulled her hand free of his and fixed her gaze on Matt. “Mom. Where is she? Who’s at the restaurant? What’s going to…”
“Hush, Taryn.” Errol tried to regain control of the situation that was quickly slipping through his fingers. “Bobby’s taking what your mother needs to the hospital and I’ll head to the restaurant as soon as you're settled in.”
*****
Taryn looked at Errol in amazement. What could he possibly be thinking? What had happened to Suzanne? What was he doing here? In her house? The haze of the past moments wore off and she looked at her surroundings with a fresh eye.
“No, Errol. I’m fine. I want to know what happened. I want to know where my mother is.” She looked at Matt for an answer.
“She wanted to change a light bulb in the kitchen. I guess she was in a hurry and didn’t set up the ladder properly. It collapsed under her and she fell. From what I could gather, she hit the counter first then landed hard on the floor. I was way out in the dining room and I heard the thud.”
“Was she conscious? Is she all right?”
“She was conscious, but in pain.”
Bobby emerged with his mother’s little green suitcase. “I’m going to head out there now.”
“I want to go with you, Bobby,” Taryn said.
“Taryn, you had a nasty fall yourself,” Errol reminded her.
“I didn’t fall,” she argued. “I just had a moment of weakness. I have to go, Errol.” The heat of tears burned on her lower lids.
“Not that I don’t’ want you to come, Taryn,” Bobby said, “but someone has to go to the restaurant.”
“I said I’d take care of that,” Errol repeated.
Taryn sat up, forcing Errol to stand. “What do you mean, take care of it, Errol? This is my restaurant and I have a dinner crowd coming in. I have dishes to prepare, people to guide and…” She quickly realized she’d sat up too fast and felt the room spin.
“You seem to forget that I have a restaurant… several, as a matter of fact. I’m well aware of the in’s and outs of dealing with a dinner crowd. I’ll prepare your dishes and will guide your employees.”
“No, Errol. You don’t understand. The people at the restaurant aren’t chefs. They’re not even sous-chefs. They’re assistants. They do what I say. Me and my mother and Bobby do most of the actual cooking. Without us there…”
“I’ll bring in some of my people.”
The room remained in stunned silence for a strained moment. Matt stared suspiciously at Errol, while Bobby barely contained his obvious admiration for the world class chef.
Taryn simply wondered what he was up to.
“Let me do this,” Errol said softly as he looked directly at Taryn.
She looked at him for a long, hard moment. She didn’t really have much choice. She and Bobby both wanted to be with their mother. Someone had to go to the restaurant. “All right,” she said.
“I’ll drive you two to the hospital then head
to the restaurant,” Errol said.
“I can take them to the hospital,” Matt offered.
Errol turned to him with a determined scowl. “I said I’ll take them.” He held his hand out to Bobby who returned the car keys then looked at Taryn. “Come on.”
*****
“So, what’s the deal with this Errol guy?” Bobby asked.
They’d been sitting in the waiting room for over an hour. A nurse had assured them their mother was fine and would be back in her room after a small series of tests.
“Well, I’m sure you recognize that he’s Errol King, the chef. That’s why he was so adamant about helping with the restaurant.” She bit her lip and wondered if she should call him to make sure everything was running smoothly.
Bobby shot her a mocking gaze. “Really? That’s why? Not because something’s going on between you two?”
“He was my teacher back in Paris, but you already know that.”
“Yes, what I don’t know is what happened outside the classroom.”
“You're inventing stories again, Bobby.”
“You're avoiding the obvious. That guy’s into you.”
“Your adolescent mind is taking over.”
“Why are you denying it, Taryn? Don’t you think I can tell? I mean, a guy can tell when another guy has the hots for a girl, that is unless he’s really, really discreet, which this guy wasn’t. I mean, it was written all over his face. He wants you. He wants you bad. He wants you in that silly way a guy will do anything to please a girl.”
Taryn inhaled deeply and tried to look annoyed, but the little girl deep inside her thrilled at the notion that he’d notice how much Errol wanted her. She wanted to clasp his hand and say, really? You really think he likes me?
“Is he the reason you left Paris all of a sudden?”
She looked down the hall to see if a nurse or doctor wasn’t on the way to update them on their mother’s status.
“You don’t have to answer. I can see it in your eyes, even if you do try to turn away. You know, I might be younger than you, Taryn, but I’m old enough to know you shouldn’t throw away your dreams and ambitions because of some guy.” He wrapped his arms around her shoulder and tugged her to him. “So, what’d the guy do? Make a promise he didn’t keep? Lead you on and leave you hanging? Tell you he loves you then cheat on you?”
