Toronto Collection Volume 1 (Toronto Series #1-5)

by Heather Wardell

  It was surprisingly hard to ask, "Is she still interested in him?"

  "Nope. She's engaged to a great guy now. He's actually the reason they broke up. Kegan thought she was bringing a new boyfriend to Steel and refused to listen when she said he was her—" She cut off and stared at me.

  "Her what?"

  "Her contractor. I never even thought. Maybe Don could work on Steel!"

  Excitement flooded me. "And it could still open on time. Can you call him?"

  She nodded, caught my arm, and pulled me with her out of the bathroom.

  We garbled out the story together at the table, and Kegan said, "Hey, it's worth a try." He cleared his throat. "How is Jen, anyhow?"

  "Pining over you," Tess said with no expression in her voice.

  Kegan froze, and she burst out laughing. "Sorry, but no. She's engaged and blissful."

  "Good," he said, clearly pleased. "She deserves to be."

  As Tess pulled out her phone and began punching in a text message, I settled into my chair again and Kegan said, "Where's that leg?"

  "Attached to me?"

  He poked my arm. "The chair's available if you want to put it up again. If you think it's okay, though, then ignore me."

  I shot a glance at Tess, who returned a wink. He definitely wasn't controlling me. "I think I will put it up, actually. Thanks."

  Tess put away her phone. "Now we wait. Don's pretty busy, but you never know, right? Maybe he'll be able to help."

  "Could be," Kegan said doubtfully, then rallied. "But even if he can't, we'll be fine. Mary's planning Magma's menu and revamping Steel's, and there's all the design work and stuff to do for Magma. It'll be January before we know it. And once both places are open, everything will be great."

  I loved how he was so able to pull himself up and get back into believing in himself. It took me ages to do that and sometimes I couldn't do it at all.

  "Do you have different contractors for the two places?"

  Kegan shook his head. "The guys for Magma can't start until mid-December but they've agreed to work overtime after that to get both places in order."

  "Begged them, did you?" Magnus said. "Or threatened them?"

  He chuckled. "Doubled their hourly rate."

  We all laughed, and I realized he would never beg, or threaten, to get what he wanted. So not his style.

  "So then everything will be fine, right?" Pam gave him a smile. "A bit late, sure, but no harm done."

  I swallowed hard as he said, "Well, I had to cancel a bunch of New Years' Eve reservations. I'd left them before, promised people I'd be open by then in fact, so some of them were... unimpressed."

  He'd asked me to leave the office while he made the calls and I'd been all too ready to go, but the exhaustion and sadness on his face when he let me back in made it clear they'd been agonizing for him. The worst was the building inspector, who'd informed Kegan he'd be keeping an extra-close eye on the renovations.

  "Don't tell the others," Kegan had said when he told me. "That guy used to be on my side. Didn't let anything big slip, of course, but we got away with minor infractions. We won't now."

  Busy pondering, I missed Tess asking me something. "Sorry. Pardon?"

  "You work her too hard, Kegan." She shook her finger at him. "Let the poor girl rest."

  "She was at home with a blood clot and still working. I doubt I could stop her."

  Tess grinned. "Probably true. So, Mary, what's your story?"

  Feeling awkward, I briefly explained how I'd cooked for my family growing up and decided to make it a career. When I'd finished, she said, "Well, you do it beautifully. We can't come to any of the other tastings, unfortunately. Stupid hockey schedule. But I can't wait to see Steel when it reopens and Magma when it opens."

  Me either.

  Chapter Twelve

  "You're sure you want to do this?"

  I nodded, trying to look sure. I was nearly sure. I'd asked my doctor, and once I'd explained how underwater hockey worked he'd said I'd be fine to play provided nobody kicked me, since bruises would take ages to heal. I hadn't sustained any serious damage in my first game so I wasn't too worried. "Besides, you need me to play or you'll forfeit."

  "I'd rather forfeit than see you get hurt. If you're not sure, we'll leave right now."

  His obvious sincerity surprised me a little. Not that I'd have expected him to want me to be injured, but he was so clearly worried that he'd let me quit, embarrassing him in front of his teammates, if I wanted to.

  Which I didn't. "I'll wear the rubber gloves on both hands so I don't get scratched, but otherwise I don't think anything will go wrong."

  "Still don't want me to tell them?"

  I shook my head. Having everyone afraid to bump into me underwater would make the game a lot less enjoyable for all involved. "I'll be fine."

  He still hesitated.

  "Kegan, I want to play. It was so fun last time. Let's go win again, and then we'll have two things to celebrate today."

  His face relaxed and he grinned at me. "How shocked did I look when I came in?"

  I opened my eyes and mouth wide, pressing my hands to my cheeks for good measure.

  He laughed. "You're just lucky I didn't see your reaction. Weren't you surprised too?"

  "Totally. But thrilled, of course."

  Seeing John Franklin and his workers march in four days early to get started on Steel had been wonderful, but I'd been even happier at Kegan's delight when he returned from a meeting.

  "I knew Franklin was a good guy, but I never expected him to have his crew work overtime on the previous job, on his dime, to get to Steel faster. Gotta admire that sort of commitment."

  "Definitely."

  He chuckled. "Of course, now I'm the one paying overtime so they can finish both Steel and Magma quickly."

  I smiled, then noticed everyone else was in the pool. "We'd better get in or we'll be paying overtime here."

  "Can't have that." He grabbed a pair of gloves from the deck and helped me pull them on.

  We joined his team in the water, and I noticed the woman who'd helped teach me to play the first week studying us. I smiled, feeling faintly uncomfortable at her scrutiny and struggling to remember her name, and she came over and said, "Nice to see you again."

  "You too."

  "You told me to bring her back, Carolyn. I always do what I'm told."

  Thanks, Kegan. We laughed, and she said, "I don't think so. But good for you for doing it this time."

  After a few minutes' warm-up, the other team's captain called for attention and we figured out who'd be starting on which side of the pool. Then she said, "Okay, ready to go?"

  She got a chorus of agreements and one "First, you should know something."

  I turned to Kegan, shocked. Would he really tell after I'd specifically told him not to?

  Everyone else turned to him too, and for the first time I saw my boss flustered. "I... you should know that when my new restaurant opens in February you're all invited to come check it out. Have a drink on me."

  Both teams cheered and headed to their side of the pool, and I raised my eyebrows at Kegan.

  "I didn't say it," he muttered.

  "You were going to."

  He nodded, then cut me off as I started to protest. "I know. I shouldn't even have started. But I didn't tell them. That's got to count for something, right?"

  "Yeah, at least a hundred bucks in free drinks."

  He winced. "Once I opened my mouth, I had to say something."

  I shook my head, but had to smile. I knew he thought they should know, and the controlling guy Tess said he'd been would certainly have told regardless of what I wanted. Kegan was working hard not to be that guy any more. "Yeah, you did. And I forgive you for starting. Thanks for not finishing."

  He gave my arm a gentle squeeze. "You're welcome. And thank you. Let's go play."

  Since I hadn't bothered with gloves for my first game it took me a while to get used to handling my stick with t
he thick rubber in the way, but I still had fun. We didn't win, but nobody seemed particularly upset.

  Afterward, one of our guys said, "Mary, you'll keep playing with us, right?" Several others, both men and women, chimed in with their agreement.

  I glanced at Kegan, whose smile didn't tell me whether he wanted me to play or not. "I'd like to, but it depends on my work schedule."

  The guy nudged Kegan. "Give her Thursdays off or get the towel flicking of a lifetime."

  Kegan held up his hands as if defending himself, laughing, and they left the pool area. I noticed, though, that he hadn't committed.

  In the change room, someone said, "Seriously, if you're available we would love to have you play."

  I smiled. "And I'd love to do it. We'll see what happens when both restaurants are open. I might not have time to breathe, never mind play."

  "I suspect he'll give you whatever time off you want."

  Carolyn's tone was sweet but something dark and heavy lurked beneath it. I looked up from my lock, confused. "I doubt it. Why would he?"

  She didn't speak for a moment. When she did, she sounded tired. "I don't know. I'm sorry."

  She took her clothes and towel into a cubicle on the other side of the change room and I stood bewildered.

  "Ignore her," the first woman said softly. "She wanted to date Kegan a while back and he didn't feel the same."

  I surprised myself by feeling possessive of Kegan. "She asked him out?"

  She shook her head. "Not directly, but she hinted, and he made it clear he only had time to work. She's just miffed you got in there when she couldn't."

  Confusion swept me again. "I'm not 'in there'. She knows that. He's my boss."

  She smiled. "None of my bosses have ever looked at me like he looks at you." With a chuckle, she added, "Of course, mine didn't look like him, so I wouldn't have wanted them looking at me."

  I didn't know what to say. I hadn't noticed him looking at me any differently than he always had.

  "And I don't think mine would have helped me put on a pair of gloves. But maybe Kegan's different, as a boss."

  She said 'boss' but her tone said 'boyfriend', and I responded to that. "We're not dating. Not even close."

  "Oh, you might not be dating. Yet. But I think you're close."

  Chapter Thirteen

  The morning of December fifteenth dawned cold and sharp, the sky a washed-out icy grey. It suited my mood. When I reached Steel and saw Kegan in black pants and a black sweater, I wasn't surprised. I wore black and dark blue. Bright colors didn't feel right.

  Other than the contractors, we were the only ones at Steel that day. The last Magma tasting had been a few days before; since we couldn't do any more because the banquet hall was now booked solid, we didn't need our kitchen staff until the new year. Kegan hadn't wanted to lay them off, though, in case he lost them to another restaurant, so he did the same thing he'd done weeks ago with the wait staff: paid them in full until the start of January when they'd come back to help get Steel ready to open.

  But today, we weren't open anywhere, and we weren't open with each other either. Magma's newly refinished floors were still drying so the contractors were all at Steel, and their noise made it hard to talk. That seemed to suit Kegan fine; he'd barely said hello to me before burying himself in his work.

  I spent the morning wishing I could make him feel better and flipping through cookbooks for menu inspiration, and he worked his way through a stack of paperwork without looking up. I thought maybe we'd go to lunch together but when noon rolled around he said, "I'm not really hungry, I must admit. Take as long as you want, okay?"

  Because there was no need to hurry. Guilt and sadness choked me and I nodded and left.

  Despite being rushed off her feet Mildred grinned at me and accepted my request to make Kegan an extra-special sandwich. I had to at least bring him back some food. Even if he didn't eat it, he needed the option. I wanted to do something else for him but couldn't think of anything. Nothing I could do would make Steel open today and that was all he wanted.

  When I got back to my desk, I found a note saying he'd gone for a walk. He'd obviously waited until I left to take off so he could be alone. It was far too similar to how Charles had handled our last New Years' Eve together for my liking and I threw myself even harder into my cookbook research to avoid thinking about my marriage. It didn't work, though, and eventually I pushed the books aside.

  My lawyer had called on Monday, and as I'd expected Charles hadn't contested the divorce. My mother kept in constant contact with him, of course, and I got far more than I needed to know about how "poor Charles" was doing, but he hadn't reached out to me even once. Didn't he wonder about me, maybe even miss me?

  Did I miss him?

  We weren't divorced yet, but I had to admit I didn't. We hadn't had much of a marriage for a long time and if I'd met him today for the first time we wouldn't have had anything in common. I'd changed a lot since moving to Toronto and I knew he wouldn't like much if any of who I'd become.

  Kegan walked in and I jerked a cookbook back toward me.

  "Don't feel guilty for taking a break." He returned to his desk. "I just did, after all. And thanks for this." He held up the sandwich and smiled at me. "Although it's not a surprise. Mildred told me I couldn't buy one because you bought one for me."

  I blushed. "You were right before, she does have a big mouth."

  "Told you." He studied me, his eyes warm. "Thank you again."

  I smiled, glad I could bring at least a little happiness into his day. "You're more than welcome."

  He opened the sandwich and we got back to work, pausing only for a trip to Mildred's together at around three. At six, he pushed away his papers and sighed. "Should be open now."

  My heart melted at the sadness in his voice. "I'm so sorry."

  His eyes roamed my face. "I know. I knew today would suck, and it did, but you made it better."

  I managed to smile instead of cry, but it was close.

  "I don't think I told you before, but the date was kind of symbolic. Steel opened on September fifteenth two years ago, so reopening today would have been great."

  I nodded. If only Tess's friend's fiancé had been able to help out. He'd toured the place with Kegan and said frankly, "I wish I could, but this job really needs restaurant specialists. I don't want to do it wrong." Kegan had been impressed with his honesty and promised to hire him when he renovated his condo.

  We sat in silence until a thought struck me. "I know John Franklin said January twenty-third, but isn't there some way we can be ready for the fifteenth?"

  He drummed his fingers on the table. "He was gunning for the thirty-first at the beginning and I talked him down to the twenty-third, but..."

  He picked up his phone, and his side of the call showed that John was pleased with Steel's progress and cautiously optimistic about the fifteenth. Kegan then promised a ten-thousand-dollar bonus if we made it, which seemed to strengthen John's optimism considerably, and Kegan was grinning when he put the phone down. "That's great, Mary. I had today set in my head and figured it didn't much matter when we opened if it had to be January. So January fifteenth for Steel and February fourteenth for Magma."

  "Not February fifteenth?"

  He shook his head. "I know it's cheesy, but people will remember it. Spicy stuff on Valentine's Day and all that."

  Even though I knew he didn't know his teammates thought we were dating, I felt embarrassed discussing 'spicy stuff' with him. Mercifully, he didn't say anything else but, "We'll open for dinner only that day, so the first full day will be the fifteenth."

  I smiled. "Perfect. All fifteenths, all the time."

  He smiled back, and it set my heart pounding. Since last week when Carolyn and the other woman had suggested we were, or would be, together, I'd been paying more attention to his behavior with me and I was beginning to see what they meant. We had a connection I didn't think had been there before, something electric between us wh
en our eyes met. It scared me, but I liked it.

  I liked it even more when he said, "Can I take you out for dinner tonight?"

  *****

  Our other dinners had been work sessions. This one? It felt like a date. He picked a place we hadn't been before, all hushed lighting and private tables and unobtrusive wait staff, and we didn't talk about work even once.

  We talked about each other.

  We spent ages at our cozy table without a single dull moment. He told me how he'd been driven to open Steel when he did, in only six weeks, because his best friend had died of a heart attack and it had made it so clear to him that he needed to live his life. He made me laugh until tears ran down my face with his stories of how terrible he'd been in his first underwater hockey games. And he confirmed the whole "Kegan's changed since the summer" thing.

  "Nora and her... boyfriend split up in July. I don't think I was ever as big a jerk as he was, is, but I saw a lot of myself in him. The controlling stuff, the way he doesn't even acknowledge that anyone else might have a viewpoint, how driven he is to succeed on his terms and how little he cares about other people. And I didn't want to be him any more."

  "You were never him."

  "You didn't know me back then."

  We'd exchanged several hand touches during dinner, and now I put my hand over his. "Doesn't matter. There's no way you didn't care about people. I might give you the controlling stuff. Might. But with how awesome you were to me over the blood clot? No way you haven't always had at least some of that."

  He turned his hand over and gave mine a firm squeeze. "I hope so. I don't like thinking of all the people I've pushed around. Maybe it's not quite as bad as I think."

  I tightened my grip on his hand. "Can't be. Tess still likes you."

  His eyebrows went up, and I wished I'd refused the one glass of wine I'd had. With that plus the anti-coagulant drugs and the feel of his warm hand in mine, I was flying high and I hadn't thought through my comment. "Sorry, never mind."

  "She told you about Jen, I assume?"

  I had to nod. "That's how she got to remembering she's engaged to a contractor."