by Caroline Lee
“And to my incredible luck!”
Her laughter subsided to snorted giggles. “What makes you so lucky, Brandon?”
“I’m healthy and happy, and have a job I love, and I’m sitting at a table about to have lunch with a really pretty girl who makes me laugh.”
“And who has green eyes.”
“Yeah, but she’d be pretty—and I’d consider myself lucky to know her—without that.”
“Good answer.” She gave his hand one last squeeze, then let go and sat back as Lucy bustled up with the platter of food. Once she was gone again, Lin said, “Now, tell me about this job you love.”
As he dug into his stack of eggplant fritters, Brandon did just that.
CHAPTER FOUR
“No, no!” Brandon said, laughing. “Keep the bottom one still and move the top one!”
Lin was laughing too, trying to manipulate the chopsticks. “It’s impossible! My thumb is on both, so of course the bottom one is going to move too!”
“It’s not impossible! There are a billion people in Asia who use these things daily. You gotta brace the bottom one against your pinkie. Here.”
Brandon shifted in his seat so he could reach for her and help her adjust the chopsticks. When his hand closed around hers, Lin felt the burst of warmth that had accompanied his touch in the past. But instead of making her uncomfortable, it filled her with something light and bubbly; something that made her want to laugh. She bit her lip to tamp down on the urge, and focused on what he was teaching her, rather than his touch.
“Here, try…this.” He shifted the bottom chopstick around a bit. “Press here.”
She did what he asked and was able to click the sticks together a few times. Of course, that was different than being able to pick something up with them, but it was a cool feeling of accomplishment.
Brandon must’ve felt the same way, because he looked up at her with a smile. Since he was still leaning towards her, it meant his smile was wonderfully close. She smiled back.
“Good,” he said in a low voice. “You’ll get it in no time.”
“I still think this is silly,” she whispered back. “How can anyone get full eating with two sticks? I’m thinking about starting an outreach program to take forks to China.”
He frowned in that way he did when he was trying not to laugh. “A fork outreach?” he repeated.
She nodded solemnly. “For the underprivileged stick-eating children of the world. Next, I’ll teach them about spoons.”
That did it; his dimples deepened as he burst into laughter and sat back. “I can’t believe you work in a Chinese restaurant and don’t know how to use chopsticks!”
“And I can’t believe you don’t know how to cook with a fork! Seriously, I saw you making this food, Brandon.” She put her hand on his arm and affected a worried expression. “It’s called ‘silverware’. Even children know how to use it.”
In response, he snorted with laughter and picked up a piece of rice—with his chopsticks!—and flicked it at her. They both dissolved into laughter.
It had been two weeks since that first impromptu lunch date at Mamma Mia’s, and Lin was beginning to suspect it had been the best decision of her life, accepting his invitation. Of course, when she’d told Toni about it, her sister had crowed with satisfaction, pleased Lin had taken her advice. And Lin…well, Lin hadn’t recalled ever being this happy.
Sure, the restaurant was still in trouble, but Mr. Lee had more energy now that he was planning his big New Year dinner. And since Lin had arranged to get The Golden Palace involved in the ranch’s Valentine’s dinner, they were both buzzing with ideas to get people to the restaurant on New Year.
Yeah, it was an exciting time alright, but that wasn’t what made Lin so happy.
No, it was Brandon. Being with him made her heart pound, made her stomach flip-flop, made her feel like she was walking on air. And he kept her smiling always. Not just because his sense of humor could make her laugh until she almost couldn’t breathe, and not just because he went out of his way to make her happy, but because…
Well, because he went out of his way to make her happy. Because he cared about making her happy. It wasn’t the things he did, it was the fact he’d made the effort…that’s what made Lin so happy.
And part of her brain—the practical side—kept reminding her he was only in town temporarily. Only until he finalized the arrangements for the TV show the Westons were planning to shoot at the ranch. Then surely he’d go back to his life in California and forget all about the small-town girl he’d met in Riston, Idaho…
But the larger part of her brain—and all of her heart—was telling her it didn’t matter. She had her life here, sure, but she wasn’t opposed to leaving. Oh, she would miss her home, and no, he hadn’t asked her yet…but she was already thinking about a future with Brandon. If he wanted it.
“Seriously,” she said with a groan as she sat back and patted her stomach. “I can’t believe you cooked all of this. It was amazing!”
He’d been sharing a cabin at River’s End Ranch with one of his co-workers, someone in charge of filming the show or something. This morning Mr. Lee had told her not to bother coming in, so Brandon had invited her here for lunch…and cooked it for her from scratch in the cabin’s small kitchen.
“Three courses!” she continued to marvel. “That chicken was better than Mr. Lee’s, but don’t tell him I told you that.”
“Thanks,” he said proudly, also sitting back in his chair. “The secret ingredient is love. And ginger.”
She snorted with laughter. “And the chili peppers?”
“Oh, obviously chili peppers. You can’t have too much of that.”
“Yum.” She poked at the remains of her lunch on her plate—with one chopstick. “And I’ve never had rice like that before. I mean, obviously I’ve had white rice, and I know how to make fried rice, even though it’s never as good as Mr. Lee’s, or even José’s. But this was different.”
“’S called sticky rice.” He flopped one arm over the back of his chair, and shifted towards her more. “It’s a staple of dim sum, and one of the absolute easiest things you can make that tastes amazing. I could teach you.”
She lit up. Not at the offer to learn to cook, but at the fact he wanted to do something sweet for her. “I’d really like that, thank you.” Her smile turned shy. “But what’s ‘dumsim?’ “
He blinked, then his lips quirked. “Dim sum. It’s…it’s a type of Chinese dining experience, I guess you’d say. It literally means ‘with tea,’ and it’s a bunch of little plates of easy-to-eat food—usually—that we eat for brunch. Not all the time, but it’s some of my favorite kinds of Chinese food. Siu mai, hau gau…cheong fun—shrimp crepes! Don tot and roast duck. Oh man, they’re all so good.”
“Wow.” Every time he spoke about his life, about growing up surrounded by so much Chinese culture, Lin felt a little jealous. Like she didn’t know this important thing she should know, and she was grateful to learn about it. “That sounds really delicious.”
“It is. And now I know what I’m making you on our next lunch date!”
“How’d you learn to make food like this?”
“My grandmother, PohPo. She and my grandfather basically raised me, but GungGung was all for me learning to cook, because it meant more of his favorite foods! All the stuff I learned to make first were his favorites.”
“What did your parents say about all this?”
His expression darkened just a smidge, and he glanced at his plate. Uh-oh. Lin frantically wracked her brain—had they talked about his parents? Had she asked the wrong question?
He didn’t seem upset when he answered though. “My mom works a lot. I, uh…I never knew my dad. Mom had just started law school when she got pregnant, and her parents were really angry. They never wanted her to have to give up her life dream, so when my father made it clear he wasn’t planning on doing the whole ‘getting married’ thing, they offered to let her move back in
so they could take care of me.”
”Wow,” Lin breathed reverently. “That’s really special.”
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “Mom is a partner in one of the top law firms in the city these days, so she still works her butt off. But she’s also supporting her parents, which was—I guess—the whole point of them urging her to fulfill her potential.”
She nudged him with her knee. “Don’t be so cynical. They did it because they loved her and wanted her to be happy. And you. They wanted you to be happy and have a good childhood and not have to worry about anything.”
His grimace was exaggerated. “Maaaaaybe.”
She smiled and nudged him again. “And you love them all for it.”
“Of course I do.” He captured her hand in his. “I love them very much.”
The intensity in his dark gaze held her transfixed. She knew they were talking about his family, but there was something about the way he said love…
Lin sucked in a breath when he used her hand to pull her closer to him. Was this it? Her heart began to race. Was he going to…? Was he actually thinking about…?
Kiss me.
And he did, but only on her hand. He brushed his lips across her knuckles, and her eyes widened at the delicious sensation. It was so wonderfully old fashioned, but so, so perfect. He’d cooked her a meal, laughed with her, opened up about his past with her…and now he was kissing her hand—oh! He’d done it again!
She realized she was leaning towards him, holding her breath. No matter; let him see how he affected her. Let him see how badly she wanted him to kiss her lips. Like, for realsies.
They were staring into each other’s eyes, and she felt his breath skimming across the back of her hand. It was intimate, like a caress, and made her really want to know what it would be like to kiss him. Made her wonder why they hadn’t tried yet…
“Lin, I…I’d like—”
The front door rattled, then opened. “Whew! It is cold out there!”
A man pushed through, stomping snow off his boots. Lin recognized him as Bernard, Brandon’s coworker. She’d met him last week when they’d all gone to trivia at the ranch—thanks to Mr. Lee giving her the night off—and he seemed like a nice guy. He was sharing a cabin with Brandon, but spent most of his time out and about on the ranch. Apparently, being in charge of all the filming for the upcoming TV show meant he needed to film and photograph all parts of the ranch, in all sorts of light.
As he was pulling his coat off, he finally looked at them leaning towards one another, and blinked. “Oh. Oh! Am I interrupt— Uh.” He began to shrug back into the coat. “I’m really sorry. I’ll go over to the restaurant for lunch.”
Lin couldn’t help it; she giggled, probably due to all the adrenaline. All of Brandon’s breath whooshed out of him, and he grinned ruefully at his friend.
“Nah, it’s okay. I made plenty of soy sauce chicken and bok choy—had to go all the way to Coeur d’Alene for that! It’s in the microwave.”
Lin pushed her chair away from the table. “And I’ve got to get home and change, to head to work.” Mr. Lee had been letting her off more and more over the last two weeks, and while she really enjoyed her time with Brandon, she knew it was only possible because the restaurant wasn’t thriving. “Let me help you do these dishes.”
And if she used that time to exchange loaded glances with Brandon, and accidentally brush his hand with hers when they passed dishes, what was the harm? Maybe he’d finally pick up the hint about kissing her.
Or she’d just have to take matters into her own hands.
Later that night she found Mr. Lee sitting in his usual chair at the small table in the back of the kitchen. She didn’t say anything, and just began washing the dishes, while Jared did the food prep for tomorrow’s lunch rush.
She was distracted, thinking about the hours she’d spent with Brandon, and how much nicer it was to wash dishes with him by her side, rather than alone in front of the large sink. But it wasn’t until Jared finished up his work and clocked out, calling his goodbyes and promises to be in the next day, that Lin realized Mr. Lee hadn’t so much as moved since he’d sat down.
Without stopping, she shifted her attention to the old man. He had his usual cup of tea in front of him, but there was no steam coming off it. And his pad of paper and pen were still sitting there, untouched. He was staring off into the distance, and in the time Lin watched, he didn’t move at all.
When she couldn’t stand the silence a moment longer, Lin finally spoke. “GungGung? Is everything okay?”
The old man jerked slightly, as if in surprise, and looked around in confusion. When he saw her at the sink, he startled, as if he hadn’t even been aware she was there. “What?”
“I asked if you were alright. You seem out of it.”
“I’m fine! Why wouldn’t I be fine?” he asked a bit too quickly.
She shrugged and kept washing, but didn’t let him off the hook so easily. “I just wondered if there’s anything you wanted to talk about.”
“A man’s inner thoughts are his own treasure.”
She hid her smile. Another Mr. Lee original saying. “Well, if you’re sure you’re okay…”
His shoulders slumped slightly. “I could never fool you, girl. Everything is not okay.”
“Is it the restaurant?” Had something happened to their plan for New Year?
“It is the Valentine’s Day dinner. I think it is a marvelous idea, and I am glad you suggested we be a part of it. We will be able to reach a new group of diners, and we can even tell them about the New Year dinner, if you can use that fancy computer of yours to make a flyer or something.”
His words, rather than assuring her nothing was wrong, only made Lin more anxious. She finished the last pot and turned it upside down to dry. Peeling the gloves off, she turned to the old man. “So why do I feel like there’s a major ‘but’ coming?”
He sighed heavily. “But I don’t think I can manage it. I would like the New Year dinner to be something truly special, and I will have to go into Spokane at least twice next week, according to the distributors’ schedule I just got. Every Chinese restaurant in three states will be buying supplies for next Friday’s holiday. And there is no way around it; even with Jared and José running The Golden Palace for both meals on Wednesday, even with you organizing the dinner at the ranch… I don’t think I will be able to be here to cook for that dinner.” He reached for his teacup and, finding it cold, dropped it to the table in disgust. “Bah. What good is it to have a special promotional opportunity like the Valentine’s Day dinner, if I can do no more than provide reheated frozen potstickers and eggrolls? That will impress no one.”
Lin’s eyes narrowed as she tried to follow his reasoning. “Okay. So next Wednesday—Valentine’s Day—I’ll be here with Jared and José for lunch, and then dinner prep. Then they’re in charge of dinner, and I’ll be in charge of taking whatever small plate meal you come up with to the ranch, plating it, making sure it goes out to the diners the way it’s supposed to… That’s what we arranged, right?
“Yes.” The old man nodded, toying with his teacup once more. “But if I am gone all day, there is no way I can cook the Valentine’s Day small-plate meal. José cannot do both dinners that night, so the best I can think of is to cook something the night before.”
Lin smiled. “Or let me do it.”
“You?” GungGung’s eyebrows went up. “Do you have a secret talent for cooking Chinese food I’ve never heard of, girl?”
“Maybe.” Her smile grew. “There’s a lot about me you don’t know.”
He snorted. “I’ve spent ten years trying to teach you everything you do know.”
“Well, Brandon has taught me a lot more.”
“Brandon, eh?” He relaxed, and quirked a brow at her. “You have mentioned many things about this paragon of yours, but that he was teaching you to cook…? That you’ve neglected.”
It was now all clear to Lin, how she could help Mr. Lee. When h
e’d mentioned the “small plate” concept, she’d remembered what Brandon had said that afternoon about the food he liked. She knew what to do.
“You know what Brandon’s favorite kind of recipes to make are?” She didn’t wait for Mr. Lee to answer. “Dim sum.”
“Dim sum.” The old man’s eyes grew round, and he whispered something in Chinese under his breath. Then: “It never occurred to me to try dim sum for the Valentine’s Day dinner. Those dishes would be perfect.”
“Yes, they would. I have no idea what we could make, but I trust Brandon not to lead us astray.”
“And he would do this for me? For us? For the restaurant?”
She didn’t hesitate at all. “Yes,” she said, nodding. “He’s a good guy, and I know he’d help.”
Mr. Lee sighed. “Ask him before you make promises, girl. But this…” Another sigh. “This could be the answer.”
“I know it is.”
She crossed to the table and leaned down to give the old man a hug. To her surprise, he hugged her back. Patting his shoulder, she smiled down at him.
“Now, why don’t you go get some rest? José and Jared will be here in the morning to start prep, and you need more sleep. Brandon and I will worry about Valentine’s Day.”
He pushed away from the table, his shoulders more stooped than she remembered. “Have him get me a list of ingredients.”
“Maybe,” she quipped. “Or maybe we’ll do it all ourselves.”
Pointing a gnarled finger at her, he glared. “You call him, girl. Make sure he agrees to this.”
She pulled out her phone and waggled it at the old man. “As soon as you’re upstairs, GungGung.”
True to her word, she watched Mr. Lee climb the stairs before dialing Brandon’s number. Even though it was late, he picked up on the third ring.
“Hello?” He didn’t sound as if he’d been sleeping.
“Brandon, I need you.”
He didn’t hesitate. “I’m on my way.”
