My heart.
My brother and I grew up in a loving family that didn’t include my mother; she died when we were both young. And the last image I have of her before hearing a car wreck took her from us is her asking if I wanted an apple.
I blamed the apple. I blamed the driver, my uncle, hell, myself, for my mother dying. I don’t think I realized that until I saw Trina with her children that a mother will do anything for her children including enduring relationships that hurt her emotionally or struggling daily with a job because she wants to be certain she can put food on the table.
Because moms love their kids that much.
My mother came to my mind a lot when I was with Trina. I thought about her when I reintroduced Chef Paxton to the wonders of New York outside of the kitchen. I reminded her about free general admission to the Bronx Zoo on Wednesdays. In return she showed me the best farmer’s market in the Bronx. Of course, I had to take her family on the Circle Line. And they took me to breakfast at a diner I swore I’d never reveal the name of.
This supremely talented chef endured endless questions about her life, but to be fair, she asked me just as many in return. And when I sat down—frustrated as hell—to write my interview about her, I realized I had a whole lot of nothing I could write except about one thing.
My feelings.
This isn’t just about telling all of New York about my fortune in finding a good woman, a great chef, and a wonderful mother, it’s about setting the record straight. I owe her an enormous apology for my recent behavior. As my feelings grew, I knew there was no way I could be objective without some outside assistance. I didn’t want anything to hurt her—hurt her reputation. To avoid that conflict, I elected to respond by contacting the owners of the restaurant she works at and asking them to create a menu of the foods I was renowned for despising the most—including apples.
And I forced Chef Paxton to use them in her dessert.
Why would I do something so utterly cruel? Because I had little doubt if anyone could get me past those feelings, it would be Trina. After all, I was welcomed in her home. I understood she could turn misfortune into the warmest place I’ve stood in since my mother lived. I held her against me when her own family antagonized her about trying to find happiness. I saw her eyes tear under the pain of injury.
And then I stupidly walked away because of my own fears.
If I’m forgiven, I know for the rest of my life I’ll be challenged every day by something new that comes out of my relationship with Trina. She said I couldn’t live her life for thirty days; now I don’t know how to live without it.
I take that back. I can live with anything but her walking away.
So here, now, for everyone to see, I want to issue another challenge to Chef Trina Paxton: take a chance on me. I know it is way too soon for more than that, but together we can build on this—us. We can make it into something more.
Like you turned apples into something magnificent.
Chef Palazzo finishes reading. Turning toward me, she places the new papers into my hands. I curl my fingers tightly around the edges, uncaring if I end up with paper cuts. “He’s waiting for you in the dining room,” she informs me gently.
“Thank you, Chef,” I whisper.
“There’s no need to thank me, Chef. You earned those accolades you received.” And standing back, she begins to applaud me. Soon, everyone in the kitchen joins in. But I don’t pay much attention as I’m pushing my way through the throng of my coworkers to get to Jonas.
And after I shove the swinging door open, I find him leaning against the wine bar just like he was when I first met him. His hair is dark, perfectly combed. Once, I thought he looked untouchable. Now, I think his hair is begging for Chris’s fingers or Annie’s lips to muss him up because that’s when the Jonas I’m falling for starts to emerge.
The door swooshes behind me, signaling my presence. His head swivels my way as I get closer, and everything he wrote is mirrored on his face: respect, admiration, and the dare to see where this thing is supposed to go.
As soon as I’m within touching distance, I open my mouth and the first thing that comes out is “You’re awfully chatty about things in print. Think maybe you could, I don’t know, tell me what you’re thinking face-to-face?”
A wicked smile crosses Jonas’s face before he slides an arm around my waist. “Are we having mac’n’crap for dinner tonight?”
Feigning innocence, I tell him, “Probably.” But I slide my fingers up the smooth dark shirt he’s wearing as I say it.
“Then the fact I’d willing eat that over and over should have given you a clue how I felt about you long before now, Trina.” Lowering his head, Jonas takes my lips in a kiss so thorough, I’m surprised we don’t set the antique bar on fire. When he lifts his head, his lips are swollen.
Mine sting a little as they curve. “The kids missed you,” I admit.
“I missed them too. Nowhere near as much as I missed you though. Sweetheart.” His arms tighten. “Do you understand why…”
I lift a hand to lay my fingers over his mouth. “Last night was terrifying,” I admit. “I thought I lost it all.”
His face twists in pain. “I’m sorry, but I had to be impartial. I didn’t expect you to get injured so badly along the way.” His hand lifts to cup my healing jaw.
“I know. Now. But my jaw was nothing in comparison to how everything hurt when I was peeked out the door, saw you take one bite, and then leave.”
He groans. “I did the same thing to the pizza place in the Bronx.”
“Well, they should be grateful they didn’t know they were being reviewed. It was like a knife to the heart.”
“I’m so sorry, Trina. So damn sorry.”
“So am I. I should have answered.”
“We’re new. We have all the time in the world to get it right.”
I open my mouth to reply, but this time Jonas stops me by placing his lips on mine. Leaving them there, he whispers, “You continually best any challenge. It’s one of the things that has me falling in love with you.”
“I think I started to fall the night we sang in my kitchen,” I admit breathlessly.
“Then, challenge accepted?” he asks, referring to his soul-baring article but using the words I threw at him a month ago.
“Unequivocally.”
Jonas pulls back and grins. “Good. Now, I have to ask…”
“Okay?”
“Do you think Mia will let me have the rest of the cake? It was fucking delicious.”
And proving I’m meant to be where I’m supposed to be not only personally but professionally, Chef Palazzo yells from the door, “Only if you buy it, Rice. I’m running a business here. Don’t be thinking you can hit your girlfriend up for freebies,” before I hear the swoosh that indicates she’s gone back to the kitchen.
Family. They cause all kinds of challenges—the kind you’re born with and the kind you’re given. But they’re all still family. I can’t wait to explore this new that’s building with the cohesive team under Chef Sterling at Seduction.
My head falls forward and lands right over Jonas’s heart after he says, “She can charge me for the whole thing if we’re having mac’n’crap for dinner.”
In other words, as we both laugh, my heart knows this is the perfect place for it to be.
Epilogue
Three Years Later
Trina
“What’s on the menu for tonight?” I ask Elle.
“Are you poking your nose in where it doesn’t belong, Chef?” Her eyebrow raises above dancing violet eyes. “You do realize this is your rehearsal dinner, Trina, not work. I’m not required to tell you a blasted thing about it since you—”
“Left all catering decisions in your hands, I know. You would think after living with me through the first one of these”—I rub my hand over my slightly protruding stomach with a beaming smile—“you’d be used to my insanity.”
“I’m used to you, all right,” she
retorts. “It’s your fiancé who’s a pain in the ass.”
With a groan, I slide back against my office chair. “What did Jonas ask for now?”
Elle begins mimicking Jonas’s deep voice, something she excelled at doing considering the amount of time she spends with us. “I know we said one big cake, but do you think it should be mini cakes instead?”
Laughing, I reach over into the basket a supplier sent over of samples of wine from a vineyard in Virginia we’re considering for Seduction. “Here, chug that and you’ll feel better,” I assure her. “All you have to tell Jonas is I’ve never tested the apple buttercup cake as mini cakes. Then what would happen if our wedding cake was ruined?”
“I know I’ve said it over the years, but I love you.” Elle toasts me and tips her bottle back.
“I love you too.”
“No, Trina.” Her exquisite face shifts from humor to humble. “Everyone here loves you. I don’t think there’s anyone who could have slid into Sterling’s shoes when she was promoted to take over London quite the same way you have.”
“Damn you.” I reach for the box of tissues sitting on my desk. “You know how easily the waterworks start when I’m pregnant.”
She shrugs, completely unrepentant. “Blame your soon-to-be husband. More often than not, I’ve been blaming him as of late.”
I burst into laughter which is how Jonas, Annie, and Chris find me. “Mama!” Annie hurls herself into my arms.
“Well, baby, don’t you look adorable in your uniform.” I admire how neat she still looks after a half day of school. Holding out my arms for Chris, I chuckle. “And darling, you look like you found the only mud puddle in the city.”
“I did,” he informs me proudly. “We were on the playground during break.”
“Well, you know what that means?”
Chris groans. “A bath?”
“A shower at the very least,” I tell him gently. “We’ve got big plans the next few days, baby.”
“Have any idea what those might be?” Jonas leans down and brushes his lips against mine. Just like the first time our mouths met, that electric charge surges between us. “How’s work?”
“I’m just finishing up.” I smile against his lips. “That’s because I had to tell Elle you can’t have individual cakes.”
Jonas pulls back and frowns—first at Elle, then at me. “Why not?”
“Because unless you want me to miss our rehearsal dinner by testing the recipe to make sure it will be perfect for our guests, then one large cake is being made.”
“I’m sure Elle could…”
“No,” I say flatly. “I’m not having you complain about a single morsel of food on our wedding day. And the cake is one thing I know for certain you’ll be eating.”
“Mama, are you going to shove the cake in Daddy’s face?” Annie asks excitedly.
Jonas is torn in that moment between overwhelming pride each time one of the kids calls him “Daddy” and an instinctive need to argue with me about food here in my own kitchen. “I just think the presentation…”
“Should have been thought of six months ago when you asked me to marry you and we started planning. Not twenty-four hours before the event. You’re worse than Bridezilla, Jonas.” Quickly turning to my desktop, I pull up our internal communications platform. My hand hovers over the mouse. “Don’t make me pull in the big guns,” I warn him.
“The changes I asked for shouldn’t be a problem. I’m not asking for the menu to be changed. Well, except for the cheese. Would it be possible—” He turns to an infuriated Elle.
I double-click on the name at the top of my list.
The room goes silent as a soft bleep-bleep resonates through the room. “I’m on the way to the airport to make it in time for your wedding. What the hell’s wrong?” Mia’s voice comes through loud and clear.
“Two things. First, the kids are in my office,” I warn her.
“Hi, Annie. Hi, Chris. Are you excited for tomorrow?” Mia’s voice becomes effervescent with excitement.
Before they can answer, I tell her, “Second, Jonas is still trying to change the menu.”
There’s silence on the other end of the line. “You’re getting married in less than twenty-four hours, Jonas. Are you out of your mind?” I consider the fact Mia didn’t curse a minor miracle. The fact the windows to my office rattled a bit is a perfectly acceptable trade-off.
Sheepishly, he hooks an arm around my neck when he leans in to answer. “I just want to make sure Trina can eat everything.” His other hand caresses our baby’s bump.
Elle pipes up, “Okay, cheese I’m willing to look into adjusting for that reason. I am not willing to make mini cakes, Jonas. That’s where I put my foot down.”
“If it’s doable, Jonas, Elle will take care of it. If it’s not, then it’s not. It’s time to stop being nervous and start getting excited.” And at that, Mia slams down the phone.
Seconds later, a text pops up on my screen. I swear he’s worse than when I married Cam. Both times.
I grin, remembering the stories Mia shared over the years. “Are we good here?” I ask everyone in the room. “Even though the rehearsal is small, I’d like to go home to get ready for it.”
Jonas releases his hold on me and offers his hand. “Then let’s go home, sweetheart.” I take it and stand.
Elle pushes to her feet. Quickly she leans forward and brushes a kiss against Jonas’s cheek, then leans in to give me a fierce hug. “I’ll be over to your condo in a few hours.”
“Next to Jonas, you’re the most important person I need there,” I tell her honestly. Elle standing by my side tomorrow is everything. She’s more than my best friend—we’ve lived through too many of life’s challenges for that.
She saunters out, calling, “Hey, guys. Do we have a wheel of Swiss Lorraine anywhere here? The groom strikes again. Come on Chris, Annie. Let’s see if we can make your dad any cheesier than he normally is.”
“Okay!” They scramble after their favorite aunt because they know they’ll likely get a snack out of her dessert chefs by the time we get out of my office.
A soon as the kids vacate, I burst out laughing. “That’s what you asked her for? Swiss Lorraine?” I wrap my arms around my fiancé and hug him hard.
“Listen, with the way we were mint to be together, how can you expect anything less?” He drops his head down to nuzzle gently at my cheek.
“If bet if Elle knew that story, she’d find the closest supermarket to buy it at,” I chuckle.
Jonas rears back, making me immediately regret my words. “That is not a challenge,” I warn him.
“Then what was it?” The light I love in his dark brown eyes is sparkling down at me.
I groan. “Just take us all home. We need to get ready.”
“Then you’d better shut down. You won’t see the inside of this office for the next two weeks.” A delicious shiver runs through me when I realize we’ll be off to Europe for the next two weeks. As if he can read my thoughts, Jonas comes up behind me and places his hands on my hips. “How much five-star cuisine do you think we can get from room service?”
“I hope a hell of a lot.”
“Good. Let’s get the hell out of here and get started,” Jonas growls. “I love you, Trina.”
I tingle from head to toe when he says it. I hope I still do when I’m tottering around with a cane. “I love you too, Jonas.” Grabbing my purse, Jonas rolls his eyes before he swings the colorful backpack onto his shoulder.
Taking my hand, he leads me out door. Coming to an abrupt stop, he asks, “What happened to your door?”
Innocently, I ask, “What do you mean?”
He runs his fingers over where it used to read, Chef Trina Paxton, Executive Chef. Now all it says is Executive Chef. “What’s going on?”
Figuring it’s as good a time as any to give him his wedding gift, I press him forward until his back is against the wall I first slammed into him when I ran out of this very office und
er duress. “While we’re gone, they’re going to change the name to read Chef Trina Rice, Executive Chef. It was going…”
I don’t have a chance to say any more as Jonas drops my bag to the floor and pulls me into his arms to kiss me thoroughly. I know for certain he loves his gift because our kids have a chance to finish dessert by the time he’s done.
The End
The Fusion Universe
For more information about The Fusion Universe, click here: https://www.ladybosspress.com/fusion
Acknowledgments
I’d be remiss if I didn’t challenge myself to try to write my acknowledgements using food puns.
Mom and Dad, you always made a big dill out of my accomplishments. Thank you for always being my biggest supporters. Thank you from my head to-ma-toes.
Jen, you’ve always been there on the bad days to let me wine about it. That’s because you’re the best! I love you!
To my husband, you’re my butter half. The best recipe is us. You have olive my heart.
To my son, lets taco bout how wonderful you are. I cereal-sly love you.
To my Meows, I’d be muffin without you. We’re even a perfect half dozen!
To Kristen Proby, I’m so grapeful to you for this incredible opportunity. Besides, grapes were the closest I could come to huckleberries in this food pun acknowledgement challenge. Love you, hard.
To the team at Lady Boss Press, thank a melon for everything you did for another wonderful release!
To Sandra Depukat from One Love Editing, Thanks for pudding up with me during the back and forth on this book! You’re amazing!
To Holly Malgieri. We were mint to be together, my twin! And I love how our calls go from edits to everything.
Challenged by You: A Fusion Universe Novel Page 24
