by Anne, Melody
He scooped a generous roll onto each plate, then reached into a dish behind them and settled a mixture of nuts, cinnamon, shaved chocolate, and sliced fruit on top of the already-gooey dessert.
When he was finished, it was picture perfect, ready for the cover of a food magazine. She was sure it wouldn’t take long for it to go right there. He made some things for only his restaurants, and some he shared with the world. This would be a world dessert that few would be able to replicate.
Those who thought cooking was as simple as following a recipe didn’t truly have a joy of cooking. Most people could read instructions and make a decent dish. But a few select people could create magic.
“All ready,” he said. She didn’t need any further invitation than that. She picked up her fork and knife and cut her fist bite. She didn’t even need a knife, it was so soft and pliant. But that was the best way to ensure she got a little taste of all the ingredients in each bite.
Flavor exploded in her mouth as she savored the amazing creation. Her father nibbled on a few bites as he jotted down some notes in his book. She polished off her plate while he was still writing.
“Any suggestions?” he asked her.
This was a normal question in their household. How could the dessert be improved? He wouldn’t be insulted by anything she came up with. As a matter of fact, he’d be impressed if she could make it even better. She desperately wanted to come up with something, but she loved it.
After a few seconds she laughed, her stomach a bit bloated, she’d stuffed so much down. “I really want to come up with some powerful words of wisdom like ‘More cinnamon, less nutmeg.’ But seriously, Father, I can’t imagine tweaking this recipe even a little bit,” she finally said. “I wouldn’t mind taking the leftovers home, though, so I can work on that later tonight,” she added with a big grin.
Her father might’ve normally lectured her about always striving to be better, but her blatant excuse to get the dessert actually made him laugh.
“That’s such a good way to get the dessert I think I shall let you have it,” he said. “But you do have a task. I want you to find some way you could improve upon it. If you can’t, then I guess you won’t get to be my taste tester anymore.”
That was a real threat. She’d hate to never get to sit there with him while he made his creations and be the first person to take a bite. That would be the ultimate punishment.
“I guess I have no choice but to figure something out, then,” she said. “Are you going to give me the recipe?”
He shook his head. “You know that would be cheating,” he told her. Then he heard students in the hallway. “It looks like your class is here. You’d better go relieve your mother.”
“Yes,” she said, her smile falling away. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her mother. She very much did. It was just that her mother very rarely loosened up like her father just had. She never did when it was all of them together.
Yes, her father wanted perfection, but her mother wouldn’t accept anything less than that. Which meant she didn’t have time to joke or play. Chloe was a bit jealous of the dynamics of the Anderson family. They were so different than her own. Brandon didn’t truly realize how lucky of a man he was.
He’d lost his mother, which was beyond horrible. And he’d lost his father when he was young, which had been a blessing since the man was so terrible. But he’d inherited a family unlike anything she’d ever seen before.
The Andersons were beyond wealthy, but they were also filled with love and happiness. They were the family everyone wanted to be a part of. They made mistakes and weren’t belittled because of it. They were encouraged to forge their own paths. She wasn’t sure who she would’ve turned out to be with a family like theirs. Would she still have been a chef? Would she have been married with children? Would she have ever been happy being mediocre?
She didn’t know, because she hadn’t been raised in a home like that. She’d been raised with love, of course, but she’d been raised with drive and ambition. Could a person fight against that?
If she’d been brought up in a different home, would her competitive nature have been squelched? It was an interesting theory. It was something she hadn’t really thought about—not before meeting Brandon and all of the Andersons.
They were obviously filled with just as much, if not more, drive as her parents—as her, as well—but they did have a loving, wild, almost crazy family. Would they be rulers of the entire world if they were as strict as her parents? She wondered if research had been done on that.
Maybe somewhere out there twins had been separated at birth. One given to a set of easygoing sleep-on-Sundays-all-day-long parents, and one given to a type A, go-go-go set of parents. And then the babies were followed, watched, observed, day and night. Maybe it was a Truman Show type of experience.
Even if someone had done something like that, they’d never admit to it, so there wouldn’t be a way of showing studies. It would be unethical—unlawful in most places. She wasn’t quite sure why her mind worked the way it did or why she thought of things like this. Maybe because she was always trying to achieve more. And most people did that by constantly thinking.
She kissed her father goodbye and made her way to her assigned classroom. She was going to put away her thoughts and enjoy her day. If it was a good group of students, it would be fun. If it wasn’t, then she could tell herself at least she might learn something new she could use in her restaurant.
If she was positive about each moment in her life, then she’d have no regrets when looking back—just plenty of wins and a lot of learning experiences.
CHAPTER FOUR
Brandon sat on his back deck, his thoughts on Chloe. Of course, that seemed to be where his thoughts were every second of the day. It was now interfering with his work. He wondered if he was truly as into this girl as he felt he was or if the thought of having to chase her was what made him chase her that much harder.
He didn’t normally chase women—not even when he was younger and didn’t have much to his name. It had taken him time to make a name for himself. And he wasn’t talking about the Anderson fortune. He’d built a successful career long before he’d found out he was one of those Andersons.
He had gone to trade school, gotten his electrical license, and owned his own business by the time he was thirty-two. He’d worked hard at building trust with clients, and they’d gladly followed him when he’d branched out on his own. Now with the veterans center under his belt, he felt as if the sky was the limit. Not because it was with the infamous Anderson collection of projects, but because the world’s eyes were going to be on it and see that everything had been done right and fast. He didn’t slack because of who he was. That only made him push that much harder.
He heard his brother approaching before he saw him. This wasn’t unusual. He’d always been close to his siblings. There was no need for knocking on the door when it was always open to those he loved and trusted.
With four siblings, sometimes that door never had a chance to fully shut. He wasn’t complaining. He couldn’t imagine what a quiet life would be like. Probably pretty dang boring. Brandon didn’t allow himself to get bored.
“What are you sitting here smiling all goofily about?” Noah asked as he took a seat next to Brandon.
“I’m just feeling good today,” Brandon told him. Noah popped the cap off the soda he’d grabbed. “You must be working.” Otherwise, he’d most likely have grabbed a beer.
“Yeah. We’ve had delays and any number of other things going wrong, and I’ve been back to the drawing board over and over again. I have to keep my mind sharp, or Sarah takes too much pleasure in showing me up,” he said with a laugh.
Noah and Sarah were the head architects for the veterans center, and it was their only project together. They loved each other immensely and said they didn’t want to risk fighting over work. They’d done enough of that while designing the facility. “One and done together” was their motto for a happy
marriage. Brandon thought that might be a smart rule to follow.
That was if he could even get Chloe to work on this one project with him. He sure hoped so, because right now he wasn’t feeling too optimistic about that. He’d been confident, but she was great at avoiding both him and Joseph, which wasn’t easy in a town the size of Cranston.
“I hate all the delays,” Brandon said. “It’s taking too long to get this up and running for all of those who really can use it right now.”
“I agree. But that’s why I love doing it with Joseph, too. At the end of this, it’s going to be the gold standard of facilities others will need to follow. So the first one has to be just right. The rest will go more smoothly,” Noah said. “But enough talk about work and delays. How are things going with Chloe?”
Brandon sighed. He almost lost his smile, but he kept it in place. There was no way he was giving any of his siblings room to mock him.
“She’s being difficult—won’t talk to me.”
“Is that why you’re slacking on the kitchen?” Noah asked.
“There’s no kitchen yet, so it’s not up to me. But I don’t want anyone else to do it. I want her, and so does Joseph, so we’re being patient.”
“She’s worth waiting on. I had a nice chat with her the other day,” Noah said.
That wiped the smile off Brandon’s face.
“What do you mean you talked to her?” It seemed she was talking to everyone but him. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He didn’t get it.
“I’m easy to talk to. Lots of people like to do it,” Noah said with a chuckle. “But since I am married to one of Chloe’s two best friends, I see her often. She’s a pleasure to have over.”
“Ugh. She isn’t as much of a pleasure around me. I somehow got on her bad side, and I haven’t figured out how to change her image of me.”
“What did you do?” Noah asked. It was a perfectly reasonable question, but Brandon wasn’t sure how to answer it. He didn’t want to kiss and tell when it came to Chloe, but he also needed some help, and that meant he’d have to give something.
“We had some time the night of your wedding,” he said. He figured that wasn’t telling too much.
“What kind of time did you have?” Noah pushed.
“I don’t want to get into details. But I just know I want more time with her.” It wasn’t often that Brandon was serious. But the rare times he was, his siblings usually listened. That was the nice thing. They could joke around a hell of a lot, but when it came down to it, they were there for each other when it counted most.
“If this is more than lust, then you need to show her.”
“How will I know it’s more than that if I don’t get the chance to find out?” Brandon honestly asked.
Noah was quiet for several moments as he thought about the question.
“I’m not an expert in the area of dating. You know that Sarah and I went through our own personal hell, but in the end it all worked out. I just know that when I stopped playing games and let her know how I truly felt, she responded to it.”
“I don’t know exactly how I feel. I haven’t been playing with her, but I have been cautious. You can’t blame me for that when she keeps me at a nice distance.”
“Is she worth pursuing?” Noah asked.
“Yeah, she’s totally worth it,” Brandon said without hesitation.
“I’d think so from what I know about her. But at the end of the day, it would be you and her and your own compatibility. She might be perfect, and you might be close to perfect, but maybe you aren’t a perfect couple,” Noah pointed out.
“I haven’t even thought about that. I can’t imagine we could be anything less than spectacular if our one night together is any indication.”
“I thought you weren’t going to kiss and tell,” Noah pointed out.
“I didn’t,” Brandon said with a grin. “But what’s the point in trying to hide the amazing chemistry between the two of us?”
“We all know she’s beautiful, smart, and talented. But is she the one?”
“I’d like to find out,” Brandon told him.
“You’ve tended to lean toward the Barbie-type girls for a long time. I believe this might be the one, ’cause she has you tied up in knots, and she’s nothing like the typical girls you’ve had on your arm before.”
“Hey! I’m not a playboy. I don’t treat women with disrespect,” Brandon said, somewhat offended.
“I didn’t say you do. But you haven’t exactly brought a woman home for Christmas,” Noah pointed out again.
“Maybe this is the year I do just that,” Brandon said.
“I hope so,” Noah said, shocking him.
“Why is it so damn hard to admit I might want more?” Brandon finally said. He was frustrated and maybe speaking out more than he normally would’ve done before. He almost expected his brother to laugh. But Noah shocked him.
“Because I think this one matters. It’s up to you to figure out what you want to do about it and what that means. I do know that it’s useless to fight it, though.”
“What’s useless to fight?”
Brandon and Noah turned to see Crew approaching. He stopped at the cooler and grabbed a beer before joining them.
“No way am I telling you anything,” Brandon said.
Crew was a psychologist, and unless Brandon wanted to pretend he was in a stuffy office and have his brother pick apart everything he was saying, he was keeping his mouth shut. They’d always teased Crew, saying he needed to loosen up. But it was somehow different now. His brother had loosened up. They just couldn’t figure out why or what was happening. Crew had even bought an old ranch and was fixing it up. He was the last person on earth any of them would’ve thought would do that.
“Come on—you both know I’m the smartest one out of all of us. Maybe I can help,” Crew said. He took a long slug of his beer, and Brandon was again surprised. It wasn’t that Crew didn’t drink; it was just that he didn’t often do it during the day.
“What is wrong with you?” Brandon asked. For once he wasn’t trying to deflect when it came to his brother. He was just trying to figure him out—and he couldn’t. Something was seriously off. It took several moments for him to put his finger on it. “You haven’t shaved.” He paused as he looked at his normally well-put-together brother. “And you’re wearing a hoodie. How in the world did I not catch that immediately?”
“I’m with Brandon here—what in the world is going on?” Noah said.
“Maybe I’m making some changes,” Crew said.
They gaped at him. It was nice for Brandon to not have the full extent of his brothers’ attention on him, but this was truly odd behavior from Crew.
“I don’t buy that for a second. You know what they say about leopards and their spots and all,” Noah said.
“I’ll tell you about it when I can,” Crew said.
That shut both brothers up. Something was going on with Crew, and they immediately wanted to help him. But they had a code among each other that if one said they couldn’t talk about something right then, then they had no choice but to respect it.
“It really sucks you’re invoking the ‘Can’t talk about it now.’ You realize we’re going to be obsessing on this, right?” Brandon said.
“Yes, I know that. And I know you’ll respect me,” Crew said. Then he took another drink before focusing his laser eyes on Brandon. “Now tell me about your problems.”
And that was the end of that.
They sat back in silence for a while. Then Brandon pretty much outlined to Crew what he’d been talking about with Noah. Crew listened without offering advice. There wasn’t a time in history Brandon could remember that ever happening. They grew very quiet after that.
Something was going on with his brother that was big enough to make him forget about his problems, at least for the short term. He decided he’d give Chloe a few days to make up her mind if she’d talk to him or not. He’d told his sister-in-law that was
exactly what he’d do. He just hoped he had the patience for it.
Brandon liked instant gratification. Always had and always would. But maybe the fact that he wasn’t getting just that with Chloe was the reason he liked her so dang much. He guessed he was going to find out.
And maybe because he was going through hell, he could respect that his brother might be as well. Maybe it had to do with a woman. It might take a while, but eventually everything would come to a head. He’d see how all the pieces lined out when that did happen.
CHAPTER FIVE
Chloe turned for the hundredth time as she tried to get comfortable in her bed. She’d been around Brandon plenty of times before Sarah’s wedding and after. She wasn’t sure why this last time seeing him was affecting her so much. It made no sense to her.
Maybe it was because there was a big part of her that wanted to take on the Anderson project, and she knew that meant she’d be working side by side with Brandon. Maybe it was because she hadn’t been out on a date in a very long time, and her body was needy and filled with an ache she had no doubt Brandon could cure in one night.
Whatever the reasoning, she couldn’t stop thinking about Brandon or that night. It had been three months since then. The wedding had been perfect, with her and Brooke next to their best friend as she’d said her vows to a man they had no doubt their friend was deeply in love with.
Watching Brooke and Sarah so happy had made Chloe ache for something she’d never wanted before. It had made her wonder if she’d ever change, if she’d ever want a happily ever after. That was nonsense. She had her reasons, and they were valid and smart.
She hadn’t been pleased with those types of thoughts the night of the wedding . . . so she’d drunk way too much that night. And of course Brandon had been there. When he’d asked her to dance, she’d thought she’d say no. But instead she’d nodded at him. Yes, she’d been tipsy, but she’d also been fully aware of what she’d been doing. She had no doubt she’d had the wine to talk herself into doing what it was she’d wanted to do for months. A lot of people used alcohol as liquid courage. It allowed them to do what they wanted to do in the first place. And sometimes, that led to some really poor choices.
