Page 54 of The Promise Of You

Well duh, tossed them, didn’t drizzle them.

He continues, turning his forkful in front of his eyes. “And look at those colors! And the way the flavor just bursts in your mouth! It’s like walking in a vegetable garden and eating right there except there’s the caramelized taste…”

High-heat roasting. Best way to do it.

“Balsamic vinegar. They added balsamic to the glaze,” he says.

Balances out the sweetness of the maple syrup.

“And the coup de grâce…”

Saffron.

“Get him his meds!” Logan jokes. “When he switches to French, he’s about to have a food seizure.” Laughter ripples around the table.

Justin closes his eyes, exhales through his nose. “What is it?”

Saffron!

“Turmeric,” Justin drops.

Oh no! Justin.

“Turmeric. Interesting. I’ll try that in my casseroles,” Lynn says.

“This isn’t just veggies. This is… poetry in the kitchen. This is love.” His eyes slice to Lynn. “Seriously, Mom, you made this. Come on, admit it.”

“I did not!” she shrieks and laughs at the same time.

“Jeez, Just’,” Hunter says. “Why do you get so bent out of shape over a dish?”

“Food is love, and I need to know who made that freaking amazing dish.”

I’m burning right now. I should have come out and told him right away. We wouldn’t be having this conversation at all. Now, by not saying anything, it’s pretty much the equivalent of lying. Thank god no one is paying me any attention.

Hunter rolls his eyes.

“How can you work on the farm and have that perception of food?” Justin asks his brother.

“He’s good with fences,” Craig tells Justin, and I feel Hunter tense next to me.

“Fences are important,” I whisper to him, hoping to help avoid a family-wide brawl that I feel responsible for creating. I don’t think he heard me, so I repeat, “No fence, no farm animals,” louder this time and of course, this happens right in a sudden beat of deadly silence.

“Well said,” Lynn says. “Thank you for keeping the peace among my boys. Sheesh! You should come more often.”

My eyes glide involuntarily to Justin. Our gazes cross for a split second, then he clears his throat and looks away as I stay frozen, his profile doing all sorts of funny things to my insides.

“So, Chloe,” Lynn adds, her tone suddenly serious. “How long will all this… take?” she asks, her fork twirling around the air like it’s supposed to indicate what “this” is.

“Um…sorry?”

“This closing down the business.” Conversations around us die down.

My head spins. What is she talking about? “Wh…?”

She leans over to make her point clearer. “Closing down Kevin’s Fine Dining. What does it entail? I’ve been wondering why they had to send someone to do it, instead of just, you know—putting a sign on the door, emptying the fridge, turning the lights off, and leaving the keys with Justin.”

Wh… what?

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