Page 62 of Dump and Chase

“About Tangi?”

“Yeah. About New Year’s Eve.”

“If you want to make it right with her, you’ve got a lot of work to do. You really fucked up that night.”

“I know.”

As we watched the game I had to come up with a plan to fix things with Tangi before it was too late.

ChapterThirty

Tangi

The opening for Wolseley’s restaurant was a massive hit. It didn’t hurt that Jill had used her connections to get some media there to cover the event. The mix of vegan and vegetarian dishes had all the guests raving. Ava and I ate almost all the mini vegan burgers, and it also gave me a chance to catch up with her too. We talked about the baby, Ethan, and that she wanted to come visit when the baby was born. I told her I’d love that.

Jill, Wolseley, and I gushed over the reviews the next day over breakfast at a greasy spoon.

“We’re booked solid for the next four weeks. We’re already taking reservations for the Christmas season! Can you believe it?” Wolseley said as she cut into her vegetarian omelet.

“I’ve already talked to Richardson’s about having you cater some of our corporate events, if you have space for us.”

“Of course I do,” Wolseley said, her gray eyes lighting up.

As happy as she was, Wolseley looked tired, and not just from one night that had her up until the wee hours of the morning. She’d been running herself ragged. She’d always been the one with all the curves, but even that had seemed to disappear. And her always vibrant gray eyes looked washed-out and worn.

“Don’t get mad at me, but you’re taking care of yourself, right?” I asked.

Wolseley tilted her head, looking baffled. “Yeah, why?”

“You look exhausted.”

Wolseley wasn’t the sensitive type, so she took it in stride. “I’ve been working hard. This restaurant launch has been running me off my feet. Coming up with the perfect menu has also been a huge challenge. But it’s going to get easier now. I have a great sous chef who can easily step in when I need a break.”

I wasn’t convinced, but I also wasn’t going to challenge her.

We finished up breakfast and I headed home, but not before giving my friends huge hugs and promising to see them at Christmas. I wanted to spend more time with them, but I had a flight in five hours, and I still had to pack up what I wanted to take with me, spend some time with Mom and Dad, and get to the airport.

By the time I got on my flight to Vancouver, I was exhausted. What should have been a short and relaxing trip home hadn’t been relaxing at all. I’d spent the entire time on the go and needed a vacation from my vacation. On top of it all, the last thing I wanted to do was deal with Ethan.

My flight landed mid-afternoon, and I took a cab to the condo. Ethan was in the living room alone, but he was playing video games online with his teammates. I’d agreed weeks ago to give up the living room television for his gaming because, in all fairness, it was his condo, and I had the primary bedroom with my own TV.

He glanced up at me, told whoever he was playing with to hang on, and ripped off his headphones and mic. He jogged over to me and all my luggage.

“Did you bring Minnesota back?” he asked with a careful smile.

Time for a truce, so I smiled back. “You’d think so. Thanks for the help. They can go in my bedroom.”

He put the large luggage on the chair where I’d asked him to and my backpack on the floor. I’d stuffed everything to the gills. He headed back to the living room to resume his gaming. I wondered if he was waiting to get back into it with me until his friends left.

I took a shower, then moved on to unpacking. I’d brought some heavier sweaters, light jackets, more pairs of shoes, along with other odds and ends with me. An hour or so later, Ethan popped his head into my bedroom.

“Did you eat?”

“No, but I could.”

“I was going to have the usual, but I can make yours more interesting.”

“Sure, that would be wonderful.” I didn’t have a hankering for steamed vegetables, brown rice, and boring chicken, but I knew he was capable of making it more interesting.

---