Page 2 of Don't You Want Me, Baby?

She shrugged him off. ‘It’s coming along.’

‘So not that.’ His eyes narrowed in, and she decided that was the moment to check the dockets again. ‘Oh, I know. Brad cancelled again, didn’t he?’

‘No—’ Amber started, but there was no point. Shaz would rat her out anyway, and where was she going to go tonight? Tyler was on a double shift; they were bound to cross paths, given that she lived in the flat upstairs. He would find out either way. She had zero back-up plans, so he’d soon suss her out unless she hid upstairs in the dark all night, and that thought was too depressing to consider for more than a panicked moment. Plus, she’d already done that last week when Brad had stood her up for their planned cinema trip. She’d eaten a whole tub of ice-cream in the dark listening to a spicy romance audiobook through her headphones like a teenager hiding from her parents. It was not happening again. She puffed out her cheeks, trying to shake off the bad feeling in the pit of her gut. The one that told her she needed to wise up. ‘Yeah. A new place opening in Harrogate, last-minute thing. You know how hard he’s being working with trying to get the funding for this new restaurant.’

Ben put the plated steak in front of Tyler, and he inspected itbefore turning to Ben and holding out a fist. ‘We’ll make a chef out of you yet.’ Ben bumped it and Amber could see he was gleeful when he grabbed the next docket. Tyler spooned his delicious-smelling gravy reduction over the meat, nodding to himself with satisfaction before pushing it closer to Amber. ‘Order up.’ Amber was halfway out the door when she heard Tyler shout after her.

‘You know, these big, flashy restaurant opening nights are never last minute. You are entitled to be mad at him.’

Amber bit her lip. ‘I know, and I am, but he’s doing what he can to make the life he wants. I can’t fault him for that.’

Tyler shrugged. ‘I get it. Everyone needs to follow their dreams, Amber.’ His eyes locked with hers. ‘But life is short, and you have your own dreams too. Remember that.’

The exit doors swished closed behind her. There was no point answering. She wasn’t daft; she already knew Tyler was right. Everything he’d said was parallel with the thoughts that had been swirling around her grey matter lately. When she’d first met Bradley last year, it had been one of the things that she found most attractive about him. He was a dream chaser, like her. He hadn’t changed. If anything, she had. They had both met knowing where they wanted to be in life, where they wanted to end up. He was just further on. She thought of the five-year plan languishing unticked in her notebook and pushed the familiar feeling of restlessness away. She could use tonight to work on her business plan. She’d been putting it off lately, with Brad so busy. It didn’t seem like the right time for loading their plate any higher. If she got her own plans under way for her grandmother’s old pub, she’d have no time to spend with him either. With their one-year anniversary coming up, she could wait a little longer. Let him get his second restaurant up and running first. Then maybe they could finally discuss moving in, focus on their other plans together. Everything they’d talked about. Marriage, babies. Running their businesses alongside raisingtheir family.I still want that: the business, the baby.Lately, her biological clock had started ticking louder, beating like a tell-tale heart in the same drawer her notebook lay.She would have to live in the new place, her childhood home. Living together in her grandmother’s old home would be the dream. Raising her children where she spent her happiest years? If Brad agreed to that, then all of her dreams would finally be complete. She could wait a little longer for her happy ever after, right? After the eatery was opened, maybe they could reconnect. Back to how good they were in the early months of dating, before things changed to guilt and recriminations over the phone. Missed dates and miscommunications. If her grandmother was here to see all this, she’d be getting a dressing down right about now. She’d be agreeing with Tyler. Life was short, and it was past time to get on with it.

Pinning on a smile and reaching table eight, she delivered the order. ‘Enjoy your meal.’ She grinned, proud of the mouthwatering food she placed on the table. Since Tyler had come to work for her a few weeks after she took the live-in brewery job, the food had been top notch. London trained, Tyler Williams was a damn genius when it came to cuisine. Even with all the rules and stipulations set out by the brewery in regards to the running of the Slug, he had made the menu his own. The old chef was happy with the frozen, reheatable stuff the brewery offered. Tyler soon talked them out of it and, when he took the job, his conditions were met. His kitchen, his menu. When he found a better gig more worthy of his skills, the patrons of the Lazy Slug would really miss out. His dishes had helped her double the takings over the last eighteen months and Sunday lunch was always booked out when he was on shift. Luckily for her, he seemed to be picky about where he landed next. Always talking about when he was gone, but never seeming to follow through on it. He would be sorely missed, and if she could have stolen anything from the Slug to take with her in her new venture,Tyler would have been her first-choice hands down.Perhaps we both need a kick up the backside to make the next move.

‘Oh, lovely,’ the woman’s eyes bulged when she saw the presentation of the food. Tyler took a lot of pride in his work. The vegetables were crunchy; the sauces matched the meat beautifully. Amber’s mouth watered at the aroma, and she swallowed behind her grin. ‘This looks so fancy.’ Amber thought of the whipped foam Brad would be drooling over tonight and watched as the customer tucked into a piece of perfectly cooked meat. Saw the enjoyment on her face. It gave her a lot of pride. Sure, she didn’t own the place, but, being live-in manager, she still considered it hers. One day, it would be her plates the customers would be tucking into, her name above a door in more ways than just a brewery licence. Food was part of that. Her grandmother always said the pub game was all about feeding the community spirit, and seeing families share meals always reminded her of that. Hopefully, she would find a chef as good as Tyler. It was a miracle he’d stayed as long as he had, really. His talents were wasted, but he had turned down a few offers now and Amber knew that the day he moved on was coming. She knew Brad kept talking to him about taking on the new eatery, so Bradley could concentrate on Sloane’s more, a head chef in each business. He’d never been interested, much to Brad’s frustration and her secret relief. Tyler would always mutter something about it not being his thing. Which wasn’t entirely true, given that his CV listed some pretty prestigious places. Even turning down Brad’s offer, she knew he wouldn’t stay at the Slug forever. Much as she would like him to, she knew his talents were made for bigger things. The Slug was his stopgap too. Maybe it was part of the reason she was dragging her feet. She liked things here, how they were. Listening to Tyler train Ben in the kitchen, laughing with Sharon behind the bar as they worked. The customers who frequented the place – it was all like family to her. Knowing that change wascoming didn’t make it any easier to take. She tried not to dwell on Tyler leaving. It wasn’t like they wouldn’t stay in touch. She’d gotten used to having the grumpy chef around to talk to. Then again, it’s not like she saw much of Brad, and she was supposed to be sharing her life with him. She wouldn’t want her friendship with Tyler to go that way. He was a pushy guy in the kitchen, but he was fair too. Made time for life a little more. His passion went into his food, whereas Brad was more a big picture type of guy Always wanting the next thing, whereas Tyler was laid-back. Brad wanted a Sloane empire behind him, and Tyler… well, he just wanted to feed people. Be present. Thrill them with his creations. He could have left for a better-paid job, more prestige. He would be an asset for Brad’s restaurant; it suited him better. The timeline fit too, but Tyler never seemed to warm to Brad’s flattery or the concept of a brand-new restaurant to make his culinary mark on when he finally closed the Slug kitchen down one last time. Ben would be up to speed and, with another chef under him, her business would be in safe hands. Still, she found herself in no hurry to hand him his P45. He was family, just like Sharon. With all her actual family gone, the two of them and Bradley were it. She didn’t relish the thought of losing any more of her people.

She got back to it, straightening menus on tables, chatting with the other diners. Laughing as little Olive, one of the younger regulars, flicked her peas across the table whilst her parents rolled their eyes. She tidied them away, bringing Olive some crayons to distract her while her weary father threw her a grateful grin.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ she told them both, leaning into Olive’s grabby handed, sticky hug. ‘Just enjoying your food, aren’t you Liv?’

‘Yeah.’ Her mother Lynda laughed. ‘You should see the kitchen wall after she enjoyed our bolognaise yesterday.’ She helped feed Olive for a while, letting her parents enjoy their own meal. Playing with children was something that had always come easy to Amber,and by the time she left with their dessert order, the whole table was smiling. One thing she was skilled at was making the people around her happy. She didn’t need to be in a particular place for that. She might not be running her dream pub, but she was committed to making sure this place was well looked after.

‘Good?’ she asked her customer as she passed by table eight a short time later.

‘Wonderful,’ the woman exclaimed, closing her eyes momentarily as she savoured the taste. ‘Nothing like a proper bit of home-cooked food, eh?’

Amber smiled. ‘Couldn’t agree more. I’ll pass your compliments onto the chef.’ She bussed a couple of tables on her way back to the kitchen. Sharon ambushed her the second she walked past, taking the dishes from her hands.

‘Amber, a word.’ Abandoning the dishes, she dragged her into the side office between the kitchen and the bar.

‘But the bar?—’

‘Two minutes,’ she shut the door behind them.

‘Shaz, I know what this is about, and I don’t want to hear it.’

‘Tough. Sit.’ She pointed to the faded, old, grey couch that took up most of the right-hand wall. Huffing, Amber flounced down in one corner. ‘You know what I’m going to say.’

‘Yeah, so I can go then, eh?’ Sharon tutted, and Amber sat back, crossing her legs petulantly. ‘Fine. Yes, I know. He cancelled again. Last minute, again. I know you don’t like him, but?—’

‘Amber, I like him. You two were great together but lately, I don’t know.’ She sighed, a worried frown crossing her features. ‘It’s just, these days, he’s been a bit selfish. He was the one who wanted to make it exclusive; now he’s barely here.’ She didn’t draw breath long enough for Amber to give an answer. ‘He’s happy to have you draped on his arm when it suits him, but he drops you like a hot spud when something fancy comes along. Where’s he been the lastcouple of months? You work your tail off; you deserve your time away from this place.’

‘He doesn’t do it all the time, and we’re both passionate about our careers. That’s why it works. We still have plans. I’m still going to take over my grandmother’s pub one day; it just takes time.’ Her grandmother’s old business, The Bingley Arms, had been closed for a long time. Shuttered up ever since her beloved grandmother passed. Developers had tried to buy the place, but the town council had shut down any proposals for car parks or housing. Her grandmother had been a huge part of Hebblestone and counted the mayor as one of her closest friends. Good thing too, because Amber wanted it for herself. To see the place torn down or made into something else would rip her heart out. If she’d been in a position to buy it at the time, she would be there now. Every moment since the funeral had been about getting back there. Opening it back up and continuing the legacy her grandmother had created.Well, not so much lately.She had to admit to herself that, since Bradley, her burning drive had been diluted somewhat, but wasn’t that what partnerships were about? Give and take.Bradley does all the taking, though,the voice in her head protested. Maybe Shaz had hit the nail on the head. And she was still swinging her hammer.

‘Yeah, I know. I want that for you too, but does hereallycare about your life plans? You haven’t even mentioned your business plan lately, and I worry you’re just waiting around for him to pull his finger out and prioritise you. He did this last month, when we were supposed to do the comedy club thing. Bailing last minute, and he never paid you back for his ticket.’

‘It was only thirty quid. And besides, Tyler’s date bailed too!’ Amber knew she was reaching, but the line of questioning was raising her heckles.The truth hurts. The memory of eating ice cream in the dark was still as raw as the cookie dough she’d ingested.

‘Tyler’s situation was different.’ Sharon flicked her blue-streaked hair out of her face with a sigh. ‘Date being the operative word, and I set that up anyway. He didn’t want to do it in the first place; I just did it because I was bringing that Martin bloke from the Nag’s Head and didn’t want him third wheeling us all night and taking the mickey.’

It was true. Sharon had set Tyler up with one of her mates and she knew that he wouldn’t like it. Stephanie was nice, but hardly his type. Not that he had a type. In all the time she’d known him, he’d never seemed interested in dating anyone. Either way, Stephanie wasn’t someone Amber could see Tyler with. In their line of work, you needed someone who understood the unsociable hours. She worked in an estate agent’s part time, was home by six every day. She wanted someone who had his evenings and weekends free, and that just wasn’t their world. Sharon hadn’t put much thought into it, but that was her all over. Easy going, go with the flow and worry about the blowback later. It was one of the many reasons she loved her. Despite their differences, they were always there for each other. Which was why it was hard to argue with her now. When she was right, it was near impossible. Especially when she remembered Tyler’s face when Sharon had told him about the date a couple of hours before they were due to meet. His expression could have split logs. He was often sullen, but that night, his mood had been so stormy that when the four of them got outside the club and a crack of thunder rang out in the night sky, Amber had looked to Tyler for signs he’d caused it. Still, she couldn’t blame him. The comedians hadn’t been the best, and the pair of them spent most of the evening wincing at the bad jokes and watching Sharon suck face with Martin.

‘I told you that wouldn’t go well.’ She couldn’t help the grin that escaped when she looked at her mate’s annoyed face. ‘He cancelled on Steph the second you told him.’ She’d overheard him in the kitchen, letting her down gently on the phone. Even when dumpinga date he didn’t want, he was still a gentleman. He’d been so nice about it, apologetic. Explaining that he was into someone that Sharon didn’t know about, so he couldn’t go on a date. Asking her not to let on to Sharon, because it was so fragile. Secret. By the end of the call, Steph had been putty in his hands. She’d even wished him well with the woman he liked. She’d remembered thinking that Bradley could use a few lessons from Ty in letting women down gently.

Sharon gasped in her usual dramatic way, dragging Amber out of the memory. ‘I knew it! I thought it was weird she bailed last minute! She said she had to have her cat declawed!’ Amber smothered a laugh, watching Shaz as she walked the length of the office and back. ‘You should have told me!’

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