Page 16 of Go Cook Yourself

“I need to get Cookie and leave this area,” I mumble as Cookie’s snores soothe the tension I’ve carried for a month. If I can get him back, I’ll be gone by the end of the year.

Flora’s eyes droop with sadness as she looks between Cookie and me. “I’ve tried to reason with Clive. I always knew he was selfish, but what he did to you makes me sick. You two were like brothers.”

“Maybe he’s always hated me, although that’s difficult to hide for years. I don’t know, Flora. I’ll be okay, but I must find a way to keep my Cookie Bear.”

“I have a plan for that.” Flora tucks her feet underneath her and snuggles up to one of the blankets.

“You’re not getting into trouble for me.”

She chuckles, but then she fixes me with a stare that reminds me she’s now an adult and wiser than her older brother. “Garett, you’ve been a better, sweeter brother than my own for the last seven years.”

I shift uncomfortably.

“Don’t deny it. We both know that Clive told me to deal with those bullies when I was fifteen, and if you hadn’t spoken to the bully’s parents and kept the girls at bay until I left school for college, I wouldn’t have survived.”

It’s all true, but Flora and Cookie are usually the only ones who get to see the genuine, nice side of me. If I’m not charming people, I’m a grumpy bastard, and there’s rarely anything in between.

“I’m going to get hold of the restaurant paperwork. I can’t get you that place back, but I’m certain I can prove that Cookie isn’t linked to anything but Clive and you, so you might be able to keep him.”

I bolt upright, but the shift makes Cookie jump up, his eyes wide and his breathing rapid. If the puppy farmers hadn’t gone to jail, I’d have left them in a state where they’d never touched a dog again.

“It’s okay, boy. Lay back down.” I stroke him gently, and soon, he calms. His head rests on my lap as he returns to dozing.

“You’re not suggesting I keep him today?” As much as my heart soars, I can’t put Flora in the middle of this. Besides, nothing will stop him from taking Cookie back.

“No, not today. But soon. I have a guy.” I raise my brows. “Don’t get all big brother on me. It’s not like that. He understands contracts. Besides, you don’t get to be protective when I’ve seen how you were with the newbie.”

I feign ignorance and shut my mouth.

Flora laughs. “You weren’t subtle. You were like Cookie when he wants a treat. Are you going to ask her out? Wine and dine her, do that thing where you offer to cook, and then blow her mind…with food.”

I smile as I roll my eyes. “I’m not doing anything—Ruby’s a Cloud and, therefore, off-limits.”

“And you don’t have a great history with hooking up with colleagues. Remember that sous-chef buddy you had when you worked in that French restaurant?” She makes bunny ears around the word buddy. “I guess it’s hard to forget with that scar from the hot fat from that pan.”

I rub the mark on my hand. “Your brother shouldn’t have told you about that. I was a different guy then, and I learned my lesson from sleeping with co-workers. It didn’t help the workings of the kitchen.”

She gives me that smirk.

“Oi, Flora, I wasn’t a pig. I always agreed with them that it was just a hookup, but they thought they could change my mind and that eventually we’d get into a relationship, hence the scar.”

“Don’t hate the player,” she replies, shaking her head, but her smile proves she believes me.

“Anyway, I don’t know how I got this job, but I need it if I’m going to get my feet back on the ground, pay my debts, and sort out my future. Besides, it’s fun here.”

Flora twists her lips to the side. “The job’s fun, or being around Ruby is fun?”

“Ruby is a colleague. Although, I treated her badly today. I don’t deserve her kindness. She thinks I’m a dickhead.” Evenwith everything going on today, working in Ruby’s presence made me smile for the first time in a long time. She knows baking, and as much as I’ll never admit it, I’ve picked up a new technique for icing.

“Sounds like she worked you out pretty quickly then.” I flip her the bird. “Always classy, Garett. You could apologise to Ruby. Even if you don’t want to romance her because of kitchen worker rules—” I choke on the word romance. That was my last thought with Ruby. “You’re such a dog. You know there’s such a thing as romance, even if you only did it to get in women’s pants.”

“I don’t like all the stories your brother may have shared about me. And how do you know about romance?” She never talks about boyfriends or girlfriends.

She shrugs. “Books. Anyway, back to you. You’re just not a commitment guy. It’s okay. But as I was saying, even if you don’t want to be anything more than colleagues, you should still smooth over what I expect was you being a dick all day.”

I rub the back of my neck and look anywhere but at her eyes. I let out a breath that vibrates my lips noisily. Cookie glares at me as if I’m threatening to blow a raspberry on his belly. “It doesn’t matter, anyway. She’s going to enter your brother’s competition. What’s his real angle with the competition?”

“I don’t know, but I have a bad feeling.” She sighs long and hard. “He’ll probably screw someone over because he can’t get your secret pasta ingredients. He was raging about that again before he left.” She glances at the clock hanging off the wall. It’s nestled between fairy lights. “Shit. I need to get Cookie back before he returns. I’m cutting it fine.”

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