Page 73 of Go Cook Yourself

“Now be on your best, woman. Garett is used to your towel-whipping ninja skills, but Flora is a guest,” Iain says with a waggle of his eyebrows, which earns him a slap around the arse.

I chuckle as I open the door, but that pull for a future grips me like a vice. Even if Ruby could be mine, I haven’t got the money to make it happen. If I still owned the restaurant, I’d sell my half to Clive, but he ended that dream like he tried to destroy me. There’s one other way I could earn money, but it means saying goodbye to the life I have now.

“Stop worrying,” Flora says as soon as I open the door. “It’s like you’re trying to plan a coup.”

It’s her turn for the Cookie experience. He barks and bounds up to her.

I grumble but check myself in the mirror by the door. Worry lines cover my face. It’s been two weeks since I acted like Ruby’s boyfriend, and the experience has warmed my heart and panicked me every moment, as has my new secret.

We’ve been rushed off our feet at the cookery school, and after each session, I’ve stayed behind and helped her with her baking skills. It fills me with this unending joy and painful anguish. We’ve not mentioned hooking up again, but we’re both thinking about it. There’s been tentative kisses and touches. I love teasing her and the warmth that fills my body when she smiles because she’s conquered a new skill.

“Let’s go for that walk,” Flora says, pulling me out of my internal debates. She’s been speaking to Iain and Liz the entire time, and I have no idea what they were saying. “Hopefully, the fresh air will help, or you’re going to end up like one of those chefs with permanent forehead wrinkles.”

“You’re not too old for me to ground you.” She rolls her eyes. “Right. Let’s get Cookie on a lead. Come on, boy.”

Flora waggles the leash that’s already clipped into Cookie’s harness.

“What’s going on in your head, Garett?” Liz comments.

“I have an idea,” Flora replies, pushing me out the door. “It was lovely to see you both. I shall work on what we talked about.”

I cock my eyebrow as she shoves me out the door. “Secrets?”

“I’ll tell you all about it in a minute, but first, I want to know what’s causing that storm in your head. Is it a certain red jewel?”

I speed up my steps.

???

“Cookie, do you want your ball?”

Cookie spins, his tongue lolling and his tail wagging. His big brown eyes fix on the ball. He looks like I feel when I’m with Ruby: all desperate and focused.

“What’s going on?”

I shrug before throwing Cookie’s ball relatively close. He’s back in seconds, the perfect distraction for getting out of Flora’s interrogation.

She glares at me and elbows me out of the way as I try to grab it. She throws it farther than I ever could.

“I forgot you were on the local rounders team. Is there anything you can’t do?”

“Decide where to focus my efforts rather than picking up everything and dropping it.” I forgot what she might be going through, as I’ve been caught up in my problems. “But this isn’t about me. Is Ruby the reason you’re jumping between every emotion these days? I’ve seen you with her, and you’re happier than ever.”

“It’s not that,” I reply, still avoiding the topic of Ruby. “The owner of a Michelin Star restaurant in Ireland, Ciara Kelly, is considering me for a job. Did you ever meet her?”

Flora smiles broadly. “She worked with you and Clive a couple of times. She was the best.”

I nod. “She was. If I get the job and accept it, I’ll be gone for a long time. I’m not sure if I’d see you for months.” Or if I’d see Ruby.

Flora stares at me like I’ve grown another head. “But you love the cookery school.”

I sigh and lower my gaze. “I know, but I miss working in a restaurant, and I need money to run my own business in the future.” I look up. Her eyes are wide. She’s sucked her lower lip into her mouth, and it reminds me of when she was bullied and she’d come home but refuse to cry. “I don’t want to leave you, Flora. You’re the best little sister I’ve ever had.”

She punches me. “Stop using that line.”

I laugh, but it’s not my usual chuckle. “But you are, and I wouldn’t want any others.” Cookie returns and Flora flings the ball again. She is fantastic at so many things. All I’ve got is being a chef. “I want to stay, but no restaurants locally will take me because they’re all scared of your brother. Clive never had influence over Ciara. She knows I can do great things and wants me to create menus and make the place my own.”

Flora’s sigh is like that of a dejected warrior who knows the battle is lost. “How will you tell the staff at the cookery school?”

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