Page 55 of Worth the Wait

“They’re good, professionally speaking.” I emphasized the last part.There. Not a lie.“I got an offer to open up my own restaurant.”

Sarina’s eyes practically bugged out of her head. “What? You never told me about that. What offer? From who?”

“I didn’t tell anyone,” I said as I took a sip of water.

“Does Mom know? She’s going to totally flip out.” Sarina’s tone was still pure shock.

I shook my head. “No one knows. Except the two of you.”

“What does this mean?” my dad asked.

The restaurant business was so far out of his wheelhouse, especially the one in New York City. It was its own beast. An entire lifestyle and world that no one experienced, unless you were a part of it.

“It means that if I say yes, this guy will get all the money together to open a restaurant. I get to be the head chef. Create the menu, implement it. Hire the staff. It’s actually a really incredible opportunity,” I said, but there was no real excitement behind my words, and I wondered if he’d pick up on it.

“Who’s the backer?” Sarina asked because even though she wasn’t in the food world, her status as an influencer meant that she knew a little about every industry in the city.

“Frederique,” I said, knowing that she’d know exactly who he was.

Sarina whistled. “Holy shit, Addison. Frederique is huge.”

“I know.”

“I don’t. Who is this guy? What makes him so great?” My dad didn’t seem impressed or happy.

I knew he was proud of all of my success, but he also knew that if I accepted this offer, I’d stay gone even longer. Maybe too long to ever come back.

“He’s a big-deal investor. Every restaurant he opens becomes the hottest thing in Manhattan. He’s extremely successful, and he has a knack for choosing top-notch talent,” Sarina said with a grin on her face. “Imagine all the events we could host there. I can go live, do behind-the-scenes content, show the restaurant from the ground up, with you as the focus. I’ll have the place blowing up online before you even open! You’ll be booked out with reservations months in advance.”

My little sister knew exactly what she was doing when it came to online marketing. I trusted her implicitly and knew that she could one hundred percent back up the promises she was making to me right now. She truly was that influential.

If Sarina Whitman told you to go somewhere, you went there. And you did it with a smile on your face, even if you had to wait in line for hours.

But do I even want that?

I wasn’t so sure anymore. At least not in this moment, when I was in the only place that had ever felt like home.

I glanced back at my dad, but there was an expression on his face that I couldn’t quite read or make out.

“What are you thinking?” I decided to come right out and ask instead of wonder to myself.

His lips were pursed together tight. “I’m thinking that you really need to go see the home that boy built.”

“What home?” I asked, not having the faintest idea of what my dad was referring to.

“He built a house, Addison. With his own damn hands. You need to see it before you make this decision. You need to know what you’re leaving behind if you say yes to this big-deal investor guy.”

“Dad,” I breathed out, my voice shaky because his words were like knives straight to my heart.

“Patrick built you a house?” Sarina asked, thoroughly confused. “Is that what you’re saying, or am I still drunk?”

My heart felt like it was exploding inside my chest. Had Patrick built the home we’d always talked about? I pictured the sketch in my head, and my eyes instantly started to water. We’d talked about it so many times. Dreamed it up. Loved it, even when it was just some pencil lines on paper.

“Where is it?”

“He bought the old Aimsley farm.”

My throat was clogged with emotion. My eyes threatened to spill over with tears and never stop. The way this town was able to keep a secret when it wanted to was downright impressive. No one had told me anything about the house or Patrick building one.

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