Page 207 of How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother
All I had was grit.
My parents helped a little, but I have three brothers and a sister, and back then, the farm was still growing. They didn’t have the resources that they have now, so all of us found ways to work our way through school, to fight for what we wanted.
But Tatum Elliott didn’t need grit. With her father paving the way in signed cookbooks and celebrity appearances, why would she ever need or want a job like this one?
Zach moves closer, leaning against the edge of my desk. “I still don’t get it, but I’m not complaining. It can’t be a bad thing to have a woman with those kinds of connections hanging around. Especially not one who looks likethat.” He nudges my shoulder, a grin splitting his face. “Be honest. Did you guys ever hook up? She looks like your type.” He lifts his hands and mimes the curves of a woman. “And by type, I mean she—”
“Knock it off,” I say, offering him my sternest look. “We don’t have that kind of history, and I’d rather you not make other people think we do.”
“Um, Chef?” Willow appears in the doorway, her eyes wide.
I’d be happy for the distraction—and the end of Zach’s insinuations—if Willow didn’t look like she’d swallowed an onion whole.
“Hey. What’s up?”
She glances over her shoulder, wringing her hands. “Um, there’s a goat in the kitchen.”
I stare, dumbly trying to process what she’s telling me. “What?”
“A goat. White? Red bandana? It kinda looks like the one your brother-in-law is always putting on TikTok. I guess the back door was left open—the seafood guy was just here—and she just wandered up the loading dock. We tried to shoo her back toward the door, but she doesn’t seem like she wants to listen.”
I breathe out a sigh. There is agoatin my kitchen.
Sometimes I wonder why I ever left Charlotte. The city had nightlife. A foodie culture. Andneverlivestock in my cooking space unless it was on the menu.
“I’m sure it’s Penelope,” I say. “Tyler’s out of town. She always wanders when he’s gone.”
Olivia’s husband is a videographer by trade, so his TikTok videos featuring the newborn goat he rescued when her mother rejected her are next level. Penelope has a fan base as big as my little brother, Flint's, and Flint has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
Regardless of Penelope’s fan base, she doesn’t belong inside.
Definitely not inside my restaurant.
I’m halfway down the hallway when I hear theclop-clopof Penelope’s hooves, followed by a loud bark, then an enormous clatter.
I sprint the remaining distance just in time to see Penelope running a lap around the large silver island in the center of my kitchen, Tatum’s dog quick on her heels.
My staff is in disarray. Griffin is holding a tray of what looks like pork chops high over his head, and another cook beside him is pressing an armful of cabbages against his chest. All over the room, food and knives are lifted as the animals bump and jostle their way through the kitchen. My soup chef barely manages to steady a jostled pot when the dog cuts a corner too closely and slams full body into the stove.
I stand frozen, scanning the chaos.
There is a goat in my kitchen. There is also a dog in my kitchen, and right now they’re playing what looks like a full-contact game of tag.
I don’t even know what my life is anymore.
Whatever it is, it violates all kinds of health codes, so I need to do somethingfast.
Penelope lets out a concerned bleat, then makes a sharp right turn, cutting down the hall and heading for my office.
I motion for Zach to follow the goat, then move around the outside of the kitchen toward the dining room, hoping I can cut off the dog before he chases them both.
This dog is not slowing down though. His attention is laser-focused on Penelope and nothing or no one is getting in his way.
I’m in front of the dining room door when Tatum comes barreling through, too fast for me to move out of the way before she collides into me with a grunt. Her hands slam into my chest, and I stumble backward before wrapping an arm around her waist to stabilize us both.
Our eyes lock, and for a fraction of a second, all of the chaos around us melts away, and I lose myself in the gray-blue of her eyes.
But then Zach yells from the hallway, and Tatum blinks and steps away from me. She raises her fingers to her lips and lets out an ear-piercing whistle.
