Page 25 of The Chef's Kiss
I swallowed heavily. This one wasn’t so little.
Granddad huffed beside me and barged through the door. “Son, don’t be such a douche.”
I groaned. He must have been spending too much time with Carter.
“Dad.” I could hear my father’s sigh. “I don’t even know what that word means.”
“It means, get your head out of that donkey’s rear end and come say hello to my granddaughter.”
I didn’t mention to him that saying both donkey and rear end was redundant.
“Emery—”
I stepped into the office, and Dad stopped talking. “Not Emery. His other granddaughter.”
Dad was on me in an instant, yanking me into his arms with a surprising roughness. “My girl.” His breath warmed the side of my head as he pressed a kiss to my hair. “I didn’t expect to see you.” He didn’t say, “until next month,” and there was the truth. Even after graduation, he didn’t think I’d come home.
“Surprise.” I wrapped my arms around his back, remembering how he could make me feel both safe and resentful at the same time. Being an Ashford came with consequences I’d fought against. Now, I wished I could go back. I’d definitely make different choices.
When he leaned back, I was surprised to find a smile on his face. My father wasn’t a man who let an ounce of happiness show, as if it would make him weak in some way.
Granddad dropped into a chair at the desk. “Found this one wandering outside the offices and figured she wanted to come in.”
“Please, sit.” He guided me to a chair and perched on the corner of his desk, his eyes never leaving me. “I had heard a rumor you’d been sighted in town, but I chalked it up to idle gossip.”
“Not idle.” I shrugged, unsure of what else to say.
His smile fell. “But school. Harvard. What about finals?”
I didn’t want to explain for the hundredth time, so I just said, “It’ll be fine, Dad. I had this sudden urge to come home.”
“One of the maids told me she saw Conner in your room at the estate. Am I to assume he was there at your behest?”
I nodded. “I wasn’t ready for the whole world to know I was back, so I’ve been at Conrad’s for a couple days.”
He didn’t look happy at that news, but he didn’t voice his displeasure.
Granddad, on the other hand, laughed. “Conrad trades everything for work at the sanctuary. What did he make you do?”
I scrunched my nose at the reminder. “Muck stalls.”
Dad and Granddad shared a grin.
“Stop it right now, both of you.” I pointed at them each in turn.
“We aren’t doing anything, kiddo.” Granddad was terrible at keeping a straight face.
“Yes, you are. You’re imagining it.” I crossed my arms. “Fine. I’ll help you. Picture an annoyed me standing barefoot, wearing my brother’s massive clothes—seriously, has he always been so tall?”
“Why’d he make you do it barefoot?” Granddad asked. “That doesn’t sound like him.”
“He didn’t make me,” I muttered, looking away.
Even Dad, with his intense dislike for all things Corolla Horse Sanctuary, couldn’t keep the laughter at bay.
They always told me I was just like my mother; not like I would know. But sometimes, I wondered if that was why Dad held on to me so tightly while he pushed everyone else away. I reminded him of what he’d had, and his other children reminded him of what he’d lost.
And just like Mom … Here I was trying to get the words out to explain the situation I’d gotten myself into. Her problem ended in a happy marriage. There was no possibility of that for me.
