Page 68 of For Butter or Worse
“I don’t think so. She told us to stay close.” Nina leaned her back against the tree and looked up to see an older couple holding hands and making their way into the gardens. Their shoulders were pressed so tightly together that Nina was sure she couldn’t so much as fit a thin slice of prosciutto between them. The woman pointed to a flowering plant, and her husband stopped walking. She leaned down to smell the blooming purple flower, and her husband smiled back, the most loving and earnest grin Nina had ever seen.
Would she ever be able to find someone who looked at her the way this older man had at his wife? She hoped so.
“Hey, Mom,” Jasmine said. “Hey, Dad.”
Nina turned back around and pressed herself against the tree. She stared at Sophie, who held a finger to her lips to signal they had to be quiet in order to hear.
“Aren’t you cold? You should wear a sweater on a day like today,” Cory said.
“Or a scarf, at least! You have to keep your neck warm,” Dori added.
“I’m fine. I came on the bike, and I’m all warmed up from the engine.”
“Have you eaten? Your wrists look thin,” Dori said.
“Why don’t we get you a nice veggie burger from the café? And some cocoa to warm you up?” Cory asked.
“She’ll want coffee, but after noon it’s really not good for anyone,” Dori said.
“Okay, you two just need to take a beat,” Jasmine said. “I want to talk to you about the gala.”
“Okay,” Cory and Dori said simultaneously.
“First of all, I love you. But there’s really no easy way to say this, so here it goes—you both need to back off.”
“Back off?” Cory repeated.
“Yes, Dad. I haven’t officially accepted the job, but you send me a minimum of two emails a day with suggestions for the menu. I’m the chef—I’m the one who sets the menu.”
“Well, don’t you want our thoughts?” Dori asked.
“No, Mom, because what you’re sending me aren’t thoughts. They are requests. But cooking is personal, and it needs to be a reflection of me, as I’ve tried to tell you both. You’ve been trying to control me my whole life. When I didn’t go into horticulture, I know that hurt you. You thought we’d work side-by-side, the way you two do. And I’m sorry that we can’t be together all the time. I will take this opportunity you’re giving me, because it’s amazing, and will be good for my career, as we all know. But from now on, I need you to trust me. I need you to believe that I know what’s best for me.”
Nina looked at Sophie, who looked back at her. “Did they say anything?” Nina whispered.
“What?” Sophie whispered back.
“Did they say anything?” Nina said.
But before Sophie could answer, Jasmine spoke again. “And stay out of my dating life. No more setups with people from the arboretum.”
“They are nice people. What’s so wrong with the arboretum?” Cory asked.
“Nothing is wrong,” Jasmine said. “But let me make my own choices. I’ve never said all this to you before because I didn’t want to hurt your feelings. But you’ve hurt mine by constantly making me feel like I’m not doing enough, or I’m doing the wrong things. Just please believe me when I say that I’m capable of making decisions without your input.”
Nina tried to lean closer—not that she actually could, seeing as she was pressed up against a tree—but all she heard was Sophie’s heavy breathing. “Do you think they passed out?” Sophie joked.
“Okay,” Cory and Dori finally said in unison.
“Okay?” Jasmine asked.
“We will do our best to email less,” Dori offered.
“I just need you to not micromanage me,” Jasmine clarified.
“We don’t micromanage,” Cory said.
“Cory...” Dori said with a hint of warning. “I’m glad you’ll be catering the event. And we will do everything we can to treat you the same as anyone else we’d hire.”
