Page 5 of Billionaire Unreachable: Wyatt

My aunt sent me a loving smile as she said, “We’ve all missed you so much, Shelby. It will be nice to have you here again. You have no idea how lovely it will be to see your face in person instead of on a screen.”

I swallowed hard, trying to clear the lump in my throat.

She had no idea how much I wanted to see their faces again in person, too, or how much I looked forward to a very big and familiar hug from all of them.

Even though I was finally making some friends in San Diego, it had been way too long since I’d felt like I was home and surrounded by people who loved me.

Shelby

“Ithink you just made enough food to feed an entire army,” Tori Montgomery commented as I put the things I’d just prepared for a tomato roasted mac and cheese dish into the oven. “Now sit and have a glass of wine with me, Shelby. Just watching you makes me tired. All I did was chop a few things and pull ingredients out. I have no idea how you think of such creative side dishes. If you weren’t here, the meat would be tossed on the grill without those fancy marinades and sauces. I would have thrown some corn and potatoes on the grill with the meat, opened canned baked beans and called it dinner.”

I turned and smiled at Tori as she took a seat at her kitchen island and downed a sip of her wine.

I was done with all of the prep for the barbecue, so I joined her at the island, picking up the glass of wine she’d poured for me a few minutes ago.

Nothing I’d done in the last hour had been a chore for me.

Making food for less than ten people was pretty much a breeze compared to the work I’d done in the past as a chef.

I shrugged. “I like feeding people well.”

Tori snorted. “And we love eating the food you make, but I didn’t invite you here to work.”

I knew that.

It had been me who had suggested that I do some prep and make some side dishes and sauces I’d been working on.

“It wasn’t really all that much work,” I explained after I swallowed some wine. “Cooking isn’t just work for me. Creating new dishes is a hobby. You know that food is my passion, and it’s not like we’re feeding a massive crowd of people. You also have an amazing kitchen that makes it fun to cook.”

Torie Montgomery lived in a gorgeous, waterfront mansion in La Jolla, a place I could only imagine owning in my wildest dreams.

Torie lifted a brow as she gave me a thoughtful glance. “Then maybe you need a few new hobbies. I don’t mind cooking sometimes, but I’ll never be as comfortable or as happy as you are in a kitchen. At least we have our love of hiking and the outdoors in common. What else do you do for fun when you’re not cooking? Do you still miss Montana?”

I sighed. “Mostly, I think I just miss being closer to my family. And having a horse available when I want to ride. It’s hard to compare living in Montana to San Diego. They have different advantages and disadvantages. I doubt I’ll ever get used to not having cold weather or snow at Christmas or the view of the night sky that you can only get in Montana. But there are good things about not being stuck indoors all winter because of the brutal weather. There’s also a lot more opportunity here for me in my profession.”

“Have you ever thought about opening your own restaurant?” she asked curiously.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, reminding myself that I was trying to forget the mistakes I’d made in the past.

I’d tried hard not to ruminate about all of my failures, but I wasn’t quite there yet.

“Been there, done that,” I confessed. “It didn’t work out. I think I much prefer experimenting with recipes and blogging about the results. With all of the work for catering available here, I can manage to make a decent living without working fifteen hour days every single day like I did when I had my own restaurant.

I’d opened up a lot to Tori, but there were things she still didn’t know. Not because I didn’t trust her, but because there were things I just didn’t talk about with anyone. Most of them were a painful part of my history that I really wanted to forget.

Maybe I still believed in being positive, but I didn’t exactly look at the world through rose-colored glasses anymore because I’d been burnt pretty badly by past events.

I couldn’t be the same woman I’d been back when I’d started my own restaurant in Montana, and maybe it was better that I wasn’t the same person. I’d been blissfully idealistic and ignorant.

“Your blog is incredible,” Tori replied. “I think your focus on elevated comfort food with some fresh, healthier ingredients is genius. I’ve tried several of the ones that can be prepared in less than thirty minutes. Cooper and I loved them, and they’re so easy to make after working a long day. Sometimes I just don’t feel like spending a ton of time in the kitchen in the evening.”

I smiled at her. “Then I’ve done my job. The whole reason for that blog was to make things easier for people who are really busy or who work long hours. Keeping dinner simple and delicious is a lot cheaper than delivery. Don’t get me wrong, I love ordering from an app when I just don’t feel like cooking myself dinner, but I’ve always had to stay on a budget. I might love feeding people, but cooking for just me at dinnertime isn’t as much fun as cooking for other people, either.”

Tori shrugged. “I can understand that, but I guess I’m really lucky. I’ve never had to worry about money or a tight budget. I ate out a lot when I was working for the UN and only feeding myself. I don’t mind cooking something at home now that I’m married to a guy I can’t wait to see every evening.” She grinned as she added, “Cooking isn’t one of Cooper’s many talents, but he’s always more than happy to clean up if I make dinner.”

“I’d take that deal in a heartbeat,” I told her enthusiastically. “Doing cleanup duty is the worst part of cooking for me.”

I could easily see Cooper Montgomery trying to help Tori—even if he was a filthy rich guy with a very large corporation to run. It was obvious that he adored his wife and would want to lighten her load in any way possible because she had a busy schedule, too.

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