Page 106 of Whisking It All

“Tessa?” he asked, something that sounded like relief and hesitance all jumbled up in his voice.

“I hope it’s okay that I came here,” she said, getting to her feet.

“Of course, it’s okay. You’re always welcome here,” he said. “This is your home. If you want it to be.”

She nodded. “I do.”

He bounded up the steps towards her and swept her into a hug. She froze, unused to hugging her father, but only for a moment. She wrapped her arms around him and turned her face into his embrace.

“I’m sorry,” she said, tears already burning her throat. “I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m sorry I came between you and Jamie.”

“I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that.”

Tessa pulled away, wiping her eyes. “I never meant to hurt you.”

“I know that too. I never should have implied otherwise,” he said, giving her a tender sort of half smile. His eyes fell to her bags by the door and his smile widened. “Let’s go inside. It’s freezing out here.”

She laughed in relief and nodded, following him inside and letting him help her with her bags. After they’d left her things back in the guest room, he made them hot chocolate, dumping powdered cocoa mix with freeze-dried marshmallows into mugs of microwaved milk. It was the best damn hot chocolate Tessa had ever tasted.

“What made you come back?” Ethan asked warily when they were settled on the couch in the living room.

Tessa watched the rehydrated marshmallows swirl in her cup. “I couldn’t let everyone down by not holding up my end of the deal for the festival.”

“Is that the only reason you came back?”

She met her father’s eyes, noted the uneasy way he shifted in his seat, the tight set of his lips. “No,” she said. “But I’m not sure you’ll like the other reasons.”

“I like any reason that gives us a chance to start over. To get to know each other.”

She smiled tentatively. “I’d like that.” She took a sip of her hot chocolate as she gathered her courage to ask about Jamie. “Are you… Have you and Jamie…”

“We’re all right,” Ethan said, putting her out of her misery. She released a breath as a fragile peace bloomed in her chest. Her father studied her from the other side of the couch. “This thing with you and Jamie—is it serious?”

She nodded, tears pricking at the edges of her vision. “I love him.” She swallowed down the stinging in her nose and set her mug down on the coffee table. “Please don’t hate me.”

“Hate you?” he repeated, his eyes going wide. “T, I could never hate you. I’m sorry that I haven’t been there for you or told you enough how lucky I am to be your father. You are the best thing to ever happen to me, kid. Hate you? No, T. I love you too much for that.”

She launched herself across the couch and, for the second time that afternoon, found herself comforted by her father’s embrace.

“Doesn’t mean it’s not goddamn awkward,” he said, the smile in his voice evident.

She laughed, holding him tighter.

“We’re gonna be okay, kid. All of us. Just glad you’re home.”

“About that,” she said, straightening up. “I need to make things right. I want to show you—and Jamie, and everyone else—that I’m not going anywhere. But I need your help.”

“Anything, T. What do you need?”

“Can we start with your spare key to Lemon and Thyme?”

Chapter 35

A kitchen was a chef’s castle. His temple. A sacred place.

True, over the last month and a half he hadn’t spent as much time in the Lemon and Thyme kitchen as he used to, but it was still his. And he did not like showing up at his restaurant after hours to find someone in his kitchen without his knowledge. Especially after the week he’d had. A week with no sleep and no Tessa and a rapidly dwindling supply of hope that he would ever get through a day without wanting her. Without missing her so much he could hardly breathe.

When he received the call from Ethan that he’d spotted a light on in Lemon and Thyme, Jamie had chalked it up to Brodie being left to close down the kitchen the night before after the rest of Jamie’s staff had gone over to Sugar Grapes to plan for festival coverage. The restaurant would be closed today, so no one should have been there, but then Jamie had arrived and it wasn’t just one light left on—the entire kitchen was lit up.

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