Home > Notorious (NeXt #1)(5)

Notorious (NeXt #1)(5)
Author: K.M. Scott

I struggle against my nature to tell her Cade’s name because I know if I do, she’s going to read something into the fact that I remember it when that means nothing. I remember everything. She knows that. She used to joke that I had a mind like a steel trap, but I know if I even mutter his name, she’s going to make it something it isn’t.

So I just shrug like none of what happened earlier made any impression on me whatsoever. “They were like any other two guys, Mom. How do you and Dad know they aren’t gay? They came in together and I saw them talking and it looked like they were bickering. I’m sorry to tell you, but that might mean they’re both taken.”

The mere thought that those two handsome young men who would be perfect for me could be gay stops my mother for a long moment, and she stands in front of my dough table with her mouth hanging open. It’s like her mind is processing the likelihood that those two fine specimens she’d already had me choosing between could possibly not be available, and with every second that passes, she hates the idea more and more. Her expression morphs from one of shock to one of utter unhappiness.

“Well, your father thought they might be brothers since they resembled one another,” she says, practically snapping at me for ruining her fantasy.

They did look alike. Both had dark brown hair and brown eyes, and they did both have tattoos up and down their arms. It never occurred to me they could be brothers, though, but in all honesty, I only paid attention to the one named Cade, especially once I found out Alex is a chef at a five star restaurant.

I’m not a chef, by any stretch of the imagination, so being around someone who actually is instantly makes me feel self-conscious. A chef at the best restaurant in town? I couldn’t have focused on him if I wanted to.

“Well, I have no idea, Mom. It’s not like we had a deep conversation or anything. They liked the cookie and told me so. I thanked them and came back here to do work. That was it. If Daddy made it out to be anything else, then he was seeing something I wasn’t.”

My mother’s five foot five body seems to deflate right in front of me at my disinterest in Cade and Alex. “Oh. I just thought since they came in and they were young like you that you might have wanted to get to know them. It’s not every day young men come into the diner here, Hailey.”

“Sorry. I didn’t have my man-hunting thing going on today. Maybe if they come in again.”

She grimaces, twisting her face into a disapproving scowl. “You know, honey, it’s no crime to like people. You’re a beautiful young woman who shouldn’t think she should spend all her time hiding away in a kitchen. When opportunity knocks, you want to make sure to answer that door.”

I grab the rolling pin from the rack next to me and drop it onto my table. It makes a loud thud that startles my mother.

“Oh, my God, Mom! Opportunity did not knock just because two good looking men came into this restaurant. I don’t care if one is a chef or not, and just because he works around food doesn’t make us have anything in common. I’m not a chef! There is no comparison to what he does and what I do here. As for the other one, I didn’t even catch his name, so I’m sorry to disappoint you, but this episode of Set Up Your Daughter With Hot Strangers has come to an end.”

Instantly, I see in her eyes that I’ve hurt her feelings. Frowning, she gives me a nod and silently turns to leave the kitchen as regret fills me.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. Well, I did, but not that way, Mom.”

Without turning around, she nods again. “It’s fine, honey. I’m just going to go out front and see how things were this afternoon.”

Every word sounds sadder than the last, so by the time she gets to the end of her sentence, I think I hear a tiny sob. Nice going. First, I’m my usual backward self with those two guys, and then I’m my other usual self, the defensive one, with my mother.

Grabbing the dough from the mixing bowl behind me, I slam it onto the table and begin working it. I better get used to working alone here because at the rate I’m going, even Hector is not going to want to be around me.

So much for thinking I’d made so much progress this past year. That was obviously as wrong as wrong can be.

I look up toward the kitchen door, hoping to see my mother come back so I can tell her I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings. I understand what she’s trying to do. I do. She has that whole mentality of getting back up on the horse after it’s thrown you off. It’s how she and my father continue to fight to keep this business open year after year long after other people would have given up.

That attitude is to be admired, but love isn’t like running a struggling business. Sometimes, a person can’t find the will to get back up and dust themselves off after being thrown. Sometimes, it just feels better to stay down where you are on the safe ground.

It’s been almost a year since I’ve been down here, and as much as I thought I was getting back to who I was before it all happened, that was just wishful thinking. I’m still that brokenhearted soul Malcolm threw away that beautiful June night eleven months ago. All the hours spent talking to the therapist have added up to one sad truth.

I’m not ready to get back up on that horse again. I’m still hurting from the last fall.

 

 

Chapter Four

 

 

Cade

 

Bright and early the next day, I head down to CK to see what I can find out from my uncles about this Hailey person. Unlike Alex, they should know something since they supposedly tried to lure her to CK as a pastry chef.

I find Cassian and Kane both in the office, which is a surprise. I’d have been happy simply trolling for information with one of them. Maybe this is a good sign.

“Hi! It’s your favorite nephew come to visit,” I say to announce my arrival as I walk into the office the two of them share.

Kane looks up and gives me a big smile. “Hey, what are you doing here? Decide you want to put that business degree to good use finally?”

Cassian just shakes his head. “What’s up, Cade?”

I grab a chair on the other side of the room and take a seat. “You sound like my father, Kane. Have you two been meeting to compare notes on how to shanghai me into the club or restaurant business?”

My question makes him laugh. “The last time your father came here to talk to me, we almost got into a fist fight. Trust me, we are not comparing notes on anything.”

“Good, because one of him is enough. I don’t need two of you trying to convince me what to do with my life.”

Kane holds his hands up in front of him like he’s surrendering. “No convincing here. But whoever thought it would be Stefan who turned into the dad who wanted his son to figure out life so young?”

Cassian laughs, and I’m tempted to ask exactly what Kane means by that, but I’m not really interested in taking a trip down memory lane with my uncles today. I already know a little about how my father was when he was my age. I can hear more another day.

Right now, I have other topics I want to discuss with them. Other more beautiful and interesting topics.

Might as well jump right in. “So, what do you guys know about the pastry chef over at that restaurant, Comfort Food?”

“We were definitely interested in having her work for us, but she denied us cold. No way. Wouldn’t even return our calls, no matter if it was me or Kane.”

Hot Books
» House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1)
» A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
» From Blood and Ash (Blood And Ash #1)
» A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime
» Deviant King (Royal Elite #1)
» Den of Vipers
» House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City #2)
» The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air #
» Sweet Temptation
» The Sweetest Oblivion (Made #1)
» Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels #6)
» Wreck & Ruin
» Steel Princess (Royal Elite #2)
» Twisted Hate (Twisted #3)
» The Play (Briar U Book 3)