Wish You Were Here (9 page)

Piper shook her head.
“I don’t know. It looks kinda gross to me.”

“
Right.” Freya sighed. “What can I say? It was an impulse buy. You got some kind of chocolate back at the house?”

Piper nodded.
“We have Rocky Road. And hot fudge.”

Freya put her arm around the kid
’s shoulder and led her off the dock.

“
All right, then,” she said. “Last one back does the scooping.”

Eight

Nate
lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He’d been trying to gather his thoughts for an hour, but they were impossibly jumbled. He’d been so close,
so close,
to having it all figured out. That morning, it had seemed so clear—screw his word, take the money, leave his goddamn father and his father’s goddamn dying wish behind and go back to Cincinnati. It had seemed the obvious best thing for all of them. But Nikkie’s sudden appearance had thrown a new light on everything. Piper didn’t need money, she needed
him
, she needed his time and attention, and uprooting her from a place where she was happy, where she
wanted
to stay, to go back to his fifteen-hour-a-day job in a city she hated... it was wrong. Selfish.

Impossible.

Almost as impossible as staying there, spending the rest of his life managing a run-down campground in a two-bit town where the only cooking he’d do would be for his tiny family of three. His miserable martyrdom wouldn’t do Piper any good, either.

Fuck.
He rubbed his eyes and, for the millionth time in his thirty-four years, quietly cursed his father.

The phone rang, and Nate grabbed it off the night- stand.

“Yeah,” he said.

“
Brody? That you?”

It was Clint, one of his partners from the restaurant. Nate pressed his fingers on the bridge of his nose.

“Hey, Clint. Look, I’m kind of in the middle of something right now. Can I call you back tomorrow?”

“
Can’t, man, sorry. I’ve got Eddie here. Gonna put you on speakerphone.”

There was a click
, then the naked hiss of speakerphone, and Nate heard his other partner’s voice coming over the line. “Hey, Nate.”

“
Eddie. What’s going on?”

There was a pause on the line, and then Eddie said,
“We got a problem. Lulu’s getting restless. She wants head chef permanently, or she’s walking.”

Fuck.
Nate closed his eyes. “Right.”

“
When are you coming back?” Clint said. “Any idea yet?”

“
I’m working on it.” Nate sat up and put his feet over the edge of the bed. “I can’t really say for sure, though.”

“
Look, man,” Eddie said. “I don’t know what’s going on there, but we can’t lose Lulu. She’s been great for us, stepped right up when you left, and it’s been six months. She got an offer from Bridge’s. Either you come back, or we gotta give her head chef.”

“
Right,” Nate said. He’d known this day was coming, and soon. He just wished the hammer could have come down on a day when his ex-wife hadn’t shown up out of nowhere.

“
You’d still be part owner,” Clint said, “unless you want to take our offer to buy you out. That’s still on the table, too.”

“
Thanks. I appreciate that.” When they’d first made that offer, Nate couldn’t say no fast enough. Losing his restaurant felt like losing a limb, but if he wasn’t going to be cooking there, what was the point?

Except, he could be cooking there. He could take Freya up on her offer and be out of there in a week. He could cook again and give his daughter everything money could buy.

Except time with her father.

Eddie
’s voice came over the line. “Look, you know we wouldn’t screw you, man, but I don’t know what else we’re gonna do. We need a head chef or we’re fucked, and no one else is gonna do the job Lulu’s gonna do, not if you’re not here. It’s this or we lose the restaurant.”

“
I know,” Nate said. “You’re right. How long do I have?”

Eddie sighed.
“I don’t know, man. We can hold her off, maybe one more week. Can you be here a week from Monday?”

Nate looked at the calendar. It was Sunday. That gave him eight days to make a choice.

Christ.

“
I gotta think. Can I call you back?”

Another hesitation, then Clint said,
“Yeah, man, but we need an answer. Soon.”

“
I know.”

Nate hung up the phone and stared at it, his mind winding in circles again. He had to choose
between his daughter’s happiness now and her security later, choose between keeping his word and being a stubborn ass like his dad, or breaking it and being a dishonorable shit. Like his dad.

Not to mention that taking the two million dollars would only keep Nikkie around longer, looking for a way to suck the teat dry, and not taking it would screw Freya out of her promotion.

Tick tock, Nate. Pick a door.

The sound of laughter drifted up from downstairs, jarring Nate out of his thoughts. He glanced behind him at his bedroom door, and there it was again—the raucous giggling of women.

“What the...?” He got up from his bed and headed down the stairs, the sound of the laughter broken intermittently by banging noises. He rounded the corner into the kitchen to find Piper, Freya, and Ruby all playing Slap. Messy piles of cards littered the tabletop, along with the empty ice cream bowls they’d shoved to the side to make room for the game.

“
Hey, Dad!” Piper said, giggling as she pounded her hand down on the center pile. Smiling, Nate leaned against the wall and watched her happy, carefree face.

“
Hey!” Freya said. “That’s an illegal slap!” She turned to Ruby. “You should have warned me she was a cheater, Ruby.”

Ruby held her hands up.
“I take no responsibility for her.”

“
I’m not cheating!” Piper wailed, then practically threw the top half of her body over the table as she picked up the cards in the center of the pile. “See? Seven of hearts, six of—”

“
Five!” Freya picked up the card underneath.
“Five
of clubs! You think you’re gonna pull something over on me because I’m older than you, is that it? I may be in my thirties, kid, but my eyes still work.”

“
Is that how you’ve been winning all these games?” Ruby said, laughing. “Taking advantage of my bad eyes?”

“
I am
not
a cheater!” Piper laughed and shot the seven across the table at Freya, who caught it handily. “I made a mistake. I’m a kid. I can’t make a mistake?”

Freya raised an eyebrow at Ruby.
“Oooh, playing the innocent-child card. She’s good.”

“
She is,” Nate said.

Freya turned and their eyes met and held for a moment before Ruby put down another card in the center and set them all to giggling and slapping cards. Nate picked up the dirty bowls and brought them to the sink to wash them, listening as the women giggled and slapped cards and
accused each other of cheating. He ran the water and let the happy sounds of family roll over him, one voice in particular calling to him, making his heart jump every time she spoke. He wanted to kiss her more at that moment than he’d ever wanted to do anything in his life, but instead he stood with his back to the festivities, letting her entertain and cheer his daughter.

He put the last dish away just as a peal of screeches came from the table. He turned to see Freya standing up and dancing to her own song, looking ridiculous and beautiful in her short green pants and silly tourist T-shirt.

“I won, I won, I shot the BB gun,” she sang as she gathered up the last of the cards while Ruby and Piper threw out random accusations of cheating and taking advantage.

“
Oh, shut up,” Freya said. “Nobody likes sore losers. Do they, Nate?”

She turned to look at him and their eyes met again and
her smile faltered a bit. It turned him on even more knowing that it was obvious, at least to her, what he was t
hinkin
g.

“
No,” Nate said, keeping his eyes on hers. “Nobody does.”

She took a quick breath, then turned back to Piper and Ruby and said
, “See? Told you.”

“
Best two of three,” Piper said, gathering up the cards.

Nate cleared his throat.
“Sorry to break things up, but Freya and I actually have some business to discuss.”

“
We do?” Freya turned to him. He widened his eyes a bit, hoping she knew an invitation when she saw one.

She flushed slightly and said,
“Yes. I think we do. Overdue business.”

“
Well,” Ruby said, keeping her eyes on the cards, but Nate caught the slight upturn at the edge of her mouth. “That’s the most pressing kind.”

She had no idea.
“Why don’t I walk you to your cabin and we can... discuss it?” he said, taking off his apron and throwing the wet dish towel he’d had slung over his shoulder onto the counter.

“
Okay,” Freya said. She turned to Piper and Ruby. “See you guys at dinner? We’ll have a rematch and I’ll kick your asses again.” She looked at Nate quickly and her eyes widened a bit. “Butts. I mean butts.” Then she mouthed “sorry” at him and he held his gaze on her mouth, her lips soft and full and pink.

“
It’s okay,” Piper said. “You can say ass. Dad says it all the time.”

Freya grinned and turned to him.
“Really? Captain Cleft Chin allows bad language? Just when you think you know a guy...”

“
Captain
what
?”
Piper said, giggling.

“
All right,” Nate said. “I’m gonna walk Freya to her cabin so we can talk. We’ll see you guys later.”

“
Step carefully,” Ruby said, her eyes on the cards she was straightening in her hands.

He put his hand on the small of Freya
’s back and led her out toward the living room, through the front door, and to the path to the cabins.

“
Everything okay?” she said quietly once they’d gotten out of sight of the house. “You look a little... urgent.”

“
Everything’s fine, but we need to hurry.”

“
Why? What’s going on?”

“
This.” He stopped short, turned to her, and cupped his hand at the back of her head, pulling her to him. He kissed her hard, putting everything he was feeling at the moment into it, loving the way his head cleared when he did. For the moment, he needed to hold back nothing, think of nothing but what he wanted. She responded, putting her hands on either side of his face as they made out like hungry teenagers, until they stumbled into a tree and had to part before they fell over. They caught their breath for a second, staring at each other, smiles growing on their flushed faces.

“
Let’s go.” She grabbed his hand and yanked him toward the cabin, making him laugh and stumble and feel like a carefree kid. Not that he could remember ever feeling quite like this as a kid, but if he never had, it was long overdue.

They reached the cabin, and Freya made quick work of unlocking the door and they were all over each other again before they
’d even kicked it shut. She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled her to him, her mouth exploring his as his blood roared in his ears. And elsewhere. He teased her tongue with his as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her tighter against him with every bit of strength he had. It had been so long, too long, since he’d wanted anyone this badly and...

Piper. Nikkie. Dad. Ruby.

He relaxed his hold on her for a second and she pulled back, her eyes smoky and heavy-lidded.

“
Stop it,” she said.

Right.

“Yeah. Okay. I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” He released her, expecting her to help him, slap him, push him away, tell him why it was wrong for him to ravage her like that, but instead, she grabbed his hand and put it on her ass.

“
Stop it,” she said.

He shook his head, trying to get a grip on the moment, but was only able to say,
“Mixed signals.”

There wasn
’t a lot of blood in his brain.

She put her hands on either side of his face and said
, “Stop thinking.” Then she gently bit his lower lip and pulled it ever so slightly and...

“
Oh, God,” he breathed and dived into her again. The smell of her, the feel of her, overwhelmed him. She was everything in the world, there was nothing else—

“
Ow!” he said as pain shot up his leg. He looked down—okay, so there was a big fucking coffee table. He kicked it out of the way and they fell onto the couch, him underneath her as she straddled him, kissing and touching, and she ran her hand up under his shirt and did something to his nipple, he didn’t even know what the hell she did but it felt so—

The restaurant.
The new chef. The toolbox.

She pulled back, grabbing a fistful of his shirt.
“Stop it.”