Falling Sweetly (Starling Falls #2) (10 page)

“I’ve called around; most places aren’t looking for a new head chef, or they’ve seen the review and don’t want to touch me with a ten-foot pole. But there is a small place in Chicago being set up. I know the guy who’s investing. He’s offered me a job, and I’m thinking about it.”

She began chewing on her bottom lip. “So, you would have to leave Starling Falls?”

Frustrated, I ran a hand through my hair. “I don’t want to. I’m not sure what the fuck I’m going to do.”

“I’m guessing you haven’t told any of your family yet?”

“No,” I said bluntly. “I was trying to fix this mess before I said anything to them… so much for that plan.”

Niki surprised me by placing her hand on top of mine. “You have no reason to be ashamed, you know. What happened is not your fault. They’re all so proud of you and everything you’ve achieved. You have an amazing family, and they’ll always stand by you and support you no matter what. Tell them, Jake,” she finished quietly.

I started to absentmindedly play with her fingers, mulling over her words. Her perceptiveness and gentle nature were more reasons I found her so damn endearing. I looked up and saw Niki’s cheeks turned pink under my heated gaze.

“I will. I’ll tell them later. Aunt Deb already suspects something’s up, anyway. There is no escape from her.”

I ran my thumb over a scar on the wrist of her right hand.

“I got burnt taking cookies out of the oven,” Niki said softly.

I resisted the urge to press a kiss to the scar on her hand. “Professional hazard,” I said as my thumb moved back down to her knuckles.

Fuck it. Just tell her. What’s the worst that can happen?

She rejects you, and your heart gets smashed into a hundred pieces, and you lose her as a friend forever?

“Niki-”

“If you could do anything, and I mean
anything
at all…what would you do?” Niki asked, staring pensively at the ceiling.

“What do you mean? I cook, that’s the only thing I’ve ever done well. It’s the only thing I enjoy. Well, I used to enjoy it.”

“I know that. Anyone who’s seen you in a kitchen knows that’s where you belong. What I meant is, if you could cook any kind of food, like your favourite food, what would it be?” she asked, excitement in her voice.

“Uh, comfort food I guess. The stuff I grew up with that Aunt Deb cooks for us,” I said, confused by what was causing the gleam in her eyes.

“Then that’s what you should do, Jake!” She pulled her hand out of mine and placed it on my knee. “Think about it, who are the people who used to actually eat at Marco’s?”

“They were usually foodies or people looking for fine dining cuisine. They mostly drove in from out of state because of the restaurant’s reputation.”

“Exactly! Not many people from Starling Falls ate there, apart from maybe the odd couple on a date, because it doesn’t appeal to them. Forget about Scottie McKenzie and all that pretentious fine-dining nonsense.

“You should open your own restaurant or diner! Cook the food that you, and the majority of people in this town, would actually want to eat. There isn’t a place like that here already, is there? There’s only the Starling Café, and they don’t have a wide range of food on their menu.”

She took a deep breath, her gorgeous face practically glowing from excitement.

“You could keep some of the staff you have at the restaurant, and you already know all the local producers and suppliers. All you would need to do is find a suitable site that you can afford!

“It may be a risk, but it could be pretty cool, right? Having your own restaurant and the freedom to cook whatever
you
want to?”

Her enthusiasm was infectious, and I felt myself getting excited at the thought of having my own restaurant. I leant forward, moving closer towards her.

“Niki. That’s fucking genius. How did I not think of that?”

She laughed happily. “Well, if you had pulled your head out of the sand and tried to get out of your depressed, mopey funk, instead of throwing your pity-party-for-one, I’m sure you would have come up with the idea.”

“Depressed, mopey funk?” I asked, amused at the term.

“You’ve looked so moody and have been acting so sulky today, it’s like you’ve been channelling Nate,” she said in a teasing tone, which was something I hadn’t heard from her since the night we’d been together in my room.

“I haven’t been that bad, have I?” I asked hesitantly.

“Jake. There’s a party going on downstairs for your aunt and uncle, and you’ve managed to seclude yourself away from everyone else for hours now. Who does that sound like?”

I stared at her in horror. “Shit. I’ve turned into Nate.”

“Well, Nate is actually downstairs surrounded by other people. I mean, he’s not happy about it or anything. But he is tolerating it. So technically, you’re behaving even more anti-social than Nate right now.”

“That is horrifying.” I stood, grabbing the plate in one hand and took one of Niki’s hands in the other. “This situation needs to be rectified immediately.”

She laughed as she allowed me to lead her out of the room and down the stairs. Just before we took the steps out to the yard I stopped her and cupped her chin lightly, making her meet my gaze. “Niki. Thank you.” I pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“You’re welcome. What are friends for?” she said as she blushed again and opened the back door.

Friends.

I’ve never hated a damn word so fucking much.

* * * * *

Annika

The party had ended a couple of hours earlier, but I had stayed behind to help tidy the mess. The house had been cleaned and Liya and I, along with all the Jamesons were sitting in the numerous couches and armchairs in the cosy living room.

Debbie and Jeremy sat entwined on an armchair together, looking blissfully content.

“Today was perfect. Thank you, my darlings,” Debbie said happily, resting her head on her husband’s shoulder.

“Thirty years of marriage is definitely something which should be celebrated,” Liya said as she cut off a piece of cake that was on the plate she was holding, and put it in her mouth and groaned. “Oh my God. This cake is incredible.”

“How many pieces have you had now?” I asked and laughed as Liya flipped me off.

“It’s not my fault I’m constantly hungry,” she complained with a mouthful of frosting.

Debbie let out an excited gasp, her whole body tensed in anticipation as she looked at Liya. “Are you-”

“No, Aunt Deb. I’m not pregnant,” Liya said, interrupting her question.

Debbie had gone through a phase of refusing to speak to me or Liya unless we called her Aunt Deb “like the rest of her children”. It was adorable and nutty all at the same time, a description which summed up Debbie Jameson perfectly.

The extreme look of disappointment and pout that appeared on Debbie’s face was almost comical as she relaxed back onto Jeremy.

“That would have been the best anniversary gift ever.”

Caleb snorted, “Didn’t I tell you that’s what Aunt Deb would want, Liya? But you wouldn’t listen. No, you insisted on getting her the crystal vase. I’m just saying, making a baby wouldn’t have cost us anything.”

Liya rolled her eyes at him, but didn’t say anything as she tried to bite back a smile.

Debbie had been pushing Liya and Caleb to have a baby for months now, but with no success.

Josh had started a pool on how long it would take before Debbie snuck into their house and either got rid of Liya’s birth control pills or swapped them for a placebo.

My bet was by Christmas, but judging by Debbie’s broody-grandma-eyes, I thought that Addie’s bet of Liya being knocked up by Thanksgiving was probably more accurate.

Addie dropped onto the couch and swiped some of the frosting from Liya’s cake, ignoring the outraged noise of protest Liya made.

“Damn that is good,” Addie said, as she snatched the plate from Liya and moved to sit far away from her, leaving her holding only a fork.

Liya’s jaw dropped open in surprise before she spoke in a deathly quiet voice, “Addie, I’m only going to ask nicely once. Give me back my cake.”

Addie took a big bite of the cake. “No.”

“Caleb, I have bad news. Your sister is now dead to us,” Liya said bluntly, then cackled as Josh leant over Addie, picked up the cake and shoved the entire piece into his mouth.

As Addie got up to chase him, he ran and attempted to hide his big body behind me.

“Don’t use me as a human shield from Addie’s wrath! What’s wrong with you? I don’t want to die!” I yelled at him while trying to move away quickly.

I loved Addie, but she terrified me in equal measure. I had seen her fight before and she never held anything back.

“You guys do know there’s more cake, right?” I exclaimed as I finally managed to extract myself from Josh’s grip and moved away just in time as Addie reached Josh.

“That’s all the way in the kitchen!” Addie complained as Josh managed to wrap his arms around her tightly in an attempt to restrain her and protect himself at the same time.

Addie struggled pointlessly in his strong hold for a moment before Jeremy called out, “Calm down, think about the sensitive areas on the body and what you could do instead, Peanut.”

Addie stopped for second before she elbowed Josh in the stomach and then stomped hard on his foot. He howled in pain as he released her.

“That’s my girl,” Jeremy said proudly.

“Jeremy!” Debbie scolded hitting him lightly on the shoulder. “Do I have to remind you both of how old you are?” she asked her niece and nephew in an exasperated tone.

Alex looked up from his phone to laugh at his brother who was now hopping on one foot. Nate, who sat next to Alex, wasn’t smiling but he had a vaguely proud expression that was similar to Jeremy’s.

Jake walked into the living room carrying the middle tier of the cake and a few forks. He thrust the cake at Addie and rolled his eyes.

“Sit down, shut up and eat the cake. I have to talk to you all.”

The change in the air was palpable as everyone leant forward to listen to what Jake had to say. He glanced at me with a nervous expression, I smiled while nodding at him encouragingly.

He pulled over a footstool and sat on it, facing his family. He began to tell the story from the beginning, and I listened intently as he filled in all the parts I hadn’t heard upstairs.

Dillon and Monty Cannata seem like real pieces of work.
I was amazed that someone would stoop to such levels to hurt their competition.
Who knew the restaurant world could be so dog-eat-dog?

Silence fell over the room as Jake finished telling them about Marco planning on selling the restaurants.

“They sound like complete dickheads,” Liya said with a full mouth from her position on the floor, where she and Addie sat sharing the cake between them.

“Yeah, I say we pay Monty and Dillon a little visit and set some cockroaches loose at Cannata’s,” Addie said menacingly, though the effect was somewhat ruined by the frosting around her mouth.

Debbie stood up and walked towards Jake.

“How long ago did this happen?” she asked him quietly.

Jake shrugged vaguely. “A couple of weeks?”

His head flew forward suddenly as Debbie cuffed him around the head.

“Ow. Aunt Deb! What was that for?” Jake exclaimed, rubbing the sore spot on his scalp.

“That’s for not telling me what happened sooner and for carrying around all that worry by yourself. We share our problems in this family,” she said firmly, her arms crossed over her chest. “I don’t want you to ever hide something like this from me again. Do I make myself clear, Jacob Jameson?”

He was so tall that even sat on the footstool, he and Debbie were at eye level, but he hung his head in shame. “Yes, ma’am.” When Jake reached up and rubbed his head, Debbie stepped closer and drew him into a hug.

“Ha! Hurts like mother doesn’t it? It feels good to not be the one on the receiving end of one of those head-smacks for once,” Josh said, as he picked up a fork and joined Addie, Liya and the cake on the floor.

The cake, I noticed, was alarmingly nearly all gone.

That tier was supposed to feed at least sixteen people. How the hell did Addie and Liya managed to decimate more than half of it in the space of fifteen minutes?

He shovelled in a huge mouthful before continuing. “We’re going to need new bumper stickers, Aunt Deb. Those ‘Money can’t buy happiness but it can buy you food at Marco’s, which is pretty damn close’ ones that you had made, aren’t so true anymore.”

“Joshua, if you don’t have anything useful to say, don’t say anything at all.” Debbie dropped her arms from around Jake and peered into his eyes with a concerned expression. “So what now, pumpkin?”

He looked at me again and gave me a crooked smile that made my heart flutter.

Really, Annika? Fluttering hearts?

“Niki came up with an awesome idea,” he said with a wide grin. “I’m going to open my own diner, and cook food that people around here would actually want to eat. Good old fashioned home-style cooking.”

Debbie squealed happily and hugged him again. “Oh my goodness! That is an amazing idea! Where? When?”

“Not sure. I’m going to have to start scouting for locations soon, and talk to the staff at Marco’s to see who wants to come on board. And I’ve got to go to the bank and sort out about a thousand other things, but I feel really good about this. Especially since I’ve got someone incredible working with me to help create the new menu.”

“Who?” Debbie asked, practically bouncing with excitement.

Yes I’d like to know that too. Who could he have found in the space of a couple of hours?

“Niki,” Jake said beaming.

Excuse me, I’m sorry, but I must have heard that wrong. What’s this now?

“Huh?” I asked, completely mystified, my face blank from his surprise announcement.

“Oh, of course! That’s perfect!” Debbie said elatedly, looking between the both of us.