Page 99 of Long Shot

“Yeah. Sounds great.” I have to tell Marco and Beck . . . Reese is leaving. I pull in a long breath through my nose. “I do have some bad news, though.”

“What?”

“Reese is leaving.” I keep my voice calm and low.

“What?” Marco drops into a chair, jaw slack.

“She’s leaving. Today will be her last day. She got an amazing job offer in Los Angeles. Big new restaurant.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

I huff a laugh.

“I didn’t realize she was looking for another job,” Marco says slowly.

“I don’t think she was. Yet.” I shrug. “This was never going to be a long-term thing for her. But the opportunity presented and she took it.”

Marco’s eyes narrow. “What does that mean for you two?”

“It means nothing.” I hold Marco’s gaze. “We were never meant to be long-term, either. We knew that.” I can pretend I don’t care, just like he did when Reese told me her news last night.

Marco slowly turns his head from side to side. “Jesus. And she’s leaving after today?”

“Yep.”

“What the hell are we going to do?”

I sigh and rub my forehead. “That I’m not sure about. Maybe Sid has learned enough from Reese to handle things himself.”

“I don’t know. Fuck.” Marco stares at the floor. “Maybe we should hire another chef?”

“Sure.” That’s my thing . . . hiring staff. “I’ll get on it.”

“Are you okay?”

I give Marco a cool look. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Marco stares me down. “You’re not being a dumbass, are you?”

I frown. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You’re just going to let her walk out of here?”

“I can’t stop her!” I close my eyes and take a breath. “This is an awesome career move for her. She wants to do this.” Sheneedsto do this. She needs to overcome her fear, to prove she can still be a badass chef in a high end eatery.

“You think?”

“Yeah.” Annoyance edges my voice. “She’s leaving, isn’t she?”

“Remember when Carrie went to Spain?”

“Yeah.”

“She didn’t really want to go. She wanted me to tell her that I didn’t want her to go, either.”

I give Marco a black stare. “She’d already decided not to go.”

“I didn’t know that.” He sighs. “Think about it.”

---