Page 95 of The Nanny and the Hothead
He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and tried to focus on the cool breeze coming through the half-opened window. He had to pull himself together. A part of him knew that Ines would try to book the food truck at this location. If he was going back to the beginning, there was only one place to start.
But a pivotal question lingered.
Would he be welcomed back or merely tolerated?
Whatever happened, he’d have to be mentally prepared. But after the morning he’d had, his emotions were blitzed.Christ!He’d heard of parents getting misty-eyed when they’d dropped their kid off at school. But not in a million years had he expected the sentimental tsunami that hit when Oscar wrapped his little arms around him.
Up until a handful of days ago, he was a hardened chef. A beast demanding perfection. A monster in the kitchen. A hothead…everywhere! Now he was volunteering to cook at school carnivals. Well, to be fair, that was Charlotte’s doing. But when he’d seen the pride on his son’s face, there was no way he could turn it down.
What was happening?
And here he was, staring at the road, driving the familiar route. He couldn’t even guess the number of times he’d traveled down this street with Seth and Holly, headednotfor Denver’s gleaming buildings and sprawling parks but for the rougher side of town.
Today, he and Charlotte were expected in a grittier part of the city. The location he’d learned the culinary ropes that had led him to stardom.
He could remember the early days of Say Cheese, Louise like they were yesterday.
He’d posted pictures on social media the first time they’d taken the truck to Denver’s bustling downtown. He’d thought nothing of it—they hardly had a following—until a producer from a major food network messaged him. Was it dumb luck that his orange grilled cheese truck caught the eye of a flashy TV exec? There were nights when he sat awake staring at the ceiling, wishing he’d never shared those images, chiding himself for responding to the message, and wondering what would have happened if his star hadn’t outshined Holly and Seth’s.
It was a fool’s errand to turn over the questions, night after night. But that didn’t stop him.
He reduced his speed as they passed over the railroad tracks, then glanced at the car next to him. A guy was staring at the truck from the passenger side window of a sedan, holding his phone out the window as if he were recording the traffic.
Why would a person do that?
Then he remembered what he was driving.
It wasn’t that uncommon for people to gawk at the giant orange beast lumbering through the city. He hit the gas, forgetting the sedan as he concentrated on the road.
He hadn’t visited this part of town since he’d made it big. It had been nearly a decade since he’d returned to where it all began. He scanned the neighborhood. It was different now. While a few tents and a smattering of cardboard box homes were still scattered in alleyways, bright murals on the sides of buildings now covered the once graffitied surfaces. Eclectic clothing stores bursting with color, small art galleries, and kitschy coffee shops with mismatched outdoor seating inhabited the once rundown business district. And then he saw it—the building that had served as the location of his punishment and had ended up as the gateway to his salvation.
Well, at one time, he’d thought of it as his salvation.
Block it out. Block it out and cook.
That mantra had worked for the last seven years.
It numbed the pain.
But today, it wasn’t doing jack shit for him.
“You might break it if you squeeze any harder,” Charlotte said, her voice calling him back.
“Break what?” he stammered, focusing on the road.
“The steering wheel,” she replied, and he could hear the concern in her voice.
He slowed the truck, stopping at a red light, then peered at his hands, taking in his white knuckles. He blew out an uneven breath. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
“I can tell. You haven’t said a word since we left Whitmore. You’re tense. And I think I know why.”
A pang of anxiety rippled through his chest. There was no way she could know! Yes, he’d dropped the Holly and Seth bomb on her, but he hadn’t mentioned this place. He never mentioned this place or the people in it. The world thought Say Cheese, Louise began its journey to stardom in trendy Denver neighborhoods.
It didn’t. Not even close.
“Charlotte…” he began, not sure what the hell he was going to say when she raised her hand, silencing him.
“Let’s clear the air, Mitch,” she said, and he didn’t need to look at her to know she also had a lot on her mind. “This reboot of Say Cheese, Louise is important, no, imperative for you and your career. I understand what’s on the line. If you’re worried about me doing my job, you can stop. I can put what happened between us in the past. I can be your son’s nanny, assist with the food truck, and be your photographer. I can keep it professional,” she finished with a shaky exhale as if she’d been going over that speech in her head.
