Page 2 of Don't Regret Me
“Yes, Chef.” She cringed at the thought. She hadn’t had a night off in a while. Surprisingly, her health was holding up enough to be on her feet every night, but she missed tucking her kids into bed.
Liz set the salad in the window and went back to the stove to fry up a new batch of mushrooms for the restaurant’s most popular dish. They were constantly short-staffed, leaving them running from station to station, but there was nothing like the energy of a professional kitchen.
The moment Liz recovered enough from her coma to work, she went searching for restaurants in need of untrained, somewhat slow employees. The only chef that would take a chance on her was Nina, who walked up beside her. “I can take over for tonight. Go on. You have better places to be.” She nudged her toward the break room.
Liz didn’t argue anymore because the truth was, she wanted to be home with her family. Sending the chef a nod of thanks, she headed to the break room to gather her belongings and stepped outside.
Her eyes drifted to the sky as they did every night when she left work. Tonight, there were no clouds in sight, nothing to block the blazing stars and everything they meant. She couldn’t help remembering.
Warm lips pressed against the side of her neck. “What does she say to you?”
Tilting her head to let him continue kissing a path to her ear, she sighed. “To always look to the stars.”
A chuckle rumbled through him. “Like Hollywood stars? Because I can definitely get behind that.”
Jamming her elbow back into his ribs, she smiled when his breath rushed out of him. “I think I like you better grumpy.”
“And I like you.” He pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “I know what this is, I know how impossible our world is, but Liz… I just…”
“Like me?”
“Yeah. Is that okay?”
She turned, taking in the dark outline of his features, watching the uncertainty flash across his face. Lifting a hand, she traced every line of his face, every crease and valley, memorizing them. One corner of her lips curved up. “Tell me, who is Nick Jacobs?”
“You okay?” Landon heaved a trash bag into the dumpster behind her, jolting her back to the present.
Liz jumped in surprise. “Yeah, I’m fine.” And she tried to be fine. But she wasn’t sure what that word meant any longer.
He gave her a long look. “Want me to walk you to your car? It’s pretty dark out here.”
She smiled in thanks. Landon was a nice guy. He always tried to look out for her. “I’ll be okay. You should probably get back to work.”
He looked conflicted, but he didn’t argue before turning and heading back inside.
Liz shifted her purse on her shoulder and walked toward the parking lot. Shadows danced in the night, and only a few cars were left in the empty backlot. She’d parked at the far end and normally enjoyed the quiet of the dark on her walk to the car, but tonight, there was something different about it. A foreboding. Not like someone would jump her, but like bad news was waiting for her and only the stars overhead knew what it was.
She slipped into her car and headed toward Gulf City. Nina’s was a small Italian restaurant right outside town, about a twenty-minute drive. It had been a last resort, but now she couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.
The house was dark when she pulled up the driveway, but when she walked inside, she noticed a light glowing from the back porch. Kicking off her shoes, she headed that way, finding her father in his favorite lounge chair.
“Kids good tonight?” She sat in the chair at his side and reached for the coffee mug on the table in front of him.
He smiled. “Are they ever?”
“Little demons.” She gave him a sad smile, wishing she didn’t miss so many evenings. Eventually, she hoped Nina would allow her to take more lunch shifts. “Did Evie bug Owen all night?”
The two of them were twins but couldn’t be more different. Evie was a wild child, and Owen was more serious.
“She goaded him into tackling her.”
Liz lifted a brow. “Sounds about right.” Sighing, she sipped her dad’s coffee. “Tonight was long.”
He laughed at that. “You love it though.”
“I do.” When she’d recovered from the accident and told her family she’d decided to try to become a cook, none of them batted an eye. It made sense to them in a way her going to medical school never had. She’d wanted to be a doctor because of what happened to her throughout her life, because of the cancer. But this… it had nothing to do with the worst parts of her life, only the best.
It took time, but her dad finally stopped looking at her like a wounded animal, like she’d lost her mind for a short time in the hospital. She hated that he no longer believed her about Nick, but she couldn’t blame him after Nick didn’t know who she was.
