Page 26 of Perfect Pairing
As if noticing me for the first time, Ezra’s father blinked slowly, eyes darting between me and his son.
“Fredrik Wendt,” he said, extending a hand for me to shake. “You can call me Rik.”
The Wendt genes were strong, given that Ezra was a near carbon copy of his dad. Same height, nose, milk chocolate eyes,strong jaw, and messy hair—though Rik’s was threaded with silver. And when he smiled, it was the exact same as Ezra’s, down to those slightly elongated canines and the way it tilted higher on one side.
“Nice to meet you, Rik. I’m Brie Delatou.”
“Delatou, huh?”
“Yep,” I said proudly. “My family owns this place.”
“Well, in that case…” He leaned conspiratorially closer and, in a stage whisper, said, “Thanks for getting us out of New York.”
Behind him, Ezra groaned, and I giggled.
“My pleasure,” I said. “Although you really should be thanking my parents.”
“Don’t worry,” Rik said as he straightened. “We have, multiple times. Things were bad for a while, and I’m grateful Leon and Lena took a chance on my boy.”
Things had been bad? I mean, I’d seen the shadows cross Ezra’s eyes when I’d asked about Hansen’s mom, butbadcould mean any number of things. Oh god, what if she’d died? I was over here thirsting after a man who was obviously in mourning.
God, I was such an idiot.
Unaware of my internal struggles, Ezra and Rik carried on a conversation that I only managed to process snatches of. Finally, Rik clapped his hands, jolting me from my trance.
“Well, I’m gonna take the little guy home,” he said pointedly, glancing between me and Ezra. Then, he asked his son, “When will you be back?”
“As soon as I clean up,” he said, dropping a kiss to Hansen’s head. “See you in a bit, bud.”
“Bye, Dada!” he shouted, waving so hard, hisentire body shook as Rik led him out of the kitchen.
“So…that’s my family,” Ezra said sheepishly when they’d gone.
“I like them. Hansen is a great kid, and I love that your dad is so helpful. Hansen clearly adores him.”
The tips of his ears turned pink. “I’d be lost without them both. But I’ll admit, some days, it’s hard when he doesn’t have a mom.”
I couldn’t imagine what that must be like, and my heart squeezed painfully for both of them. God, we were so different. I grew up with this big, loud family around me, with more sisters than I knew what to do with most days and two parents who loved each other and us beyond reason. My heart ached for the hand Ezra and Hansen had been dealt.
“I’m sorry,” I said, knowing it was woefully inadequate.
Ezra only grimaced and mumbled his thanks before he turned from me to busy himself with clearing up our dishes.
I moved to the rack of cupcakes. They had cooled enough to frost, so I piped the hot chocolate icing on top of them, setting a few into a container and bringing it to Ezra.
“For you, Rik, and Hansen.”
“Thank you,” he said quietly. “Hansen will love them, I’m sure.”
I only nodded before trekking back across the room to clean up my own station before heading back to Mom and Dad’s. The air in the kitchen had become suffocating in the last five minutes, and I needed to get out. I needed to regain my composure and remind myself that, as much as I liked to delude myself into thinking otherwise, Ezra Wendt and I were not meant for anything more than…this. Cooking together. Maybe becomingfriends who bonded over our mutual love of food.
Hurriedly, I rinsed my dishes and placed them in the industrial dishwasher alongside Ezra’s then turned it on and wiped down the counters.
At last, the kitchen was spotless. We had a cleaning crew that would come in while it was closed for the next three months to ensure there weren’t any issues, but one thing I’d learned in culinary school was to always keep my station clean. A messy work environment made for messy foods, and we couldn’t have that.
Cooking, after all, was as much about presentation as flavor.
After sweeping my gaze across the room a final time, I sighed and headed for the hooks on the far wall, hanging my apron and replacing it with my puffy winter coat. When I turned to say goodbye to Ezra, I found him only a few feet away.
