Page 10 of Perfect Pairing
I’d willingly let him consume me. Hell, I’dthankhim for it.
“Well,Just Brie,” Ezra said, “I’ve been dying to meet you. I hear you’re a whiz in the kitchen, and I was wondering if you’d like to bake for me sometime.”
They were such innocent words, but the sensual way they caressed my body held such promise.
I practically choked on my own tongue in my haste to answer. “Yes.”
I didn’t even have to think about it, and somehow, Ezra’s smile only widened.
“That easy, huh?”
Attempting to cover the eagerness that had nothing to do with baking and everything to do with wanting to be near him, I said, “I love being in the kitchen,” punctuating my words with a one-shoulder shrug.
“We have that in common, then.”
“Somehow, I don’t think that’s our only similarity.”
Wait, what? Where hadthatcome from? I wasn’t the brazen,take-life-by-the-balls sister. That title belonged to Delia, the wild middle child, and, on occasion, Amara, the second oldest. Butneverme.
“How about sometime next week?” Ezra asked.
“Oh, I’d love to, but—”
“But she’s moving,” Dad finished for me, dropping a heavy hand onto my shoulder, reminding Ezra exactly who I was in a silent threat to stay away.
“Moving where?” Ezra asked.
“Chicago,” I said quickly before my dad could cut in again. “I’m doing an apprenticeship with a pastry chef there for the next year.”
“Congratulations!” Ezra said, and it sounded like he meant it. “Well, next time you’re home, we’ll figure something out.”
I grinned, unable to stop myself as I said, “It’s a date.”
“Okay, buddy,” I said,helping Hansen slip on his coat. “Papa is going to take you to play group, and Miss Lena is going to pick you up this afternoon and take you to her house until he gets off work. How does that sound?”
“Great!” Hansen cheered. “I love Miss Lena. She lets me go to the water.”
He dragged out the word ‘water’ in an awestruck, little boy manner, and I couldn’t help but grin. It eased my dad guilt that he so happily and easily rolled with the changes in our lives the last year.
They said it took a village to raise kids, and while I had absolutely no one on my side save my dad when we were in New York, moving to Michigan gave us the community we’d so desperately needed—the kind of family I’d longed for growing up.
Working at the winery was a breath of fresh air. The entire staff, from the corporate workers to the bus boys, the groundskeepers and the Delatou family themselves, welcomed me, Dad, and Hansen into the fold with open arms. I’d never be able to properly thank Leon and Lena for all they’d given me, so I simply made it my mission to be the best goddamn employeethey’d ever seen.
Not to mention, my personal staff was a dream compared to the shit I’d dealt with in New York. Everyone deferred to my expertise and treated me with respect, which drastically cut down on my stress. I didn’t leave work each night with the desire to drown myself in a bottle of bourbon simply to take the edge off.
I went home, read Hansen a story and tucked him into bed, then headed either to the living room to catch up with Dad or my room for a shower and an hour or two ofCriminal Minds.
Life on the peninsula was exactly what my family needed. I breathed easier watching Hansen flourish, and my dad slipped easily into his new role with a local construction company the Delatous had connected him with.
In short, we were living the dream.
I dropped a kiss on Hansen’s head then nudged him toward my dad, who grinned at me before extending his hand and tugging him out the door.
This morning, I had a meeting with Leon and Lena to discuss the winery’s contribution to the Apple Blossom Bay Fall Festival, an event Hansen was greatly looking forward to. Apparently, they’d been discussing it all week at his play group—which was really a fancy term for pre-K—and he couldn’t wait to walk through the corn maze and sample all the treats.
It was mid-September, and this far north, the leaves on the trees were already changing. There was a bite to the air each morning that dissipated before lunch, a promise of colder weather the next several months would bring.
The drive from our house to the winery took me down a winding, two-lane road surrounded by autumnal trees on allsides, shading me in a canopy of oranges and yellows, reds and pinks and browns. I’d only experienced the peninsula for two seasons now, but each new one was equally as stunning as the last, and I couldn’t wait to see what winter and spring would bring. Hansen, for one, was excited about the prospect of snow and playing in the yard.
