Page 7 of Talk Turkey To Me
“Oh, Lil.” Her mother softened, “I know you two have a history but that was so long ago and…”
“This isn’t about my history with Myles Calhoun.” She cut her mother off.
“I hope it’s not, because if you want to come home and work here, you’ll have to figure out a way to work with him.” Her father stated firmly. “He’s not going anywhere, Lil. He’s a good kid and a hell of a chef. The staff loves him and if he walked out the door I think half of them would follow him. So if you’re serious about wanting to learn the family business, don’t start off by putting us in a hole we may not be able to dig out of.”
“Dad, you can’t be serious. You want us to work together?”
“I want you to let go of whatever resentment you have about him being head chef so that he can continue to do his job and I want you to join me in the restaurant and learn the business side of things, learn how we operate, not just in the kitchen but in the office and out of it as well.” He held her gaze, “If you’re serious about this, I’ll bring you in. You can move home if need be until you find a place of your own or decide if it’s truly what you want…”
“Of course it’s what I want. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“I don’t want a decision right now. I want you to think about it. Think about what you’ll be giving up and what you’ll be getting in return. There are pros and cons to consider and I want you to really consider them before you decide.”
She wanted to tell him that there was nothing to consider. She knew what she wanted. She’d known since she was a kid. This was where she belonged. Even if she had to put up with seeing Myles Calhoun’s stupidly handsome, ridiculously smug face on the daily for a while, she could handle that so long as it meant The Mont was hers. And once it was, she’d kick him to the curb and be free of him once and for all.
“Okay?” Her father asked and Lily nodded.
“Okay.”
“Good.” His lips curved slightly. “Now, can we finish our meal?”
“Go right ahead. I really did lose my appetite and I don’t think I can handle eating it now knowing Myles cooked it.” She held her hands up innocently when her father made a disgruntled sound, “I’m sure he’s a great cook like you said. Sorry. Knee jerk reaction.”
“Try it, or don’t. That’s up to you.” He shrugged and pulled his plate closer as he picked his utensils back up.
The table fell eerily quiet as her parents began to eat again and Lily groaned when her stomach gurgled. Shewasstill hungry and the smells weren’t helping. Hesitantly, she picked up her own fork and poked at the food in front of her. It looked good but there was something inside of her that balked at the idea of putting it in her mouth and she knew it was the memory of all of those burned grilled cheese sandwiches and other dishes she’d been fed by Myles back in high school. She’d have to put that behind her, behind them, if they were really going to work together so she cut off a bite and shoved it into her mouth before she could second guess herself.
And to her horror, her father was right.
It was good. It was cooked just the way she liked it and the seasoning was spot on to how it had always tasted. It wasn’t that Myles had reinvented the wheel or anything but he had managed to recreate the meal that her father had cooked for her a hundred times over the years. She supposed at the very least it meant he could follow a recipe.
Slowly, she picked at her meal and ignored the looks her parents shot her from their side of the table. They managed to make small talk about the town, as if they hadn’t altered her entire reality tonight. And when they were done with their meal, nobody asked her how it was, which was good because she didn’t want to admit out loud that it hadn’t been half bad. Not yet. Her father offered her a lemon tart from the plate a different member of the kitchen staff had brought out but since she was still covered in the last batch she shook him off.
“You’ll come back to the house now, right?” Her mother prompted as they stood.
“Yeah, of course. My bags in the car.”
“Good. We can talk more about how long you’re staying in the morning after you get some rest.” Her father put a hand on her back to guide her towards the door.
She snorted, “I look that bad huh?”
“You look tired, honey. That’s all.” Her mother brushed a stray tendril of hair off her shoulder the same way she’d been doing since Lily was a little girl and despite the comment on her appearance she warmed at the way her parents cocooned her between them as they moved towards the door as a group, a unit, them against the world just like it had always been.
“Hey! Hold up a sec…” The deep male voice from behind them made her jump on instinct, and she turned to see Myles speed walking across the restaurant towards them.
He looked harried but at least he’d been able to take off his apron so he wasn’t still covered in lemon tart, unlike her. His hair was standing up at odd angles, as if he’d been running his hands through it. Lily purposefully shoved her own hands into her pockets to fight the urge to reach out and smooth it down for him.
She opened her mouth, prepared to tell him that she was in no mood to hear whatever it was he’d come to say but his attention wasn’t on her… and that shouldn’t have annoyed her so much.
“Alan. Can I get a minute before you head out?” Myles motioned to the side, out of the way of the front door.
Lily was so surprised to hear him call her father by his first name that she automatically moved right along with her parents. When she’d been dating Myles, her father had made it clear that he was to be called Mr. Montcrief. But obviously they’d grown close since Myles had become his prized chef and that annoyed her even more.
“Of course, what do you need?”
“I wanted to let you know I received a phone call just a little while ago from Mercy Hospital.”
“Oh no…” Her mother put a hand on Lily’s arm in a protective gesture.
