Page 11 of Talk Turkey To Me
“You think I have swagger huh? Good to know.”
“I said I thought you weretryingto have swagger.”
He only grinned at her, happy to be having what amounted to a fairly normal conversation with her again. He liked that their teasing banter was still there, the flirtatious glances too. Despite the years and what he’d done, he didn’t think she actually hated him, even if she wanted to.
“So you got injured on the rig and…” she prompted when she caught him staring at her for too long.
“And, I survived for a while on severance, damages, unemployment, that sort of thing, but it doesn’t go as far as you think it might.” He shrugged. “I was living in an apartment and Dave was my neighbor. He took pity on me and started bringing me leftover food after the restaurant closed for the night. He’d stay and talk, give me some sort of human interaction, and when I got pissed about not being able to work, to even walk some days because of the pain, he started teaching me how to cook as a way to keep my hands and my head busy even if I couldn’t do much with my leg.”
“Cooking became an outlet for you.” Lily smiled softly, “I think I told you once that it gives me peace.”
“Yeah, you probably did tell me that but I didn’t get it back then, not like I do now. Cooking became my way of controlling things when life felt out of control for me. As long as I knew my ingredients and my measurements, I knew what the outcome was going to be. To be honest, Dave probably saved my lifebecause I really don’t know what the depression would have done to me if he hadn’t given me this skill.”
“Dave’s a good guy.”
“He is.” Myles agreed. “I miss him, even though I know he’s happy he was finally able to move down south to be closer to his grandkids.”
“I bet he is but it’s hard to imagine this place without him. He was as much a part of this place as my dad is in a lot of ways.”
“He’s the one that convinced your dad to give me a chance when I was finally back on my feet. He vouched for me and even though your dad knew you and I had history, he trusted Dave and that was enough to get me in the door.”
Lily bit her bottom lip and something deep inside his belly tightened. Because he knew that look. She wanted to say something but was stopping herself.
“What?” He raised an eyebrow and stared at her until she finally looked back over at him.
“My dad doesn’t know what happened between us, at least he doesn’t as far as I know, because I never told him. I never told anyone anything except that we broke up.”
His heart gave a painful squeeze and he wanted to go to her side but there was a wariness in her expression that kept him rooted to the spot, “Lil…”
She waved him off before he could utter more than that one syllable, “I don’t want to talk about that. Not now. Like you said, it’s been a long time. Just… tell me the rest of the story about you becoming head chef.”
He didn’t want to. He wanted to apologize for being an idiot when he was younger. He wanted to apologize for being an idiot even now. Because she deserved the truth, and he deserved to be the one to tell it. But if she wasn’t ready for that discussion yet, he could give her this one.
“Not much left to tell.” He shrugged. “I started out as a busboy and I worked my way up. I worked hard. I took extra shifts. I stayed late to learn from the older guys and I showed up early if I thought I could get extra time in the kitchen. I fell in love with cooking and your dad seemed to understand what it meant to me so when Dave retired I stepped up and when your dad wanted to take more time for himself, I was the logical choice because I’d proven he could trust me.”
He didn’t miss the flash of hurt in her gaze and he knew what she was thinking. He wasn't the logical choice. Not really. Not when she should have been the first and only choice to take over the kitchen. Instead of letting that sit on either of them, he did the only thing he could and made a joke.
“It probably helped that I already knew how to make the signature Montcrief lemon tart.”
Lily smiled and his heart stuttered at the sight. Because they both knew that she had taught him that particular secret family recipe. Not here, not in the kitchen at The Mont, but on a quiet night similar to this one, when they’d had the house to themselves because her parents were at an event or something. It had been their anniversary, and just a few months before he would go and ruin everything between them.
She’d taught him how to create the delicate pastry and then he’d made love to her as if they had all the time in the world because back then, he’d thought they did.
Lily cleared her throat and looked away and he knew from the flush in her cheeks that she’d been remembering that night too. Their past was all around them. It was everywhere they turned. And he would have to address it sooner or later but since she’d already shut him down once he decided not to press her on it just yet and instead focused on the present and finding out all he could about the woman the girl he’d loved all his life had become.
“What about you?” He asked nonchalantly.
“What about me?” She countered.
“Tell me about your life. Is working in a five star in a big city everything you ever wanted and more?”
“It’s the best.” She smiled wide and he saw straight through the lie.
Unlike him, she’d never been any good at it.
“Oh yeah? So you love New Orleans?”
“Of course. It’s a beautiful city.” She started scooping chopped vegetables into a bowl without looking at him.
