Page 5 of Summer Savory

“She’s fine. Thanks for asking. Her daughter decided she wanted to switch classes this afternoon, which created a scheduling conflict between my sister and her husband. When you are a parent, they expect you to be in four places at once, or at least that’s what I am to understand if I listen to them arguing between themselves and with their children. So, it looks like you’re stuck with me. I hope that’s alright.”

Of course it was alright! Being with him was what I had been dreaming about. “I’m pleased you’ll be taking the class, but won’t learning how to make such a decadent dessert be counterproductive to your modeling career? I mean, this dish has a lot of butter in it. It’s not the healthiest choice you could make.”

He shook his head, but he didn’t take his eyes off of me. Warmth rushed over my body because of his gaze. My head swam, but I didn’t think it was because of the 90-degree temperature. He stepped toward me and his finger brushed a stray hair behind my ear. It was a most erotic gesture, though I wasn’t sure if he meant for it to be. My knees quaked, and I was certain that if I hadn’t been leaning against the table, I would’ve sunk to the floor toppled over? Disappeared into a pool of goo? I did not know what would happen. “I don’t care what kind of dish we make, Nora. I want to be near you. You are all I think about, but I hope you don’t think it is too forward of me. I’d really like to kiss you right now. May I?”

He inched closer to my face, to my lips, and my heart fluttered. I took a deep breath, waiting for this mouth online, and that’s when I fucking woke up!

The sound of my ringing phone was the first thing I heard, which brought me out of my dream world, much to my chagrin. Seeing it was Dad calling, I tried to pull myself together as best I could before answering, “Hi, Dad. You’re up early.”

“Not really. It’s 5:00 here in Middle Tennessee, so I thought you’d have already been up a while there in North Carolina. Aren’t you still covering for your baker this week?”

“No, he’s back at work this morning, so I had planned to sleep in until my insane father called me at this ungodly hour! Is there a reason you’re calling so early today?”

On the other end of the phone, he chuckled, and I knew he was enjoying himself. He always did. He raised my sister Janie and me by himself after our mom died, and we could never convince him that not everyone in the world was a morning person. I’d hoped after he retired that he’d start sleeping in every once in a while, but not my dad! Since becoming a chef in his own right, he started getting up even earlier. Luckily, Janie is the one who usually had to deal with this since they still live in the same small town. Until recently, that is. “Do I need a reason to call one of my gorgeous daughters?”

“No, you don’t need a reason, Dad, but you usually have one. So, what’s up?”

“Fine. Your sister tells me you’ve fallen in love.”

“She what? Unbelievable! She’s insane! She has a big mouth! A big, insane mouth! I think I might have to kill her.”

“So, it’s true then?”

“What? No! It’s not true. I can’t believe she told you that!”

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” I couldn’t help rolling my eyes, knowing full well he wouldn’t see it. “You remind me of when you didn’t want to tell me that the quarterback had asked you to the homecoming dance when you were a senior in high school because you thought it was lame to date a jock.”

“It is lame to date a jock, Dad.”

“So, you’re dating a male model. That’s wonderful, honey.”

“God! We’re not dating! What else did Janie tell you?”

“I’ll tell you some other time. I have to leave for work soon, but I wanted to check in with you to see if you needed any fatherly advice. You haven’t been in love for a while, so I thought I should check in on you.”

“And I’m not in love now, either. I just met the guy, for Pete’s sake! Dad, I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Wait! You’re finally admitting that there is someone, after all. Want to tell me about him? I’d love to hear all about it.”

“Goodbye, Dad.”

“Bye, sweetheart. Bring him with you the next time you come home, alright?” I was already hanging up the phone. I cursed my sister for being such a blabbermouth and got up from bed, heading to the shower.

---