A Haven on the Bay - Nicole Ellis Page 0,55
he’d only developed that type of friendship with one person—Meg. Spending countless hours together in the kitchen had given them an easy familiarity. Even so, the time they’d spent together recently made him realize how little they still knew about each other.
He looked at his watch. “Is anyone else hungry? The only thing they gave us on the flight was a bag of stale crackers.”
Cammie grinned. “Oh, little brother, you haven’t changed a bit. Always thinking about food, just like when you were a teenager.” She eyed her boys ruefully. “I’m not looking forward to our grocery bills when these two get a little older.”
“Dad and I were thinking we’d take you out to dinner tonight.” His mom peered up at him. “Is that okay? I still feel weird cooking for a professional chef.”
They’d had this conversation too many times over the years. He shook his head. “Mom, you have nothing to worry about. I love your cooking.” She didn’t look convinced. He looked at his sisters. “Are you going to be joining us at the restaurant?”
Cammie shook her head. “Nope. We’re going to meet up with the rest of the girls for Diana’s bachelorette party. I’m going to stop by the house and drop the boys off with Darren first, but they didn’t want to miss out on seeing their Uncle Taylor tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow at the wedding, okay?”
He nodded.
Susanna put her hand on his back. “See you later. We need to catch up. I want to hear all about your life up in Seattle.”
There wasn’t anything exciting to tell her about his life, but she’d never believe that. “Sure. Have fun tonight.”
Susanna winked at him. “Oh, we will.” She took Andy’s hand and followed Cammie and Jason over to the elevator leading to the parking garage.
His dad cleared his throat. “Do you have everything?”
Taylor pushed his massive suitcase out in front of him and grinned. “I can’t imagine what I could have forgotten.”
They left the airport and stopped at Chang’s, his favorite Chinese restaurant, a few miles away from his parents’ house. When he slid into the booth across from his parents, noting the familiar cracks in the red vinyl seat, nostalgia hit. They’d come here for every one of his birthdays when he was a kid, and his parents brought him here every time he came home to visit. Like always, his mom started grilling him about his life in Willa Bay as soon as they’d ordered their food.
“How are things going at work?” she asked. She poured herself a cup of jasmine tea and blew on the surface, sending little ripples across the amber liquid.
The waitress came by to drop off their appetizer, and while she was rearranging their place settings to fit the massive pupu platter she was about to set on the table, Taylor finished off the last drop of tea in his own cup. He refilled it, then put it down to cool. “Things are going well. I still love my job.” A vision of his neat, orderly kitchen at the Lodge came to mind. When he’d originally requested vacation days for Diana’s wedding, Meg had still been his second-in-command. His new sous-chef wasn’t quite up to the task of taking over for a few nights, so although Meg was no longer an employee at the Lodge, the Lodge’s owner, George Camden, had allowed Meg to step in for the long weekend. Meg had been concerned about coming back after her disagreement with George’s daughter, Lara, but she’d reluctantly agreed to fill in for Taylor so he could attend the wedding.
Taylor frowned. He’d hated to put Meg in such an awkward position, and hoped she hadn’t felt obligated to help him because he’d assisted her with the barn. Unfortunately, he was short on options and they couldn’t close the kitchen on Labor Day weekend. Lara didn’t work on the weekends, so with any luck, everything would go smoothly for Meg.
“Is everything okay?” His mom set her fork down and peered at him. “You seem troubled.”
His father stuffed half an egg roll in his mouth and looked at the table, avoiding the conversation. Taylor could count on his hand the number of times he and his father had talked about serious subjects, and he knew he could count on his dad to be there for him when needed, but Taylor also knew the man did not like awkward situations.
Taylor faced his mom. “No, not at all.” His stomach twisted at the denial.