Mr. Jenkins had countered that after this final challenge and a few days for interviews and press releases, Tessa was released of any and all future obligations forOrder Up, whether she won or lost. They could ask her to make a guest appearance if they covered all of her travel expenses, but they couldn’t mandate it.
Cadence honked her horn outside. In almost any other place, idling outside the hospital’s main entrance might’ve gotten her sister ticketed or towed. Certainly in New York or Vegas. But in Sunset Ridge, no one seemed to notice. “I guess it’s time.”
Liam dug into his jeans pocket, and pulled out a set of keys. “She’s like new. No one will ever know.”
Tessa tried so hard to steel her emotions, just as she’d managed for years through all kinds of frustration, heartbreak, and stress. But a tiny fear pricked her heart that she might never see Liam again, and it was too much to hold back. “I can call them back,” she said again.
“You have to go. We both know that.”
He swept his hand along her cheek, drawing her in for a deep kiss. Her entire body responded, tingling clear into her toes and fingertips.Home. Liam felt like home.I’ll come back.She didn’t dare speak the promise out loud. “I love you.”
“I love you, Tess. Now, go.”
She hurried out the door and into the waiting car before she lost her nerve.
* * *
After too many hugs, tears, well wishes, and pleas to come back from both her sisters, her niece, and Raven, Tessa hurried out the door before she lost her nerve. Her suitcases were loaded in the trunk, and Sophie had packed her a snack for the road. But Tessa still hesitated on the front deck of the lodge. If she didn’t get on the road she’d miss her flight for sure. As it was, she’d have to use the Mustang’s V8 engine to navigate around leisurely tourists on the Seward Highway.
If someone had told her several weeks ago when Mr. Jenkins first read Great-Aunt Patty’s will that she would want to make the lodge a permanent part of her life, she would’ve laughed it off.
“Ed?” Tessa called out, wishing the moose would make one last appearance. It felt like unfinished business to leave Sunset Ridge and not see him once more. “I hear you’re pretty good at stopping people from leaving.”
She waited until one minute turned into three.
But Ed didn’t come.
* * *
Tessa stood behind a kitchen counter in the open warehouse that had served all the show’s main challenges, outside of dinner services and off-site competitions. Her opponent—the well-deserving Francine—stood beside her, behind her own counter. They waited on the cameras to find their preferred angles and the lighting to be adjusted.
The moment Tessa had arrived at the baggage claim, her phone was confiscated. Luckily, she’d managed a text to Liam and her sisters when the plane landed to let them know she arrived safety. And she received a message during her flight, announcing April had a healthy baby girl—Patricia Jo Averetts.
“Almost ready, ladies.”
Tessa’d been rushed by limo to the studio, a microphone attached to her shirt the second Janet greeted her inside. On the short drive, Janet gave Tessa a rundown of the day’s packed events. Everything happened so fast she didn’t even have time to talk to Francine or wish her luck.
After the cue, both women stood with their hands behind their backs and looked toward the stage in front of their workstations. The star chef stepped onto the platform, but Tessa tuned out most of what he rambled on about. Her mind was still in Sunset Ridge, wishing she had a chance to hold Patricia before she left.
“Our final challenge is simple,” said the celebrity chef. Tessa’s attention tuned back in. Nothing was eversimple. There was always a catch. “You have to prepare two things: clam chowder and apple pie. You have one hour.”
The clam chowder—in the bag. But the dessert . . .A stupid pie.
Chapter Twenty
Liam
The days dragged out longer since Tessa left. After thirteen years apart without contact, Liam thought he could handle a couple of weeks of radio silence. But the truth was, he hated every minute of it.
Bells jingled overhead as Liam entered Davies Hardware and Electrical Supply, cup of recommended coffee in hand. “Hey, Dad.” It was time to take the first step in repairing their once close relationship. He’d been putting this off for far longer than April called him out on.
“Come in here to buy something?”
Liam left the coffee on the front counter, scanning a nearby shelf. He could never have enough wood screws, he figured. He grabbed a bucket of a thousand and set it next to the coffee. “You know why I did it, don’t you? Why I kept Grandpa’s shop?”
Harold scanned the bucket of screws. “Twenty-two eighty-nine.”
Liam fished cash out of his wallet and handed it over. “I’m good with cars. Good with motors.” Never mind that Grandpa left the shop to him in his will. Liam couldn’t sleep at night if he sold it.
