I laughed. “That feels like forty-seven lives ago.”
“It does.”
I propped myself up on my elbow. “I got a message from my mom today.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t listen to it until after we got out of the shower. I knew what it was going to say. Unfortunately, I was right.” My hand went to my chest, and I pushed against it. “She’s never going to just be my mom, Walker. She’s always going to want something from me.”
“You don’t need her to be a mom.”
“I know.” I nodded. “I just wish I could tell her about Alivia’s. I wish I could invite her to the opening. I wish I could hear her tell me how proud she was.”
“I’m proud, baby. And my family is so fucking proud of you.”
I kissed him. “You know how much that means to me.”
He was holding my cheek, rubbing his thumb across it. “But I know how it would feel to get that from your mom, and it fucking guts me that you won’t.”
“Ever …”
His lips pursed. “Probably not.” He held me tighter. “Don’tlet that eat at you. You have too many amazing things happening. Don’t give your mom a fucking inch of space in your mind.”
“I know. I’m really trying not to.” I traced his bare chest, playing with the metal chain that had warmed from the shower. “Let’s talk about something way happier, like what you’re going to do with Toro’s menu. I feel like I have an unfair advantage because I get to be the taste tester.”
“That’s tomorrow’s project after we get home from checking on Alivia’s.”
“The walls will be done tomorrow?”
“They should be. If not, the contractor will be getting the wrath of me.” His voice turned low and gritty.
I banged the center of his chest. “Walker …”
“The fucking walls were supposed to be done yesterday. He deserves to get his ass chewed out if he puts us behind. We’re on a strict deadline. There’s no room for fucking off.” He smiled. “You have meals to serve in that kitchen, and we’re not pushing out the opening even a week later than we planned.”
“I can’t even be mad at you for saying any of that.”
“Good. Don’t be. And how about you plan to just stay in the car when we arrive at Alivia’s tomorrow? When the coast is clear, I’ll signal you inside.”
“You mean, when you’re done screaming?” As I rolled my eyes, smiling, a random memory came to me, and I started laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh my God, I just remembered Keith’s face tonight.” I giggled again. “When he leaned in to give you a hug.” I couldn’t stop laughing. “Even though you promoted him to executive chef, that man is terrified of you. And you, being you, didn’t even react when he went to hug you, so he got in close, and then his arms dropped—I could see theoh shitmoment right onhis face when he realized you weren’t going to hug him back. Rachel and I were dying.”
“At least Rachel knows better than to hug me.”
I snorted. “Keith is going to be awesome though. You guys made the right choice in promoting him. It’s just going to be a little strange, working for him and not you.”
“You still haven’t gotten any shit about me at work, have you?”
Walker hadn’t wanted the pastry chef who helped us out at James’s charity event to say anything to the staff at Charred. If they were going to know, Walker wanted that news to come from him. So, the next day, he told all the chefs, knowing that word would spread from there.
And it had.
I shook my head. “Not a single peep about it.” I held up my hand. “And maybe they’ve said things behind my back, but no one has said anything to me, and no one is treating me any differently.”
“Not that it matters. You won’t be there for much longer.”
