“They’reengaged!” she shouted over her shoulder. “He asked her while they were on thebeach!”
Myshoulders deflated as the heavy steel door slammed shut. Okay, so that was a no?
Smilingat how loyal my friend was to her family, I turned around and got back to work.If I wanted any shot at six hours of sleep tonight, I needed to get my ass ingear. My parents were coming tomorrow night and I could not, in any way, berunning on fumes while they were here. It would get my big mouth into more troubleand I seriously didn’t want to fight with them their entire stay.
“Swift,”Wyatt called from across the kitchen. “You good with sauté?” He was referringto Dillon’s station where she sautéed veggies and made the sauces for dinnerservice.
“It’smy favorite,” I told him. It was my least favorite. And Dillon had beenespecially messy tonight. Probably because of the extra layer of mayhem and herexcitement over her brother’s engagement. But dang, no wonder she was in ahurry to get out of here.
Iwould be too if my station looked like she left hers.
Wyattmade a noise that from across the kitchen almost sounded like a laugh. It couldn’thave been though, because Wyatt didn’t laugh in his kitchen.
Bennyshot me a funny look, roughly rubbing his closely shaved head. “Was that ajoke, Kaya?”
“Shutit,” I growled at him.
Hegrinned at me. Benny was a gigantic man that seemed too large for a kitchensetting. And even though his fingers were as big as sausages, he did amazingthings with meat. As the butcher, he carved the proteins and made them lookfabulous. Besides me, he was Wyatt’s most trusted chef on staff.
“Iwasn’t prepared for you to be funny. You should warn me next time.”
“I’vealways been funny,” I shot back. “You just haven’t had a sense of humor untiltonight.”
“Idon’t think it’s me that needed to find their sense of humor.” His gaze dartedback to Wyatt and I fought the urge to slap my palm over my eyes and curse.
“Maybehe’s finally settling into the role.” I shrugged, pretending it was no bigdeal.
“Maybe,”Benny agreed.
Weseparated, getting back to our work. He finished way before me and disappearedto find Wyatt.
Iwas left alone in the now empty kitchen space since I had double the workload.Benny and Endo had offered to help me finish, but I’d declined their help. Itwas late enough. They didn’t need to stick around for me. We all wanted to getto bed.
Bennyand Wyatt had left twenty minutes ago to drop the nightly deposit off at thebank. I’d watched them walk out the door and breathed a sigh of relief whenthey’d gone.
Itwasn’t that they were bothering me, it was that I loved being alone in thisplace.
Assous chef, I had the rare privilege of closing by myself. I had my own set ofkeys—I could open by myself too. Wyatt and Ezra had entrusted me with a lotwhen Killian had left, and I was only now feeling gratitude to them.
Droppingmy cleaning towel on the counter behind me, I turned around and admired thegleaming kitchen I busted my ass in day and night.
Ihad been so angry at Wyatt for waltzing into the head chef positionunchallenged, so frustrated that the job had been handed to him on a silver platter,that I hadn’t considered how hard he’d worked for it before Killian had left.
Thishad been Wyatt’s job during Killian’s regime. He’d been second in command. He’dworked these insane hours. He’d never gotten days or nights or holidays off.He’d been here from open till close every single day. There were days he workedharder and longer and more ferociously than Killian did.
Iknew, because that was what I was doing now.
Andon top of that, he’d had a relationship with Killian, a friendship that existedlong before Lilou and James Beard Awards.
Theexecutive chef job at Lilou was never mine. It was never mine to claim or fightfor or want.
Inthe still quiet of the kitchen at the end of a long, hard day, I could finallyadmit that to myself. I could finally rest in the truth that this job was, is,and will always be Wyatt’s.
Andthat was okay. Because there were other kitchens out there for me. I would takeevery second of experience and training I could get from this place. I wouldtake the long hours and turn them into an indomitable work ethic. I would takethe grueling demands and insane expectations and turn them into my version ofperfection. I would take my difficult coworkers, my impossible boss, and thedemanding, never-satisfied customers and create my own style of leadership. AndI would take my success here, my steady climb up the hierarchy, my stellarreputation, and turn it into more success, more of a meteoric rise, more of anindustry-wide reputation that came with accolades and household namerecognition.
My risewouldn’t happen overnight or even in the next several years, but I was in itfor the long game. This was a marathon not a sprint, and I planned to finishthis race as strong and solid as I started.
Myfingers wrapped around the edge of the counter, the steel edge biting into mytender palms, but I couldn’t help but smile. There was something differentabout tonight, about being alone in such a renowned kitchen. I could feelsuccess skittering up my spine. I could taste victory dancing on my tongue. Icould practically see the future and it included everything I’d hoped for… myvery own dreams coming true.
