Falling Sweetly (Starling Falls #2) (6 page)

After finishing high school, I had gone to Marco and asked him for a job. He hadn’t even interviewed me. He had just asked me to make him my favourite meal, and ‘to be honest about it.’

After eating two mouthfuls of Aunt Deb’s mac and cheese that I had made him, he told me I had a job. Over the course of nine years, I had worked my way up from a kitchen assistant to Marco’s executive chef.

When he had retired more than a year ago, to apparently go live out some sort of Bear Grylls impersonation fantasy in the mountains, being named head chef was an honour I hadn’t expected.

And it’s also an honour you’ve managed to majorly fuck up.

We walked in silence
,
up the steep trail for about fifteen minutes
,
until we finally reached a yellow pop-up tent, almost glowing neon in the surrounding dense shrubs.

Marco put water to boil over a makeshift wooden tripod and sat on a rickety looking camping chair. He held out a hand, silently gesturing to a log opposite him.

Sitting on the log, I tried my best to keep my balance and not fall over on my ass, as Marco’s perceptive eyes took in the bags under my eyes and weary expression.

I opened my mouth to speak but stayed silent when Marco put a finger to his lips.

We just going to sit here in silence? I didn’t ruin a pair of shoes and jeans and risk infection, to come sit here and appreciate the view.

The water, in the tin can over the fire, reached a boil, and Marco threw in a handful of odd looking vegetation, stirred it and then poured it into a tin cup, before handing the sludge coloured mixture to me with a smile.

Fuck. He’s heard about the restaurant and is trying to poison me.

“A cup of tea makes everything better, no?” he asked, whilst taking a sip of his own sewage water.

“Marco -” I started to say but was cut off again.

“Drink,” he said firmly.

I sniffed the brew in the cup and held back the urge to gag. “I don’t think-”

My insane mentor frowned again. “Drink. It’s good for you. Very cleansing for the body and the mind.”

I seriously doubt that.

With a heavy sigh, I prepared for my punishment and took a sip of the tea that tasted every bit as disgusting as it looked and smelled.

I shuddered and placed it on the ground, giving Marco a grimace that I hoped passed for a smile.

“It’s good, no? I foraged for these wild herbs myself,” he said proudly.

“Mmhmm,” I said, with a vague nod.

“So… what is the reason you have chosen to come see me on this beautiful day?” Marco asked as he leant back and rested his chin on his hand.

My mind went blank. I had no idea how to tell this man, that I respected and owed so much to, that I had managed to let everything he had worked so hard to achieve, turn to shit.

Probably should have thought about that on the trek up here.

“Everything got fucked up,” I blurted out.

“I do not understand,” he said coolly.

I reached into the back pocket of my jeans and took out a crumpled cut out of Scottie McKenzie’s review from the magazine, and handed it to him.

He was silent as he read. My eyes stared at the small fire; my head was in my hands. I refused to look at him and see the inevitably disappointed expression on his face.

I heard the paper crinkle as he finished reading.

“Jake,” Marco said softly

When I didn’t respond, he spoke again. “Jacob, look at me.”

When I dragged my gaze away from the flames to look at Marco, I was confused by the humour in his eyes.

Oh shit. It’s too much for him to handle, I’ve made him lose what remaining marbles he has left.

“Jacob. You cooked for this man? You feed him stones and raw fish?” he asked, laughing manically.

“No. Dillon did, he screwed us over to go work at Canatta’s,” I said, feeling both relieved and also shocked that he hadn’t ripped my head from my body in a fit of rage. I hung my head in shame.

“But I should have known something like this was going to happen. He always gave off shady vibes
.
I should have been there. I shouldn’t have left him in charge of the restaurant and gone away. I’m so fucking sorry. People have been cancelling reservations ever since it came out. I don’t know how much longer we can keep going financially. When you made me your head chef
,
I told you I’d make you proud, but all I’ve managed to do is ruin all your years of hard work.”

“Ah. I see. Dillon was the saboteur, but you, you are the one who feels guilty?” he huffed, still sounding weirdly amused, “You know what I think of this review?”

Marco threw the scrap of paper into the fire and we both watched as the flames engulfed it, turning it into ashes in a matter of seconds.

“That was of the only copy I had. I kind of wanted to keep it,” I said, still bewildered by his reaction.

“Jacob, I left that restaurant in your hands because I had faith in you and saw how passionate you were about your work, but that man is no longer the man I see in front of me now.” He sent me a look of concern.

“Truth is, when I retired I wanted to close Marco’s. I have no love for that place anymore, and I think if you’re honest with yourself, neither do you. I will go see the lawyers and the accountant, and talk to the staff about severance packages.”

“Wait. What do you mean, you’re going to close it? Marco, no! I can try-”

“I will not allow you to be held back because of your misguided loyalty to some mad, old man living in the mountains. You have so much potential. I’m freeing you, go spread your wings and fly.”

Wings? What the fuck has he been smoking? And can I get a hit of some of that shit?

“I don’t want to spread my wings and fly. I have no fucking wings to spread, I’m a man not some damn bird. My feet are happy firmly on the ground. Marco, listen, I’m sure I can-”

Marco cut me off again with a tsk, “Everything in life is temporary, Jacob. Life can be easy, do not choose to make it complicated. Make every decision with your heart, not your head. You are too young to be afraid of change, leave the past in the past and move on to something better.”

“What the fuck does any of that mean?” I asked him, completely confused.

Marco simply patted me on the shoulder and went into his tent, and zipped it close. “You will figure it out.”

My role model has turned into a fucking fortune cookie, and I’m more lost than I was before… awesome.

CHAPTER 5

Annika

It was two o’clock on a Sunday and I had just flipped the sign on the door from
Open
to
Closed
.

We would ordinarily have been open until five, however Mitch had the day off, and both Laurie and Gloria hadn’t been feeling well, so I’d been running the bakery by myself, thankfully it had been a quiet day.

I also had Debbie and Jeremy Jameson’s surprise anniversary party to be at in an hour, so closing the shop early had been unavoidable.

Making my way back into the kitchen, I was about to place the anniversary cake I had made into a box, when I heard the bell over the door of the bakery chime.

I really need to remember to start locking that door.

I poked my head out of the kitchen doors. “Sorry, we closed early today. I keep forgetting to…” I trailed off at the sight of Josh in the middle of the bakery, doing the running man, really badly, to the song playing on the radio I’d forgotten to switch off.

My jaw fell open as the running man morphed into the robot and then the sprinkler.

“Wow,” I paused, at a loss for what else to say. “Killer moves?”

The sprinkler morphed into the cabbage patch.

Seriously. What on earth do they put in the water in this town?

“Hey Niki, I know.” He threw me a wink before continuing, “I’m just warming up for Aunt Deb and Uncle Jeremy’s party. I’ve been tasked by Addie to come collect the cake and you. She said to make sure you carry the cake, so I don’t ‘fuck it up, or eat it all before the party’. That was a direct quote from her.”

“Oh. Um. Okay, I could have driven there myself though.”

“My car’s bigger and I had to drive past here anyway on my way back from the garage,” he said with a shrug, and then pouted “Do you not want to spend time alone with me, Niki? Because that shit would hurt. I haven’t got cooties, you know.”

Josh and me alone on the drive to the party. That’s not going to be awkward at all.

I made a mental note to pinch Adelaide Jameson, when I saw her later, for not giving me a heads up about Josh coming to pick me up.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be alone with Josh. Being alone in a small, confined space with anyone of the male species generally made me nervous. Add to this neurosis, the fact that I had never been alone with Josh before, and this made for one seriously anxious me.

Yep… definitely have issues. Don’t panic. You’re trying to change, remember. Just suck it up and embrace the inevitable awkwardness.

I took a deep breath and tried to make my tense muscles relax.

“Do you practise that pout in the mirror? I’ve just got to put the cake in the box, and then we can go.”

I walked back into the kitchen and Josh followed me. When he saw the cake, he let out a loud whistle. “Damn, you got some serious skills, girl. That looks awesome.”

I smiled and could feel my cheeks flush at the compliment. I wasn’t one to brag, but even I had to admit that I was extremely proud of this particular cake.

Debbie and Jeremy had been so lovely and welcoming to Liya and me, I’d wanted to thank them for their kindness by making something exceptionally special for the couple who had essentially adopted us into their not-so-little family.

The decadent three-tiered chocolate cake, was covered in a vanilla buttercream frosting. I wanted to capture both of their personalities, so the cake topper was a fondant replica of Jeremy’s prized black mustang, with two fondant figurines of Debbie and Jeremy sitting inside.

The cake had been decorated with Debbie’s favourite flowers crafted delicately from sugar paste, and each layer had been piped to perfection in buttercream dyed a light green. The overall affect was beautiful, and one of the best cakes I had ever made.

“Thanks, it’s kind of big though,” I said as I gently placed the largest cake tier in a box.

“I’m going to have to assemble it when we get there. Could you carry the other boxes out to the car?” I nodded over to the boxes filled with various cookies and cupcakes I’d made.

“Any of those cupcakes red velvet?” he asked, eyeing one of the boxes hungrily.

“Maybe, but you’ll have to find out later with everyone else,” I told him firmly.

“Cruel, cruel woman. You’ve become mean since you’ve started hanging around with Addie.” Josh sighed sadly as he stacked the boxes on top of each other and carried them out to the car.

I laughed lightly, feeling more at ease.

Okay, maybe this won’t be so bad after all.

* * * * *

This is awful
.
How can silence be so loud?

“So… what’s up with you?” Josh asked halfway through the drive, after ten painfully awkward minutes.

“Not much,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

“Am I doing something to make you uncomfortable? I don’t think you’ve taken a proper breath since you got into the car,” Josh asked confused.

“Sorry, it’s not you, it’s me.” I cringed at the words that came out of my mouth.

Josh barked out a laugh, “Never had that said to me before from a girl I wasn’t dating. Are we breaking up now?” he said with a teasing smile.

I forced a laugh, trying to ease the tension, and failed.

“Usually when a chick is nervous around me
,
I flirt with her until she relaxes… it’s worked well in the past.” Josh grinned at whatever memories were going through his head, and from his expression, I was grateful that he wasn’t sharing those particular stories.

“Honestly, if you were to start flirting with me now, I’d probably throw up all over the inside of your car. Sorry,” I blurted and then cringed again.

“Okay. No flirting then, we wouldn’t want anything like that to happen to the interior of my beautiful baby.” He glanced at me briefly. “I’d also have to deal with one very pissed off twin,” he added quietly.

“Huh?”
I really am much too eloquent at times.

Jake gave a long-suffering sigh, “Never mind.”

He then began muttering under his breath about ‘people having no fucking game.’

Game? Were we supposed to be playing games today?
I looked down at the loose dress I was wearing.
I don’t think I’m appropriately dressed for games.

“I’m confused,” I muttered in return.

“Seriously, though. What’s your deal? You’re completely cool with me when you’re around other people, and now that we’re alone, you’re acting like I’ve got two heads,” Josh chuckled as he made a right turn.

“I get… nervous?” I said lamely. “I don’t know. I can be kind of awkward. Sorry.”

“No shit,” Josh snorted, “We’ve been in this car ten minutes and you’ve already apologised about five times for no reason.”

I sighed and rested my head against the window. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Josh smirked cheekily. “You got the hots for me or something?” he asked suggestively, waggling his eyebrows.

His question made me burst out laughing, and I felt some of the tension start to ease.

“Hey! It’s not that farfetched you know? Look at this smile,” he paused to grin widely, “How could you say no to a smile like this? I can be pretty irresistible at times.”

“Not to me, sor-” I stopped myself before I could apologise again.

“And she actually smiles. Nice work, Joshua, nice work.” He took one hand of the steering wheel to pat himself on the back.