Forgive Me (Callaway Book 2) (4 page)

He had a feeling it was the latter when she gave him puppy eyes that most likely made his brother melt on the spot. "Do I need to get my check book for this?"

She waved him off. "No. We've been having a hard time finding the right caterer for the wedding and, well, when Cole went to check out Amanda's house and saw how bad it was, he thought maybe we could hire Amanda to do the wedding in exchange for working on the house."

"I'm not fucking charging her anything to fix her house," he said, probably angrier than he should've been that his family would even consider charging Amanda for anything.

His brother helped Jamie out of his lap and when he spoke, Drew knew this wasn't going to end well. He felt like his entire family was against him; he hated that his actions had put him in this situation. He was the only person to blame, and he loathed himself for it. "Relax, man, we weren't planning on charging her for shit. But you know how she is, and there is no way she's going to accept free help. I just thought this might be a good way to get her to agree."

"You need to cover the cost of all the food. She's struggling right now, and you know she's too damn proud to say anything on her own," Drew told him sternly so there would be no misunderstandings between them.

"What the hell do you take me for, man? I've known her for as long as you have. You think I would ever do anything like that to her?" They stood inches away from each other, tension radiating around them.

"Don't fucking start with me, Cole. I'll ask her about the wedding tonight." He pushed his chair back and started walking out of the kitchen before he did anything stupid, like punch the hell out of the man he respected more than life himself.

"You're seeing her tonight?" He wasn't sure he liked the tone in his brother's voice as he spoke.

"Yeah, I am. She came by today, asking me for help with the house. I told her I would stop by tonight and check what was needed to be done immediately, since she can't afford it all right now."

Before he knew it, Cole had him backed against the wall. "Do you know what you're doing? This isn't one of your one-night stands, Drew."

The anger boiling inside of him snapped, and he pushed his brother back with a force that surprised both of them. He loved his brother, but he couldn't believe the man who practically raised him would think so little of him. Cole had been there after Amanda left. He saw firsthand how devastated Drew had been, and hearing him talk about Amanda like she was nothing more than a quick fuck pissed him off.

"You know what? Fuck you, man! You have no fucking idea what that girl is to me, and it's none of your business anyway. I know exactly what you think I am, but you know what? That girl is my everything, so don't you fucking tell me how I feel. Look around you, Cole. You have everything—a beautiful woman, a baby on the way. Can't you see I want that for me? Amanda is it for me, and I won't stand here and let you tell me any different. We stood by you with Jamie—hell, we fucking gave you mom's ring—so the least you could fucking do is the same. She fucking killed me when she left for the city, and I'm not letting her go, not this time."

Drew shoved his brother back with all the force he could muster. He ignored Jamie calling out his name; he needed to get the hell of the house. He grabbed his keys and stormed outside, fighting the urge to punch the wall on his way out.

Amanda couldn't get the picture of a half-naked, sweaty Drew out of her head. No matter what she did, all she saw was that body of his covered in sweat, looking like something out of the movies. Drew had been good-looking in high school, but he was the most gorgeous specimen of man she'd ever seen. Her hormones had taken notice.

She knew she was going to have to ask for his help the second she saw Cole's reaction to the house. Cole was handy, but Drew was the one with the ability to fix or build anything. It was one of the things he'd inherited from his dad. It had taken everything she had to drive up to the Callaway ranch and ask Drew for help. He was the last person she wanted to have around, and she felt guilty knowing the amount of work he had to do for the ranch. But she had no one else to count on.

Seeing him working on that fence, on his family's land, she had since realized how selfish she had been five years before, when she asked Drew to move to South Carolina with her. This was where he belonged and she should've seen that back then, but she had been so hell-bent on getting out of Montana that she had missed how much of this town was in Drew.

"Hey, Amanda, I just finished putting in the orders for tomorrow, so I thought I would head home, if that's all right with you?" Amanda looked up at her new employee and smiled at her. Abby had walked into the diner two weeks back, and Amanda offered her a job immediately. It was obvious the girl was running from something, and she knew what that was like, what you had to give up to run from your demons.

"Go home, Abby. Is John taking you?" She smiled at how Abby blushed at the mention of John's name, and Amanda understood completely. The Callaway men were all gorgeous, but John had that mysterious and serious vibe. She remembered how devoted he had become to making sure the ranch survived after their father died. It had become his whole life.

"Not tonight. He's been real busy with the ranch lately, and with the wedding and everything else, I don't want to add to his load." Abby blushed as she talked, making Amanda grin.

"Do you need a ride home?" she asked Abby.

"Oh, no, that's okay. Hey, Amanda, are
you
okay? I mean, I saw what happened with Drew Callaway a couple of days ago, and I know you guys had something back in the day," Abby babbled nervously. Amanda was used to people tip-toeing around her when it came to Drew, but she knew she couldn't avoid the questions forever.

Amanda took a deep breath, focusing on keeping the wave of emotions erupting inside her under control "We were high-school sweethearts. He was my first love. I thought I was going to marry him."

"What happened?" Wasn't that the million-dollar question? That was the one downside to living in a small town—every single person in town wanted to know every detail about everyone's life.

"Life." She paused as if reflecting, then continued, "All right, I'm fine, Abby. Go home and get some rest." She was thankful when Abby didn't argue with her, because all she wanted was to be alone and get a handle on the overwhelming playback scenes of her and Drew on display in her head. Her brain was flooded with pictures of them at the lake, driving around in Drew's truck, sitting on the tailgate watching the stars, or sneaking out of her dad's house for a midnight kiss. She used her fingers to wipe away one tear that had fallen down her cheek and forced herself to focus on work. Work was something she could control, unlike her relationship with Drew. Right then, she needed to focus on something she had power over.

It was close to 6 p.m. when she made it home, and she couldn't remember the last time she'd been so nervous. She grabbed her apron just as Tango barked, making her jump. "I know, Tango, and this is crazy. It's just Drew. I shouldn't be this nervous." She turned her radio on and did the only thing that could calm her: she cooked.

Amanda was in the middle of rolling dough when she heard the knock on the front door telling her Drew was there. "Come in, I'm in the kitchen." She laughed as Tango ran toward the front door when Drew walked in.

"What smells so good in here?" She looked up from her dough, his voice bringing every cell in her body to life, and when she saw him, she forgot to breathe. If she thought this afternoon's look had been enough to send her up in flames, seeing him in a tight-fitting pair of dark blue jeans and a black T-shirt that clung to every one of his muscles was doing things to her she hadn't felt in a long time.

Tango's bark reminded her Drew had asked her a question, and she hadn't answered him yet. She wiped her hands on her apron and walked around the counter to the fridge. "Oh, I made lasagna and some stuffed chicken. Oh, it could be the cookies or the pie, too." She grabbed two beers out of the fridge and handed one to him.

"Are you nervous, Amanda?" She swore his voice was huskier somehow. God, her hormones were all over the place. She was nervous all right—not about him being there, but about her jumping him.

"No, no…. Why would you say that?" she asked, hoping her voice wasn't betraying her. When she saw the glint of humor in his eyes, she knew she hadn't managed to fool him.

He circled his hand to the copious amount of food placed on her kitchen counter. "You always used to cook when you were nervous."

Of course he would remember that about her. As if having him in her home didn't make her edgy enough, he had to remind her just how well he knew her. "Right, I forget you know everything about me." Most people would argue that she was exaggerating with that statement, but she wasn't. Drew really did know everything about her, which made letting go of him all but impossible because she knew everything about him, too. That type of connection didn't just fade away, no matter how hard she tried.

"Are you going to eat all of this?" he asked with a smirk, making her giggle like a school girl.

She glanced at him and smiled. "Oh, no, I'll probably end up freezing some of it. Are you hungry? There's more than enough if you want something to eat. It's the least I can do."

He looked surprised by her question, and that hurt her more than she cared to admit. "That lasagna looks really good."

Feed him she could do, and hopefully, she could manage not to sound stupid doing it. She grabbed a plate as she spoke to him. "Sit down, I'll heat you a plate."

"You don't have to do that, Mandy." She respected that about him. He didn't expect her to serve him or to be at his beck and call. If she let him, she knew he would feed himself, clean up after himself and he would make sure she wouldn't have to lift a finger to clean after him. But she loved taking care of people, especially with food.

"I know, but I want to. Like I said, it's the least I can do." Serving people her food was the one thing she could never give up; it was why she had become a chef. There was just something about knowing people enjoyed treats she'd made herself. There was nothing like being able to bring someone a moment of bliss with food, or remind them of a memory with a recipe.

"The house looks worse than I expected. I'm surprised you haven't set it on fire yet."

She laughed, honestly laughed, because with everything else that had happened, she wouldn't be surprised if the house
did
burn down. "Give it time. I've already taken more cold showers than I care to think about, had power interruptions, and I'm pretty sure the roof is leaking. Here you go." She placed the plate in front of him.

"Thanks, sweetheart. I got to say, I never thought I'd see you in this house again. It suits you, though. Once it's all fixed up, it'll feel like home again." There was something in the way he said it that made her heart ache. When she looked at him, she saw a glimmer of sadness in his eyes, the same one she sometimes saw when she looked in the mirror—an emptiness that couldn't be filled.

"Yeah, well, me neither, but it is what it is. It's not half as bad as I thought it would be." That was the truth. If her dad hadn't died, she wouldn't have come back and sure as hell wouldn't be serving lasagna to Drew Callaway. But as much as she wanted to deny that she was feeling like herself for the first time in months, she couldn't.

"This is really good. I forgot how amazing your cooking is." He smiled at her, and she grinned back. She felt a bit of the tension leave her body. Food, she understood, unlike all of these feelings that were resurfacing about the man eating her lasagna, and looking sexy as could be doing it.
Oh, God, what is wrong with me?

"Thanks, it's the pasta. I make it myself." She wanted to kick herself.
Really, Amanda? Get it together.
You would think she was still a love-sick teenager, not a grown woman.

"This is probably why Cole and Jamie want to hire you to cater their wedding. Although now I'm considering keeping your cooking skills for myself. Damn, this is good."

"They want to what?" She must have misheard him. There was no way she could cater Cole and Jamie's wedding. They deserved the best, and that wasn't her.

"You heard me," he stated, like it wasn't a big deal, when they both knew it was.

"Oh, God, I don't know what to say. Catering a wedding is a big deal, a life-changing event. The food will be linked to a memory forever. Catering Cole's wedding, it worries me. What if I mess it up? I don't know what to say." And that was the truth. Could she really handle cooking for a whole wedding party? Especially for people she knew, people she cared about?

What am I thinking?
She was a damn good chef and people were crazy about her food. Just because she was back in Montana running a small-town diner did
not
mean she couldn't cater Cole's wedding.

"Say yes. Plus, I wouldn't want to piss off Jamie. Pregnancy has made her cranky." She knew he was teasing her and couldn't hold back her smile. This was the Drew she remembered, the one person who could make her grin and forget about everything that was going wrong in her life.