Page 128 of A Chef's Kiss for Christmas

“I spent most of the last month dressed as an elf,” she said with a small smile.

“So? You enjoy doing that, don’t you?”

“Yes. But I feel as though I just bounce from one job to the next, doing anything that seems fun, but with no proper plan. I don’t know what I’ll do long term. I need a career plan, but I don’t have a clue what I want to do.”

“You’re twenty-three. You don’t need to know what you want to do for the rest of your life. At some point, you’ll figure it out.”

“I feel like I’m drifting through life, and it’s getting tiring. Plus, I’ve been on a spate of terrible dates recently, which is depressing.”

“You didn’t tell me.”

“No. Because I didn’t have the energy to make them into entertaining stories.”

Anna felt a pang of sadness – her sister did tend to make everything into a quirky anecdote. “You could have just told me.”

“I didn’t feel like bringing you down. Especially not when everything is going so well for you. I think it’s great that you’re going to look at the premises for your shop. And I really am happy for you and Warren.” She pressed her hands to her face. “Does he know the spider thing was just me trying to get him to come over? Because that’s really embarrassing.”

“No. He really thought you just wanted him to play exterminator.” She grimaced. “Sorry he laughed at you.”

“I actually think that was an entirely fair response. Can you please not tell him? I’d never be able to face him again.”

She shook her head and moved to perch beside her sister. As she pulled her in for a hug, her eyes swept the room.

“What are we going to do about the state of this place?” she asked eventually.

Carla shoved her so hard shealmost fell off the arm of the chair. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to keep quiet about the mess.”

“It’s hard to ignore,” she said gently.

“Not for me. I’d planned on spending the rest of the day ignoring it while I watched TV.”

“How about we tidy up and then spend the day on the couch?”

“You’re hanging around?” Carla asked. “Don’t you have anything planned with Warren?”

“No. He’s working.” It might not have been entirely true, but she was sure Warren would go to work as soon as she told him she was busy for the day.

He sent her a few messages over the course of the afternoon, obviously keen to know what was going on with Carla, but she kept her replies vague. At least he was in touch regularly. After his lack of contact the week before, it was reassuring that they seemed to be on the same page now.

When he messaged and asked if she wanted to come to the hotel for dinner, she told him she was going to hang out with Carla for the evening and would see him the following day. An hour later, the doorbell rang, and Carla hit pause on the TV remote.

“Who’s that?” she asked, eyeing the door dubiously.

“How would I know?” Anna asked, shaking her head. “Maybe one of your friends checking on you since you’ve gone AWOL.”

“I hope not.” Carla hopped off the couch and headed for the door. She sounded a little confused as she spoke into the intercom but buzzed whoever it was up.

“Who is it?” Anna asked, joining her at the door.

“Food, apparently,” Carla said, looking confused.

A moment later, Will, one of the hotel kitchen staff, appeared. “Warren said I could leave early if Idropped this off.” He handed a bag to Carla and disappeared before they could thank him.

“This smells amazing,” Carla said, sticking her nose in the bag. “Told you there’d be good perks to having him as your boyfriend. You can never split up with him. You know that, right?”

“I have no plans to,” Anna replied happily.

Chapter Fifty