Page 40 of Recipe for Romance (Applewood #2)

~N icole~

The Kemp dining room, decked out for the upcoming Christmas holiday, was filled with laughter.

Everyone, including Aiden, had a smile on their face as Beckett and his fiancée engaged the group with a story about their recent trip to Florida to meet Willa’s parents.

Nicole barely registered the tale of how a giant grasshopper had made a home in Beckett’s shoe because she was too busy staring at the man next to her.

Even though his smile was soft and not quite as bright as his brothers, Nicole still found Aiden’s look of happiness to be the most attractive.

When he caught her staring at him, he winked before turning back to the conversation.

The small gesture made her feel a little giddy, her chest fluttering with the knowledge that he loved her.

Hearing how he felt about her had been amazing, more than she thought it would be to hear those three little words from someone.

Nicole thought she had loved before, but nothing she’d experienced in the past compared to what she felt now.

Nicole had a sense of home and purpose with Aiden, but she also felt seen and accepted in a way that she hadn’t thought was possible for her.

Aiden saw all of her little quirks, things that probably irritated him to no end, yet he loved her.

Not in spite of her faults, but because of them.

It was a heady feeling, and was almost enough to have her saying yes to his proposition. Almost.

Being a restaurant manager wasn’t a career that Nicole had ever considered pursuing until Aiden had brought it up.

Setting up the dining room, helping choose everything from table settings to salt and pepper grinders, and interviewing staff had all been a lot more fulfilling than Nicole had expected.

Seeing all of her decisions laid out before her in the restaurant was thrilling, tangible evidence that she had not only completed a task, but done it well.

School had prepared her for the tasks and challenges that came with restaurant management, but because she had been so hyperfocused on being a chef, Nicole never thought about what a reality with her dealing with those things would look like.

Now that she’d experienced it first hand, it was all she could think about.

Aiden had said her chef skills were improving, but Nicole knew that was just him being generous.

She loved that he had thought enough of her abilities to speak with a former colleague and set her up for more training if that’s what she wanted, but it wasn’t necessary.

It was easy to see that Nicole still had a long way to go until she wasn’t a huge liability in the kitchen, and there was no guarantee that she would ever get there.

It was frustrating, her inability to improve at a decent pace, but it wasn’t shocking.

Once in high school, Nicole’s trigonometry class had collectively failed to pass a test to which their teacher responded, “Well, not everyone can be an astronaut.” The situation Nicole found herself in now felt very reminiscent of that.

Not everyone could go to space, and clearly, not everyone could be a professional chef.

While Nicole was certain with time and a great deal more training, she could get to a level where working in a kitchen wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility, there was no way she would be able to live across the country from Aiden.

He was going to be working long hours for at least the next year until his restaurant was really established, and while she could fly to Applewood on weekends and he could come to South Carolina whenever he had a free moment, Nicole didn’t want that.

Spending more time in the airport and on a plane than with the man she loved sounded awful, the thought making it feel like someone had scooped out her heart and tossed it aside, leaving her cold and empty.

Nicole needed Aiden’s barely there smiles, his thoughtfulness, and his care for her, but she also needed his glares, his crankiness until he’d had caffeine and his tendency to get grumpy until she’d scrounged up a snack for him.

Besides, she wasn’t even sure she wanted to be a chef anymore.

“Is everything alright?” he asked with concern. Aiden had leaned closer to her, the warm air from his question flowing over the skin at her neck and causing goosebumps to break out there. “You seem very lost in thought, and I know that can be a little dangerous for you.”

Nicole chuckled, bumping him with her shoulder. “It’s only dangerous when I’m thinking about you,” she teased.

It came back to bite her though because as his gaze darkened, Nicole felt her heart skid to a stop and her core start to ache.

They were in the middle of a family meal which was not the time and place to get lost in fantasies about sex with your boyfriend.

Thinking the word had Nicole shaking herself out of her lusty stupor.

Aiden wasn’t her boyfriend, not officially because they hadn’t had “the talk,” and yet he was so much more than that.

Needing more time to ponder their future, she glanced outside at the barren orchard.

“I’m going to go for a walk.” After leaning over to kiss his cheek, Nicole made her excuses to the table and marched over to the back door.

She was just wrapping the wool scarf Aiden had gifted her out of the blue one day when the weather had gotten colder when she heard footsteps coming up behind her.

“Mind if I join you?” Autumn’s silvery voice drifted over to Nicole just as she’d turned, both hoping and dreading that it might be Aiden.

She wanted to see him, to be in his company, but it was also difficult to think clearly around him.

He already owned a lot of real estate in her mind, and she needed a clear head in order to make a decision.

Still, not being completely alone with her thoughts was too tempting to pass up.

Nicole smiled. “Not at all. I just needed a little fresh air and would love the company.”

“Thanks.” Autumn pulled on her puffy winter coat and stuffed her shoulder length hair into a beanie, pink strands falling out and framing her face. “Fresh air sounds really good right about now. I love this family but sometimes a girl needs a little time to think.”

Cold air nearly knocked them back inside as they stepped out toward the orchard, but it seemed both women were determined to get space from the goings on inside.

They walked in companionable silence for a while, but the deeper they got into the orchard the more Nicole found herself needing a distraction from the rattling inside her brain.

“How long have you and Felix been friends?” She’d been curious about the pair ever since interacting with them at trivia night so many weeks ago, and now seemed as good a time as any to get some answers.

Autumn turned to Nicole with a fond expression.

“It sometimes feels like we’ve always been friends since we’ve gone to school together for most of our lives, but we didn’t really get close until our freshman year of high school.

” She gazed out at the trees that were now barren and smiled wistfully.

“Felix was always a bit of a science geek and I was hopeless when it came to anything having to do with that sort of thing, so when we got paired up as lab partners I ended up relying on him a lot for help. We’d work in class but then go over to each other’s houses to work on stuff too.

He’s basically the only reason I passed the class,” she chuckled, shaking her head.

The story reminded Nicole of how Aiden was helping her. It seemed that helping other people was a genetic trait among the band of brothers. “So you’ve been besties ever since?”

Autumn nodded as she came to a stop near one of the trees Aiden had brought Nic to at the beginning of her training.

Autumn smiled as she stared at Felix’s apple trees and picked a few dead leaves that had refused to fall off a branch.

“Yes, though we’ve had our disagreements too.

Mostly about little stuff like how to load the dishwasher, but we always end up back on the same page.

” Autumn’s smile shuttered slightly as she looked over at Felix’s cider house, and Nicole couldn’t help but reach out and touch the sleeve of her coat.

“Are you okay?” It wasn’t really her place to ask since she and Autumn were still barely friends, but the question was out of her mouth before she could think better of it.

The woman was clearly all up in her head and feelings just as Nicole was, and she couldn’t witness the turmoil and not offer assistance.

Autumn’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes as she waved off Nicole’s question. “I’m fine, just have a lot on my mind.” She gave Nicole a penetrating look. “Seems like I’m not the only one in that boat. What’s got you so twisted up?”

Nicole thought about calling Autumn out for deflecting or denying that she was thinking about anything, but there was little use as she was sure the storm of thoughts and emotions was plainly obvious from her demeanor. “Aiden wants me to stay here and work with him at the restaurant.”

“That’s great,” Autumn gushed, grabbing Nicole’s arms and shaking them with excitement. “Isn’t that why you came here? To train to be a chef, right?”

Nicole groaned lightly. “Ugh, yes, but he wants me to do the front of house, not cook.” The lack of sadness in her voice was telling, and maybe that was enough to let her know how she was truly feeling.

Understanding dawned on Autumn’s face and they started walking again. “Ah, and that’s not something you’re sure you want to do.”