Page 23 of The Hidden Daughter (The Lost Daughters #7)

PRESENT DAY

For someone who’d dreaded coming home, Charlotte had to confess that nothing about being back had played out as she’d expected.

Harrison had been a very pleasant distraction, and despite wondering if she was crazy offering to entertain his friends, it had proved to be a good decision.

They were as fun and easy-going as he’d promised, although he hadn’t exaggerated about their wine consumption.

‘Something smells amazing,’ Harrison said.

She glanced up to see that he’d come over to join her. Charlotte had asked Daniel if she could move a table into the kitchen to see how it might work, and her chef’s table idea had immediately come to life.

‘I was going to try out a few main dishes on you all, but I decided to do a full chef’s evening experience instead, to see how the timing might work if my idea comes to fruition.’

‘Well, I’m loving the idea so far. It’s nice to be enjoying this hotel rather than worrying about it.’

Harrison seemed more relaxed tonight, which she imagined had a lot to do with having his friends close.

‘Go and enjoy seeing them, I’m sure they’ve missed you.’

Harrison was watching her, and she looked up, her hands hovering over the plate. ‘You’re making me nervous. Go, sit, enjoy,’ she said.

Harrison did as he was told, and soon she was carrying the first course over to the table, placing a selection of plates in the centre. She’d worked all day in the kitchen, and there was nothing quite like seeing all her hard work rewarded.

‘These are all made to share, so please taste a little of everything, and don’t forget to be honest with me. I’m not lying when I say that I genuinely want your feedback.’

‘Charlotte, this is amazing! Harrison wasn’t joking when he said he’d met the best chef in Norway,’ his friend Louisa said. ‘I love the salmon.’

‘Please, can’t you sit with us?’ Luke asked, gesturing for her to take the empty chair between him and Harrison.

‘I’ll sit once I have the main courses served,’ she said, watching them all for a moment and swelling with pride as she listened to their comments after tasting each dish. ‘There’s a lot more to go before I can relax.’

She’d always been that way—little tastes of each course to make sure she was happy with flavours, but there was never any relaxing until she was finished for the night, not even a quick bite if she was starving hungry.

Charlotte liked to give her absolute attention to what she was doing, and usually it wasn’t until afterwards that she’d realise how thoroughly she’d neglected herself.

She listened to their laughter, hearing Luke tease Harrison about something, and it reminded her of how isolated she’d become lately.

She’d been so focused on her career that her life had become work, and other than seeing her brother most weekends for a drink or dinner, she barely even had a social life outside of the kitchen.

Charlotte tossed the kitchen towel over her shoulder and turned her attention back to the food she’d already prepared that was in front of her.

She had a leg of lamb in the oven, a side of salmon still to cook and sides to finish assembling, and as she listened to them raving about her dishes, a sense of calm settled over her.

But it also made her wonder about something Amalie had said, about her Oskar and his passion for cooking, about what he’d been prepared to give up in order to follow his heart.

And she couldn’t help but see the similarities in her own life and wonder if there was somehow a connection.

She’d been prepared to turn her back on everything to follow her dreams, and when she went over everything Amalie had shared, Charlotte found herself still trying to grasp how this Oskar fitted into their lives, and why she felt so oddly connected to him.

She knew it was probably the fact that he dreamed of becoming a chef, just like her, but still, there was something about their story that she felt a deep connection with.

Her grandmother had gone deathly pale after their last session with Amalie, the pregnancy news coming as a shock to both her and her grandmother.

But Amalie had become agitated when they’d asked if she was certain she wasn’t misremembering things, and the nurses had had to come and settle her, even suggesting that whatever they were coming to talk to her about every day was beginning to upset her more and more.

‘You look lost in thought.’

Charlotte turned, narrowly avoiding burning her hand when she misjudged the handle she reached out for.

She secured the towel more carefully around it and took the salmon off the heat before acknowledging Harrison—that was a rookie mistake, and she’d have been furious if she’d seriously burnt her hand.

‘I was actually just thinking about Amalie. I saw her again this morning.’

‘Any more answers about how everything ties together?’

She shook her head, not taking her eyes off what she was doing as she plated the salmon and dressed it, wiping the edge of the plate and passing it to Harrison only once she was certain it looked perfect.

‘I’m honestly starting to wonder if we shouldn’t just let sleeping dogs lie,’ she said, waving him away with the plate.

‘She said something along the lines of how some things aren’t supposed to stay secret when I first showed her the box, but that might not be the case.

I’m happy I came back, but part of me wonders whether we shouldn’t have just ignored the clues and pretended they didn’t exist, given how she’s reacted to it all. ’

Charlotte watched as Harrison placed the plate on the table then turned back to her, but she waved him away again as soon as he came back.

‘Sit, eat! I’ll finish up here and come and join you shortly.’

Harrison hesitated, as if he didn’t want to eat without her.

‘I’m the chef, I’m not supposed to be at the table,’ she said. ‘But I promise I’ll join you soon. I’m looking forward to an end-of-service glass of wine.’

He seemed to accept her reply and rejoined his friends, and she realised that she was actually looking forward to sitting down with a glass of wine, trying some of her own food and just enjoying the company of others.

When she finally joined them some time later, Charlotte was delighted to see that they’d barely left a bite of food, and she happily let Harrison fill her glass.

She’d kept aside a plate for herself, and she began eating while listening to the friends talk, happy to be the observer rather than the centre of attention.

But that changed the minute she finished eating.

Louisa turned to Charlotte as she dabbed the corners of her mouth with a napkin.

‘So, I want to know how you two met,’ Louisa asked. ‘From what Harrison’s told us, you’re almost a fully fledged Londoner.’

‘Ha, well, I suppose you could say that. London has a way of making you fall in love, and I do see it as my home now, or at least I did until very recently.’ She grinned. ‘I love my family, but I’ve found it can be good to have some distance.’

‘I think that’s why Harrison came here,’ Luke said. ‘He was running away from his family, and by family, I mean us.’

‘We’ve known each other since—’

‘Okay, enough talking about us,’ Harrison said, interrupting Louisa and giving her a sharp look that Charlotte couldn’t decipher. ‘How about we talk about what sights you’re going to see while you’re here? I’m sure our host has plenty of recommendations.’

Charlotte took another sip of her wine, looking between them and seeing that there was definitely some tension linked to whatever Louisa had been about to say.

‘Well, I would recommend the MUNCH museum to see the Edvard Munch art exhibition, and the Viking Ship Museum, too. It’s hard to explain what it’s like to see a ship from the 9th century until you’ve actually stood there and looked at it with your own eyes,’ Charlotte said.

‘You could book a cruise on the Oslo fjord, and I have some great walks I could recommend, if you feel like being active.’

‘All of the above, except perhaps the walking,’ Louisa said with a conspiratorial grin. ‘Harrison, you’ll be our tour guide? Please tell us you’ll be joining us on our adventures?’

‘Ahh, I’ll think about it,’ he said, before excusing himself to go to the restroom, calling back over his shoulder, ‘Although you’re talking about the guy who’s been here for months and has barely seen any sights!’

Charlotte watched Harrison walk away and found she couldn’t stop smiling.

He’d been unfailingly good company, and she didn’t know what it was, but she felt different when she was with him.

The fact that he seemed to love her food helped, but it was more than that—she’d been alone for such a long time, so focused on work—but he was making her wonder what it would be like to have someone special in her life.

Although there was that little matter of him putting distance between them every time they got close, which told her that she was either way off the mark in thinking he was attracted to her, or that there was something else holding him back.

Or maybe she’d just forgotten how to flirt and was somehow getting it all wrong.

She turned to the couple seated at the table across from her, and she rose to retrieve the bottle of wine she’d left on the kitchen counter, seeing that they both needed another top-up.

The night had been a wonderful success, and seeing the way they’d all reacted to her menu had helped her to make her decision.

She was going to say yes to Daniel about the job.

Perhaps she was always going to accept, but this was the first time she hadn’t sought her brother’s approval before making a big decision, and it felt good.

‘You know, we didn’t expect him to be in such good spirits today,’ Louisa said as Charlotte joined them at the table. ‘It’s nice to see him happy again.’

‘Lou,’ Luke said, shaking his head.