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“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“You don’t want to leave, do you?”
Zeb laughed. “Is everyone in this town a mind reader?”
Anders laughed with him. “No, there’s just a charm to this place. I came here for a weekend after a relationship ended and never left.”
“There’s a story there,” said Zeb.
“We all have stories. Some are more interesting than others.”
“I think yours would be interesting.”
“As would yours,” said Anders with a knowing look.
“Has Ryder been gossiping in here as well?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
They both laughed. Zeb looked around. The holiday lights gave the place an extra charm. If only he could live somewhere like this, instead of the chaos of New York, but that wasn’t practical. There was no harm in having a dream, though. Mason had been Zeb’s dream for so long. Maybe it was time to have a new one, and one day he wanted to live in Cherry Falls.
He chatted with Anders for an hour, with him occasionally getting up to serve a customer. It was midday when he heard from Mason.
Mason: Where are you? I’ll come and get you xxx
Zeb: Going to head back to the cabin soon. No need to come and get me xxx
Mason: Can you be back by one? I can make sure lunch is ready xxx
Zeb smiled at his phone and replied, saying he’d be back by then. He thought about his earlier conversation with Alison. He needed to talk to Mason and let him know what he was feeling. Zeb just hoped he was brave enough to be honest about what he wanted when Mason was right in front of him.
CHAPTER 22
MASON
Mason had experienced a bitch of a morning, and he missed Zeb. It felt like he’d been gone for ages, but he knew it had only been a few hours. When he’d suggested he head into town on his own, Mason had wanted to go with him, but he needed to speak to some of his important clients. There were several big parties this weekend, and they would certainly miss Friday night. Mason usually made an appearance with these sorts of guests, which he hated, but it made good business sense. To hear that not only would they not see him, but that he wouldn’t be their chef either, had not gone down well with some.
It was the annoying side of owning a fine-dining restaurant. Mason didn’t do any formal advertising for Epicure, it was all word of mouth, and that could easily go in the other direction. One client had offered to fly his helicopter in to retrieve him, but then Zeb would need to go with him, which would invite questions about their relationship. He didn’t want Zeb subjected to that sort of scrutiny, especially this early on. Now he had Zeb as his partner, Mason wasn’t letting him go, but being linked to someone who was in the public eye, even if begrudgingly, could be difficult. Zeb had seen what Felix and Ryder went through last year, so he might assume the worst.
The Delaune family was a big deal in New York. Harold Delaune was CEO of the biggest private equity firm in the city. His wife, Catherine, was pleasant enough, but their daughter was a first-class spoiled brat. Catherine pandered to her. Sebastian did business with Harold, and the old guy was decent, but he was also blind to his daughter’s behavior. It was Harold who had offered to have someone fly in and get him. They had dinner booked at Epicure tomorrow evening, and there was a possibility that Mason wouldn’t be there, so he’d wanted to forewarn them, but Catherine was adamant that she wouldn’t subject her guests to food cooked by Hunter. The event was worth around fifty grand, so not a small deal, and if they canceled, it wouldn’t be ideal, but Mason could manage the hit if needed. They would argue that Mason was in breach of contract by not being there, even though that was not stipulated in the contract, and Mason had been around the block enough to know it would be best to just refund the money if that happened.
A couple of other clients had complained, but when Mason offered them a personally prepared lunch in the new year, they stopped. Hunter was handling everything brilliantly, and most people had said that if Mason had left the restaurant with someone he trusted, that was good enough for them.
The only issue was the Delaune party, so he would need to try to get them back to New York for tomorrow night. If it had been any other time of the year, Mason would happily have stayed here longer. He could tell Zeb had fallen in love with the cabin and the town, so they’d definitely be back here soon.
It was midday, and the cabin was quiet, so he sent a text to Zeb asking where he was. Mason wanted to go get him, but he said he’d be back in an hour, so he would make lunch for them instead. He’d baked some crusty bread this morning, so he made a soup. Zeb had loved his spicy chicken noodle soup when he’d been recovering from leaving Kaden. This time, he could thicken it up and use chicken thighs, so it was a more substantial meal. It wouldn’t take him long to prepare, so he got to work. Once he’d prepared the chicken and was working on the vegetables, his phone rang. He answered it on speakerphone.
“Sebastian. I’m guessing this is about Harold Delaune.”
“No, why? What’s he been up to?”
“Not him. Catherine’s demanding my presence for their event at Epicure tomorrow. I’m not sure if I’ll get back.”
“Need me to send a chopper?”
“He offered to do that. Might get offended if I took yours instead of his.”
