Page 5 of Dirty Chef
“Oh Dio.” There was no stopping the emotions now. I placed a hand over my pounding heart.
Jack gave me a smile. “Is that a yes?”
I sniffled and nodded and hugged him tightly. “So much yes. It’s an honor.”
He kissed me on the forehead before I stepped back. “You’re family. The best little sister I could ask for—and our first choice.”
Someone have mercy on me. I beamed and wiped at my cheeks, and Adam threw an arm around my shoulders and hugged me to him.
“Like you could go back to sleep now,” he murmured into my hair.
I let out a breathless chuckle. “No way. We have to plan a welcome home party for our godchildren.”
My heart clenched, and it was bittersweet longing mingling with sheer happiness. At one point, all I’d wanted was a family with Adam. A future with him. A pipe dream that had died, but even so…
No matter. This was a glorious day.
“We don’t have anything planned until we open tonight, right?” I looked up at Adam, and he confirmed it. “You were heading to Seattle this weekend anyway. You wanna spend the day there? I wanna go to the market we like and plan a menu for the party.” Pike Place was great for when Adam was sample shopping and experimenting, but Seattle had more to offer than that. And we had a favorite, a smaller market away from the tourists.
Adam checked his watch. “We should hit the road now, then. Before rush hour.”
I was game.
I gave Jack’s hand a squeeze. “Hug Isla for me when she comes out and keep us posted.”
“Of course.” He inclined his head.
* * *
Adam hated driving in the city, so I drove his Silverado while he woke himself up by chugging coffee.
“I’d like to swing by St. James and light a candle for the babies,” I said, switching to the right lane. “Is that okay?”
“Yeah, sure.” He nodded and got more comfortable in his seat, his foot propped on the ledge of the map pocket in the door. “I’ll try not to curse this time.”
I grinned.
We sat in comfortable silence for a while after that, and I swayed lightly to the soft rock music playing on the radio.
Adam cranked up the volume a bit.
Washington was slowly waking up to a new day. Thick, dark clouds went to war with the purple sky along the horizon.
“You know this song,” Adam said quietly.
“Yes?” I slowed down behind the car in front of us and quirked a brow at Adam.
He shrugged and clasped his hands across his stomach. “I like it when you sing, that’s all.”
Heat bled across my cheeks, even though he’d told me that before. That was the thing with Adam Grady. If you were special to him, he let you know. He showed me I was one of his favorite people often enough that it was close to impossible to get over him. I fooled myself every now and then, a few months there, a year here, a couple weeks there, before he did something to not only remind me that “Ha-ha, you bitch, you thought you didn’t love him anymore?” but also, “By the way, you’re just a bit more in love with him now than you were earlier.”
I sang along with the radio, and Adam sighed contentedly and closed his eyes.
His well-worn ball cap sat on the dash. No matter how many caps he had, he refused to throw out this one. He wasn’t even much of a Mariners fan. Correction, he wasn’t hugely into baseball. Despite that, he wore the old Mariners cap when the rest of us braved the cold in knitted beanies and mittens.
At this rate, we would grow old together without being together. I’d chase him around when I reached my sixties and try to get him to wear a proper hat when it was cold out.
“You’ll be a good godmother,” he murmured drowsily.
I smiled to myself and hummed as the song drew to its close. “You’ll make a good godfather. Or the funniest one.”
He chuckled.
To be honest, he would be the best godfather. There was no forgetting the countless times he’d sworn up and down that he was never having kids, but…
Fuck. I despised thinking about it. I had no right or reason to take it personally. His disinterest in becoming a father was, however, one of the reasons I’d never made my feelings known to him. I’d always been sure in the back of my mind that I wanted a family one day, even when I was far from ready for it, and it’d been impossible not to wish for him to be the father.
Regardless of how great he was with children, though, he laughed or snorted when someone asked when it would be his turn to settle down and have kids.
“Let’s hope I never have to face the responsibility of raising those little ones,” he said.
