Catering to Love (30 page)

“Thank you, Corey,” she said as he was leaving. “You did an amazing job.”

“You did too.” He pulled her close and kissed her. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he whispered. “We have so much to talk about.”

“Okay,” she smiled. “You can be sure I’ll be here. Passed out perhaps, but I’ll be here.” She shut the door and turned out the lights. Climbing the stairs, she yawned and wondered if the silence meant the New York gang was sound asleep.

“Do you know how much I hate it that you guys are leaving?” Gabi said, walking them out to the car.

“You need to come back to New York,” Lucy said. “Hey, Corey’ll come with you. His parents still live there. Maybe you two can partner up and open a restaurant together. You certainly work well together.”

Gabi laughed. “We’ll see. If things continue to go the way I’m hoping, I don’t have a problem with that at all.” She hugged each of them. “What can I say?” she said to them. “You guys bailed me out again. Thank you so much.”

Cassie pulled her over to the side. “I want to tell you what my thoughts are about Corey.”

“Okay. Shoot.”

“To be fair, try to forget whatever he did before we got here for a moment. He was absolutely instrumental in delivering what you wanted here this weekend. I’m sure we could have muddled through somehow without him, but he
produced a first-class, very professional experience for your customers, and I think you need to take that into consideration as you move forward. Not that I want to get preachy here, but it had to take a lot of courage for him to come back after the way he left. From what I saw, he obviously cares about you and your restaurant.”

“I know. We’ve agreed to give our relationship an honest effort and see where it takes us. It’s hard to imagine that things won’t be better from here on out with everything out in the open now.”

“I agree with you.” She hugged Gabi again. “You know, I really don’t want to leave you behind. I want you to come home with us.” With tears in her eyes, Jamie joined in and hugged Gabi one more time. “Do your thing here and come home. In the meantime, we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed for you and the success of this beautiful Inn at Carters’ Mill.”

Gabi walked back into the kitchen feeling as though she’d won the lottery. Judging from the compliments she’d received on the new menu, she knew things would be okay. She stood with her arms folded, staring at the kitchen—her kitchen. Excitement welled inside her and brought tears of happiness to her eyes. When she turned to reach for a tissue on the counter, she was surprised to see Corey standing there, watching her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, surprised she hadn’t heard him come into the room.

“I couldn’t stay away. I don’t want to be without you, Gabi, ever. I spent five days away from you and thought I
was going to die. I’ll never get that time back.” He paused before continuing. “Did you mean it?”

“Did I mean what?”

“When Cassie and Jamie came out to visit the first time, I overheard you talking about me. You said you were falling for me. Did you mean it?”

“Every word of it.”

“Do you still feel that way after all we’ve been through?” he asked.

She nodded. “Now that I know everything, it feels much stronger than what we had before.” They wrapped their arms around each other’s waist. She gave a deep sigh of contentment, and he grinned.

“Are you happy?” he asked.

“Very,” she replied. He lifted Gabi’s face up to his and kissed her.

“It feels so good to know there are no more complications,” he said. “To know there’ll be no more playing games or beating around the bush. And thank God there are no more secrets. Everything is right out in the open so you can ask whatever questions you have. All that matters to me at this very moment is having you in my life, because without you, my life is incomplete. I will spend the rest of my life showing you just how much I love you.”

And this time, she believed every word of it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

2005 DuHon Photography

Carolyn Hughey has been a hair stylist, an executive legal secretary, a chef, and, of course, a writer. She brings together her culinary experience and her love of writing in
Dishing Up Romance
and its sequels,
One Recipe at a Time
and
One Menu at a Time
. When not practicing one of her many talents, she enjoys oil painting, jewelry making, and cake decorating. Hughey lives with her family in Arizona.