Year of Living Blonde (Sweet Life in Seattle, Book 1) (21 page)

Natalie grabs a clean apron, thinking about Blair’s words. She remembers how Anthony told her tiramisu is one of his favorite desserts.

Blair is watching as she ties on the apron.

“What is it?” Natalie glances over.

“I’m still getting used to you as a blonde, not to mention the new clothes and makeup.”

“I know,” Natalie sighs. “Everyone keeps commenting on it. In truth, I feel self-conscious. And then I discovered that Lindsay and Chloe hid my
Lord of the Rings
hoodie!”

Blair laughs. “I can’t say I blame them, but you look great.”

Natalie has been trying to relax and enjoy her new appearance. She never told anyone, but she went back to the salon for lessons in applying makeup and blow-drying her hair. Some days she feels great and others she feels uncomfortable with the attention. She’s noticed that people—especially men—are treating her differently. Where she used to be invisible, now they’re holding doors open for her and trying to talk to her. The biggest surprise is how much other blonde women stare at her. Who knew women were checking each other out so much?

“I’m trying to relax, but it’s just out of my comfort zone. Lindsay and I went out for dinner the other night and some guys sent drinks to our table.”

“
And?
”

“And that’s never happened to me in my entire life!”

Blair smiles. “You’ll get used to it. It might even be time to go on a date.”

“I’d be so nervous that I’d have to carry a barf bag and hold it over my mouth the whole time. That might turn him off.”

Blair laughs. “I doubt it would be that bad.”

After a bit of online navigation with her computer and a quick phone call to the university’s Astronomy Department, Natalie figures out Anthony’s class schedule and office hours. Now she needs to come up with the perfect tiramisu. It can’t be too sweet, obviously. And it has to be the real thing. Something you’d find at a cafe in Venice or Rome.

Natalie smiles and leans back in her chair. This is familiar territory.

Angels will sing. He’ll be weeping with pleasure after the first bite.

She imagines Anthony’s handsome face—his eyes closed with bliss. Warmth spreads through her.
His pleasure will have come from me.
She thinks about how Lindsay and Blair are pushing her to date.
If only a man like Anthony showed interest.

But then she stops that fantasy. She could never date Anthony. The evil landlord. Not that he’d ever be interested in her, anyway.

Natalie has made tiramisu before, but she’s not sure how authentically Italian they were. Reading online, she discovers more than a few “traditional” recipes.

Luckily, she knows someone who can help.

Santosa’s Bistro, run by Chef Austin Santosa, is a few blocks up from La Dolce Vita and Natalie decides to walk there. In the past she would have driven, but after taking Ryan’s advice, she’s been finding ways to incorporate exercise into her daily life.

Having a personal trainer seemed strange at first, but she has to admit that Ryan has been helping her stay on track. In fact, she has more energy than ever. Between that and the boxing, she’s probably the fittest she’s ever been.

Admittedly, she’d still like to lose more weight. And exercising so much is making her hungry. Ryan has assured her that as she builds muscle she’ll lose inches without the scale going down.

Let’s face it though, I’ll never be skinny.

When she reaches Santosa’s, she finds they aren’t open yet, so she heads around to the back entrance. There’s a bustle of activity going on in the large kitchen, which she can’t help comparing to La Dolce Vita’s own cramped space.

“Is Austin around?” she asks one of the prep cooks.

“He’s out front.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Natalie heads into the front of the restaurant and immediately sees Austin’s bulky frame and his long brown ponytail. He’s standing with his back to her, talking to an older woman she recognizes as his sous chef, though she can’t remember her name.

“Excuse me, Austin?”

He tosses a look over his shoulder. “I’ll be right with you. Take a seat.” But then he turns back and his blue eyes widen. “
Natalie?
” He scans her up and down. “You look fucking hot! I didn’t even recognize you.”

She draws her shoulders in and smiles. “Thanks, I think.”

“It’s definitely a compliment. Jesus, I thought you were a vendor.” He turns to the woman beside him. “What do you think, Tanya, doesn’t she look hot?”

Tanya nods. “You look really great. Also, that Herbes de Provence bread you sent over for us to try last week was fantastic.”

“Oh? I’m glad to hear it. I was playing around with a new recipe.”

Austin nods. “It was real popular. Can you hook us up with a regular order on that?”

Natalie already knows she doesn’t have time for it, but figures she’ll work late. “Sure, no problem.”

“Awesome.”

Tanya motions. “I’m heading back into the kitchen now.” She nods at Natalie. “Good to see you again.”

“Same here,” Natalie replies.

Austin leans back against the counter and looks at her expectantly. “So what can I do for you?”

“I came here to flatter you and tap your encyclopedic knowledge of Italian food. I’m looking for a great tiramisu recipe, but it has to be old school. Something traditional that you’d actually find in Italy.”

He nods slowly. “Is this for the bakery?”

“Possibly. Mostly I’m trying to apologize to our landlord.” Natalie explains what happened.

Austin laughs. “Is the guy really that much of a dick? I don’t think I’ve ever met him. Though I heard you and Blair were trying to expand. You know,” he lowers his voice, “I haven’t told anybody this yet, and maybe I shouldn’t be mentioning it, but we’re thinking about moving to that new complex being built on Roosevelt. We’ve talked to the developer there, although there’s nothing solid yet.”

Natalie stops breathing. “You might be leaving this space?”

“Yeah, are you guys interested?”

“Are you kidding me? I love this space. Who’s your landlord?”

“Some investment group. We mostly deal with their lawyer—this dude named Graham.”

“I know him! We deal with him, too.”

Austin nods. “Like I say, nothing’s definite, but there’s talk. I don’t want to get your hopes up.”

“Okay, understood. Hopefully, we can just expand where we are anyway. Our lease isn’t up for a while.”

He pauses. “Let’s go back into the office and I’ll check my files. I think I do have a tiramisu recipe I picked up in Venice.”

They head back into the recesses of Austin’s office, which is about as much in disarray as she’s ever seen a place.

“How’s Lindsay doing these days?” he asks, grabbing a black binder with the word Venice scrawled on the side.

Natalie tries not to smile. Lindsay dated Austin a few years back, and she’s pretty sure he’s never gotten over it. He was one of Lindsay’s many dumpees. “She’s fine. She just sold a piece to the library in Tacoma.”

“Is that right?” Austin flips through his binder. “Tell her I said hello. Ask her if she’d like to go have a drink sometime.”

“You know she’s seeing someone, right?”

He smirks. “Isn’t she always?”

Natalie has to agree that her sister is seldom without a man on her arm. And Austin is just her type. A temperamental artist who looks like an ex-con, but in a sexy, bad boy kind of way.

“I’ll mention it to her.”

Austin pulls out a sheet of wrinkled paper. “Here, I found it. I got this from a small cafe in Venice. As I recall, it was exceptional.”

He makes her a copy and hands it over. “I hope it works out and you can get this guy on your side.”

Me, too.
“Thanks, I’ll let you know.”

When Natalie gets back to the bakery, she’s surprised to see Chloe in the kitchen. Chloe used to come and do homework after school, but hasn’t lately.

“Chloe?” she says. Natalie notices there’s a cup of hot chocolate and a fresh croissant in front of her, though by the looks of it she hasn’t touched either of them. Blair is standing beside her and the rest of the kitchen staff are hovering nearby. ‘What’s going on?”

Chloe turns and when she sees Natalie, immediately runs into her arms, bursting into tears.

“It’s Peter,” Blair tells her quietly.

“Has something happened to him?” Natalie hugs her daughter. The thought of Peter being harmed or injured is alarming. Despite everything, Peter is still her husband.

“We just found out he—”

“He’s marrying Lena!” Chloe sobs and hugs Natalie tighter.

The kitchen quiets around them.

“What?” Natalie is stunned.

Blair nods. “That’s what he told her.”

Chloe pulls away and starts to talk between sobs. “I went by Daddy’s work and Lena was there. They told me they’re getting married!”

“They both told you that?”

Chloe nods. “Lena has a big diamond ring on her finger.”

Natalie is frozen in place. A wave of sharp pain washes over her. Apparently somewhere deep down, without realizing it, she was still hanging on to the small hope that things between her and Peter would work out and she’d have her family back. It was like a fresh betrayal all over.

“They’re having an engagement party. Lena even asked me to be in their w . . . wah . . . wedding!”

Natalie closes her eyes for a moment and smoothes her hand over Chloe’s hair. “It’s going to be all right,” she tells her. “Listen, I’m going to go talk to your dad—okay? Blair is going to stay here with you.”

Blair puts her arm around Chloe. “Drink a little hot chocolate. If you want, you can come and help me decorate one of my wedding cakes. You used to like that—remember?”

Chloe nods and sits back down. She reaches for her mug.

Blair squeezes Natalie’s hand and speaks into her ear. “Go tell that selfish bastard he can go to hell.”

“I don’t care if Dr. Anderson is with a patient. Tell him his
wife
is on the line and that it’s urgent!”

Natalie is put on hold again. Her hands are shaking with fury.

Finally, she hears Peter’s voice and he sounds annoyed. “Natalie, I can’t talk right now, I’m busy.”

“I just want to know one thing. Is Lena more important to you than your own daughter?”

“No, of course not.”

“Really? Because Chloe is here right now crying her eyes out.”

Peter sighs. “I’m sorry to hear that, but I don’t really understand why she’s so upset.”

“Maybe it’s because you just got engaged to another woman while you’re still married to her mother!”

“But our marriage is over. We’ll be divorced soon and besides, I thought she was warming up to Lena.”

“Do you think that’s how she sees it? You’ve wrecked her family.”

Peter doesn’t say anything.

“When were you even planning to tell me about this?”

“I was going to let you know about it tonight when I dropped Chloe off. I wanted to tell you face-to-face. I realize we haven’t seen each other in quite some time.”

“You couldn’t have at least waited until we’re divorced before you asked Lena to marry you?” Natalie grips the phone in frustration. “What’s the rush? And I understand you’re also having an engagement party?”