Page 72 of Tastes Like Summer

I look over at Lexi, who’s elbow deep in whisking one of the sauces for our entree. She smiles nervously at me and nods. “We’ve got this.”

“We’ve got this.” And I think, for the first time since the beginning of the summer, I mean it.

Lexi and I had been preparing for months, developing recipes and sourcing investors. At one point, though, things started to look quite bleak. It felt like we were stuck, creatively and financially.

As head chef, I’m in charge of developing our plates and the vibe of our place, but I was creatively burnt out. One day, though, it all came to me—the direction in which I wanted the restaurant to go, the type of food we really wanted to serve, and the type of environment we wanted to have—clean, but not cold; modern, but cozy. And though I’m not sure whether I’d admit it out loud, much of it has to do with Diana, I think. Something about being with her unleashed a creative side within that I’d never experienced before. You can feel the passion in the spices, the comfort in the base of the recipes, the devotion in its execution, and the beauty of it all in the plating.

She’s my muse, in more ways than one.

Then, once Jonathan gave us the money, everything sort of happened at lightning speed. As soon as the cash hit our bank account, we put a deposit on a space that needed minimal renovations. Lexi and I finally agreed on a name, H & H, which stands for Haynes & Haynes. Through Jonathan’s connections, we were able to find a designer to redo our space, and because we were going for minimalism, it didn’t really take a long time to source things to style the restaurant according to the aesthetic we were going for.

Honestly, it’s insane what money and influence can do.

Five stressful—yet equally blissful—weeks later, and we have a restaurant soft launch for friends and family only.

“Are there any people at the door already?” I ask Danny.

“Your daughter, I believe. She’s with another woman and her children.”

I suck in a breath, stomach rolling. “They’re here already?” I turn to look at Lexi, who gives me an encouraging smile. With a nod, she tells me to go and meet my daughter—and Diana and her girls—at the door.

When I see the four of them outside the restaurant holding hands, I stop dead in my tracks before they even spot me. Diana holds Cami’s hand on her right, while she holds Rachel’s on her left, who in turn holds Emiliana’s. Diana smiles down at Rachel as she talks to her, my daughter rapt by her words. The imagery of it all, of seeing the four of them together, there to support me in arguably the most important moment of my career, hits me like a cannonball to the chest.

We belong together. We could have this life together. It feels more right than anything I’ve ever felt before.

The girls love each other, Diana’s kids are amazing, and over the summer I’ve grown to care about this woman more than I could’ve ever imagined. Diana and I haven’t decided on the final fate of our relationship, but as the final days of summer near, I know I’ve made my decision. There’s no way I’m letting this end. We’ll find a way.

Just because she’s moving back to Colorado, and we won’t get our daily lunch dates, our intimate moments, or the almost family-like days we share with our children, doesn’t mean we have to end.

I will find a way to make it work. We will find a way to make it work.

“You ready to come in?” I ask when I open the door of the restaurant for them.

Diana beams at me, the girls’ energy buzzing around as well. “Are you ready? I mean, I’m sure you’re prepared, but emotionally,” she whispers.

The nervousness in her voice, the concern for my wellbeing, is heartwarming. Without thinking, completely forgetting that the girls still don’t know the intimate details of our relationship, I lean down and kiss Diana once on the cheek.

I stop dead in my tracks, realizing my mistake, a cool chill running through my entire body.

Fuck.

I pull away suddenly and stare into Diana’s eyes, whispering a quiet apology. Her skin blazing red, she smiles softly and shakes her head, telling me we’ll talk about it later. I try to avoid the girls’ stare, to play it cool, but my gaze drops to Camila, and something about the way she stares at me through narrowed eyes tells me we definitely won’t be able to keep this from the girls for much longer.

That’s fine, honestly. It’s what I want.

So I clear my throat and personally lead them to their table, taking four menus with me as we go. I pull out the chair for Diana and each of the girls, and hope they all have an amazing meal before heading to greet the second group of diners waiting by the door.

Lexi, the kitchen and wait staff, and I wrap things up at two A.M. with a glass of champagne and a toast to the future of H&H. Exhaustion runs bone-deep, but rather than go home and have a well-deserved goodnight’s sleep alone, I drive to Diana’s, where my kid is sleeping over.

I sneak around the back of the guest house and tap lightly on her bedroom window, waking her with a jolt. When she sits up in bed looking at me like I’m a madman, one hand over her chest, I know she’s where I belong.

“Hey,” she whispers after pushing her bedroom window open. “Everything okay?”

I beam up at her—I can’t help it. Tonight, I opened my restaurant, with my daughter and dream girl by my side, and a sense of family I never hoped to have.

“I’m on kind of a natural high, and wanted to share it with you.”

This makes her laugh with a nod. “Okay. Come in.”