AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She died,” Theo says softly. “Four years ago.”
Four years that haven’t seemed long, at least not to her.
You can hear it…a weight in the voice. Real grief.
I blundered into it, and I don’t know how the fuck I could have done that. You’d think I’d pay attention tothat, of all things.
But then I realize something much, much worse…
Four years ago is when Theo dropped out ofLe Cordon Bleu. To come back here, suddenly. Right before graduation. From the prestigious school she loved.
It hits me like a hammer:
I. AM. AN. ASSHOLE.
And she doesn’t even tell me. She doesn’t connect the dots for me at all, her mother dying and her dropping out of school. I don’t even know which one happened first—did she come home to take care of her mom? Or did she lose her first and then fall into a depression and flunk out?
Either way, I used her mother’s death against her. ‘Cause I didn’t fucking do my research.
I can’t just let this pass—as much as I’d like to as I burn with embarrassment.
“Is that why you never graduated?”
Theo’s eyes flick up to meet mine, and she bites down hard on the center of her lip.
“Well…yeah,” she admits. “She didn’t want me to drop out, she said she’d be fine, I could finish the last few months. She was supposed to have another two years. But…cancer’s a bitch.”
Theo looks down at her hands. Two quick, hot tears slip down her cheeks.
“She died a month later.” Fiercely swiping at her cheeks, she says, “I don’t regret dropping out. That month is what I hold on to—I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
I swallow hard. “I didn’t know any of that. And either way…I was an asshole for blackmailing you. I know you probably don’t believe me, but I wouldn’t really have gotten you fired. I still won’t, if you don’t want to do this. I never should have forced you. I’m sorry.”
Theo sits up a little straighter, pulling back her shoulders, taking a deep breath. Her eyes are wet and red, but she looks calm and resolute.
“We’re in the middle of it now. And anyway, you were right about Angus—he’s using me and stringing me along. I was blind to it because I wanted to believe that he’d help me. That all my hard work would pay off.”
“It will,” I say. “But not with him. It’ll pay off when you’re working for yourself.”
“Working for you, you mean,” Theo says with a small smile.
“No, I don’t mean that.” I shake my head, speaking seriously. “We’re partners. You don’t work for me any more than I work for you. We’ll close this deal together, and you’ll get your cut and open your restaurant. I have your contract right here.”
I pull it out of the kitchen drawer and bring it to her, notarized by a lawyer just like I promised, with her ten percent cut of the commission spelled out in clean black ink.
Theo reads it over carefully before signing.
Her name in pretty cursive pleases me—another link between us, binding us to this pact.
I like being connected to Theo. I like working with her. She’s resourceful and determined. She’s brave even when she’s scared.
And she’s doing this alone. Theo doesn’t have any siblings, and I remember from high school there’s no dad in the picture. When she lost her mom, she lost everything.
I can relate.
I still have Reese and my father, but when my mom died, it ripped the heart out of all of us. We’ve never been the same.
As Theo can see for herself.
