Alaskan Holiday Read online

  “Dessert?” Jack’s face lit up as bright as the lights on the Christmas tree.

  “You don’t need to ask Jack twice,” I said as she handed out the smaller dessert menus. “Lizzy, these are my friends Jack and Palmer from Ponder, Alaska. I worked there before coming to Chez Anton.”

  “Is it true what they say about men from Alaska?” Lizzy asked, blatantly flirtatious.

  “I wouldn’t know,” Palmer said, practically ignoring her.

  I could have kissed him right smack on the lips. Just the way he looked at me told Lizzy he had no interest in her.

  Jack read over the dessert menu. “Can I order more than one?”

  “You can order as many as you’d like,” I told him, so happy to see him I would gladly have delivered every item on the menu if he asked me. “Dessert is my treat.” I’d have Chef Anton deduct the cost from my paycheck.

  “Can you join us for coffee?” Palmer asked.

  Reluctantly I glanced over my shoulder toward the kitchen, although I couldn’t see anything from where I stood. “I…I can’t,” I said regretfully. “I wish I could, but I’m needed in the kitchen.”

  “What time do you finish?”

  “Late,” Lizzy answered for me. “Josie is almost always the first to arrive and the last to leave.”

  Palmer frowned. “What about Chef Anton?” He directed the question to me.

  “He isn’t as involved as I’d assumed he would be.” Another understatement.

  “Get out early tonight, then,” Palmer prompted.

  More than anything, I wished I could. “I’d like nothing better, but the kitchen crew relies on me.”

  Jack finished giving Lizzy his dessert order and sat back down. He’d asked for three: the maple bread pudding with espresso butter sauce, the dark chocolate/sea salt caramel square, and apple cake with walnut crunch.

  “What about you?” Lizzy asked Palmer, with her most alluring voice.

  Apparently, she hadn’t gotten the hint.

  “Nothing, thanks.” His eyes held mine. “How late is late?”

  “Eleven. Sometimes later,” I told him.

  “That will have to do,” Palmer said.

  Jack yawned. “You two will have to meet without me. I’m dog-tired after that flight.”

  “We could see each other in the morning if you’d rather,” I offered Palmer, knowing he must be tired, too. I hoped he would refuse my proposal, even though I felt I had to make it despite how eager I was to spend time with him.

  “He can’t,” Jack answered for Palmer.

  “You can’t?” I repeated, shocked.

  “I leave in the morning,” Palmer told me.

  CHAPTER 13

  Josie

  “You’re leaving?” I didn’t say anything more, for fear I’d burst into tears. Having Palmer here in Seattle was everything I’d wished for. Everything I’d dreamed of. I learned that Palmer had arrived in town that very day, and if I’d understood Jack correctly, Palmer was turning around and flying out the next day. My heart felt like it was going down in flames.

  “Yes, my flight leaves in the morning,” Palmer confirmed.

  “But…but so soon?” Having seen him for only this short amount of time was unfair and cruel. I’d sensed something was wrong for the last couple weeks. I’d asked him, and Palmer had repeatedly made excuses for our short conversations and the terse text messages.

  I felt anxious to talk things over, but this wasn’t the time or the place.

  “I’m sorry, Josie. I need to deliver the sword to Gettysburg.”

  “Of course,” I said, doing a poor job of hiding my disappointment.

  Lizzy delivered Jack’s three desserts and then whispered urgently in my ear, “Chef Anton wants you back in the kitchen.”

  After weeks of being subjected to the chef’s temper tantrums, I suddenly couldn’t care less what he wanted, what he demanded. He could take a flying leap into a steaming pile of cow dung as far as I was concerned. My dreams of a big career move, of working with this renowned chef, weren’t working for me. This job was nothing like what I’d been led to believe. I stood, unable to move, struggling not to grab on to Palmer and not to beg him to stay in Seattle.

  “Chef isn’t happy,” Lizzy whispered as she stepped away from the table.

  “Tough,” I whispered back. If this was all the time I would have with Palmer, I wasn’t wasting a single second. My heart ached with everything I wanted to tell him, with all the things I wanted to say, and now I was being cheated of that.

  “He’s coming back, you know,” Jack announced, digging into the bread pudding first and then taking a bite out of the apple cake before shifting to the third dessert.

  I looked at Palmer. “You are?”

  “I’ll be back in three days.”

  “Three days?” I repeated.

  “It takes all day to fly across the country, then one day in Pennsylvania, and another to fly back to the West Coast.”

  Relieved to hear that he wasn’t taking any more time than necessary and was coming back to me, I asked, “You finished the sword?” He’d mentioned his work on it, but lately he’d been using that as an excuse to cut our conversations short.

  He nodded and looked pleased with himself. “It turned out even better than I hoped.”

  “I knew it would.” I remembered how frustrated he’d been when he’d discovered the crack before I’d left Ponder. “Then you’ll be back?” That would only leave a few days before Christmas. “Can you stay for Christmas?” I blurted out. “You could meet my mother and I’ll cook a wonderful dinner for all of us and—”

  “You want me to spend Christmas with you?”

  “More than anything,” I nearly shouted, and I immediately lowered my voice, not wanting to appear overly eager. “Please say you’ll stay.”

  He hesitated, and for one heart-wrenching moment, I thought he would refuse. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to hide my reaction if he did.

  Palmer’s look grew thoughtful, as though he wasn’t sure. “I didn’t intend to stay more than a couple days. I’ve already got plane reservations to return to Alaska.”

  “I’m sure they can be changed.”

  “I can stay for Christmas,” Jack volunteered readily. “What are you planning to cook? The traditional prime rib dinner is fine with me, although I have a hankering for turkey and stuffing, if that’s in the offering.”

  I barely heard him.

  “And I’m not that fond of ham,” Jack continued, “but if that’s what you decide you want to serve, I won’t complain. You might already have guessed this, but I’m not picky when it comes to food.” Jack looked at me and then at Palmer. “You did invite me to stay, didn’t you, Josie?”

  “Of course, Jack.”

  “Good,” he said, obviously relieved that the invitation included him. “For a minute there I thought you only wanted Palmer.”

  “You’re welcome anytime, Jack,” I assured him.

  “Wonderful! What time should I arrive for breakfast?”

  Behind me I heard a commotion taking place in the kitchen. I wanted to groan, knowing Chef Anton was on another one of his rampages. His loud voice spilled into the dining area, causing the room to go silent.

  Palmer’s eyes connected with mine and he frowned. I wanted to explain but didn’t dare take the time. “I’ll meet you outside the restaurant at eleven,” I said, reluctantly leaving my friends to rush back to the kitchen before any more damage transpired.

  Palmer seemed to have a hard time releasing my hand, and I was just as hesitant to leave him. He seemed like he was about to say something, and then apparently changed his mind.

  Sure enough, the kitchen was in chaos. Chef Anton was shouting at one of the line cooks, waving his arms and making no sense whatsoever. When he saw t
hat I had returned, he whirled on me.

  “You are forbidden to go into the dining room.”

  “I was greeting friends from out of town,” I explained, hoping that would placate him.

  “I don’t care if it was the Pope.”

  I couldn’t believe my ears. It wasn’t my habit to desert my post. One time. For friends. I’d listened to his verbal abuse for weeks and I was finished. Done. I’d had enough. More than enough.

  “When was the last time you were in the kitchen or at the restaurant for more than an hour or two?” I asked him, my hands digging into my hips. “This is your restaurant bearing your name. Investors have entrusted you and you’re nowhere to be found. When I interviewed for this job, it was understood you would oversee the kitchen for the first year. When you do bother to show up, you’re either high or drunk.”

  I noticed the kitchen crew nodded in agreement, although no one else said anything.

  “You agreed—”

  “I agreed to this position with the understanding that you would be my mentor. I had no idea that I’d be running an entire restaurant on my own and—” I wasn’t allowed to finish.

  “You signed a contract, so if you think you’re going to walk out on me now, then I will sue you into the next century.”

  He made the threat sound all too real, and I had to admit it caused me to think twice. In only a matter of seconds, however, I realized he had no grounds to take me to court. “The contract says nothing about being subjected to your abuse or taking on a dozen duties that would normally go to the executive chef. This,” I said, making a sweeping gesture around me, “isn’t my full responsibility. It’s yours. It has your name on it, and your recipes. I was hired as a sous-chef, not the executive chef.”

  Chef Anton glared at me, his eyes spitting fire. “I am giving you an opportunity of a lifetime—”

  “Responsibility of a lifetime, you mean, but with none of the benefits. I’m finished.” I stripped off my apron and tossed it into the garbage can.

  The chef tried to block my exit. “I will sue you for every penny you ever hope to earn.”

  “Then sue me. You’ve already fired me any number of times anyway, breaching the contract yourself.” He wouldn’t have the nerve to press a lawsuit, and I knew it. Especially since he’d fired me that very morning when the wrong vegetables were delivered. I had witnesses who would gladly testify against him. Chef Anton had made no friends with the kitchen staff because of his volatile nature. The man was unstable.

  I turned to walk out of the kitchen when three of the crew, who had simultaneously removed their aprons, joined me.

  “If Josie quits, then I do, too,” the line chef declared.

  “And me.”

  “Same here.”

  Chef’s face turned the color of ripe beets. “I’m suing you all. You’ll regret this, every last one of you,” he raged. “Get back here. You can’t leave until I say you can.”

  Once I was outside the kitchen, I experienced the most freeing of sensations. I felt lighter than air. My one regret was that I had quit in the middle of a shift, but it was what Chef Anton deserved. Although I hadn’t shared my suspicions with my mother or any of the other staff, I believed Chef Anton had some sort of drug addiction, and that slowly, over time, he’d become incapable of dealing with the intense pace of the restaurant industry. It was sad to see such a great talent go to waste.

  I hurried to collect my belongings and rushed out, hoping to catch Palmer and Jack. My heart fell when I saw that they had already left the restaurant.

  * * *

  —

  I returned to the restaurant at eleven to meet Palmer and by unspoken agreement we walked along the Seattle waterfront, which was beautifully lit up for the holiday season. Happy to be with Palmer, I chatted nonstop; it seemed like forever since we’d talked.

  When I realized I was the only one speaking, I felt I had to ask: “You aren’t saying anything?”

  He grinned. I didn’t know if I’d ever get used to seeing him without the beard. I had to resist touching his face.

  “It’s hard to get a word in,” he said, teasing me.

  Laughing, I leaned against his shoulder, so content it was hard to hold all that joy inside me. “I have been talking a lot, haven’t I?” I knew I should tell him about my run-in with the chef and that I’d abruptly quit my job. The relief was overwhelming. I felt free for the first time in weeks. The weight off my shoulders made me feel like I could take off and fly.

  In time I would tell Palmer everything; he deserved to know. But not now. Not when we hadn’t seen each other in so long. I wanted to enjoy these few hours we had before he left for the East Coast. The last thing I wanted was to weigh down our conversation with heavy subjects. There would be time for that later. For now, I simply wanted to bask in his company.

  We strolled past the ferry dock, my arm wrapped around his elbow. I could see a ferry halfway across Puget Sound, heading to Bainbridge Island. The sight was one I would never tire of seeing.

  I’d purposely stopped talking, giving Palmer an opportunity to contribute to the conversation. After a few minutes he told me he’d changed his flight back to Alaska so there would be plenty of time later to discuss our future. Then he grew quiet again, although he kept me close to his side. I had to wonder at his mood, and then realized there was probably a good reason he seemed withdrawn and reticent.

  “You’re tired, aren’t you?” It made sense, seeing that he had only just arrived in town. It’d been a long travel day for him and Jack. He must be exhausted.

  “A little.”

  “Do…would you rather go back to the hotel? We can meet up again once you return from Pennsylvania.” I made the offer and sincerely hoped he’d decline. I wasn’t ready to let him go.

  “No. I want to be with you.”

  I immediately felt better. “And I want to be with you, too.” Lights from the Kitsap Peninsula glowed in the distance. The waterfront Ferris wheel was still lit up, I noticed as we strolled past.

  My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten since that morning.

  Palmer must have heard it, because he asked, “Did you have dinner?”

  “No.”

  “Then let’s find you something to eat.”

  We decided to go to an all-night diner close to Queen Anne Hill that I knew about. We sat next to each other, holding hands. Palmer seemed more at ease now, and we talked until shortly before one. I yawned and then he did, too, and although reluctant, it was time to call it a night.

  We parted, neither of us wanting to leave. I could tell Palmer wasn’t quite himself; he admitted he hadn’t been sleeping well but didn’t mention the reason. Perhaps he had held back from telling me something, too.

  Palmer walked me to my car, and under the light post drew me into his arms and kissed me. My eyes filled with tears. I hadn’t realized how much I missed being in his arms or how empty my life had felt without him. I clung to him and we held each other for several moments until the taxi appeared that would return him to his hotel.

  CHAPTER 14

  Palmer

  Seeing Josie again was everything I’d hoped it would be. My doubts, which had plagued me ever since Thanksgiving, were somewhat quieted. I felt reassured, although not completely. Her immediate reaction when she saw me couldn’t be faked. When she’d walked into the dining room from the kitchen dressed in her white double-breasted chef’s jacket, it had taken every ounce of restraint I possessed not to pull her into my arms. I desperately needed to kiss her, with a longing so deep my body ached.

  Our eyes had locked on each other like magnets. An atomic bomb could have gone off and I wouldn’t have been able to look away. I had it bad, worse than I’d been willing to admit. I’d felt a void after she’d left Ponder, and even with our conversations and texting, it wasn’t th
e same.

  Josie wanted me to remain in Seattle over Christmas. She hadn’t needed to ask me twice. I hadn’t allowed her to see how pleased I was at her invitation. As soon as I was back at the hotel before I met her following her shift, I’d called the airlines and changed my return flight to Alaska. I’d been foolish to think one abbreviated evening in Seattle would be enough time to see her. I’d let my ego get in the way of common sense.

  The entire time I was in Pennsylvania she was on my mind. I found it interesting that in the short hours we’d spent together she hadn’t mentioned Chef Anton once. I hadn’t brought him into the conversation, either, preferring to concentrate on Josie and being with her. What worried me was how proud she was of Seattle and how happily she’d pointed out the sights as we walked along the waterfront.

  Once I arrived on the East Coast, I conducted my business as quickly as possible and headed back to Seattle with an eagerness I couldn’t hide.

  The long flight back seemed interminable. The Boeing 737 bounced against the runway as I finally landed in Seattle. I was anxious to see her again, but it would need to wait until after she finished her shift at the restaurant. I’d been patient this long—another few hours shouldn’t matter.

  Once I was off the plane, I grabbed a taxi and headed back to the hotel that Jack and I had booked in the heart of downtown Seattle. I hadn’t talked to my friend while I’d been in Pennsylvania. Jack rarely had his phone handy, which drove me nuts. I was dying to hear what he’d learned from Josie.

  As soon as I checked in to the hotel and got my room, I dialed Jack. He answered on the first ring, almost as if he was sitting on the bed, awaiting my call.

  “It’s Palmer.”

  “How’d it go?” Jack asked.

  “Fine. Have you seen Josie?”

  “Sure. Been with her every day since you left for Pennsylvania. She took me to that big farmers’ market they got here. It was something. Never seen so much fruit, vegetables, and flowers all in one place. They do tricks with fish, tossing salmon back and forth like it’s a seafood ping pong game.” He barely paused to take a breath. “Then she took me on the monorail. That was fun, riding up above the streets. She wanted me to go up the Space Needle, but we ran out of time.”