Should’ve Known It’s You (Not You Again #7)

Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

KENNEDY

A ustin disappeared as I unpacked the groceries, but he strode into the kitchen just a minute later, minus his jacket and tie and with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. For just a second, I nearly forgot what I was doing, too busy ogling his strong forearms and marveling over the fact that he was here, in my small kitchen, looking completely at home and ready to help.

“Put me to work.” He smiled as he pulled the other bag of groceries closer to him and started unpacking it. “I’m not much of a cook, but my mom has taught me a thing or two, so I’m not completely useless either.”

“I remember her cooking.” I bent over to grab a pan from the cupboard, a fond, nostalgic grin on my lips as I thought back to watching Jeannie Merrick in her kitchen back in the day. “She’s awesome at it. I hope you’re not expecting the same level of food from me. If you are, you might as well leave now.”

He laughed. “I’m sure whatever you’ve got in mind will be just as good.”

“A quick and easy chicken and veggie pasta bake? I doubt it. This is one of those fifteen-minute prep recipes I saved off social media.”

“It’s still better than the ramen I eat when I’m not at Merrick Meadows.” He cocked his head for a beat, clearly thinking about something. “I eat a lot of frozen meals she sends home with me, too.”

I chuckled. “I wish I had some of her food frozen in my freezer. I’d never eat anything else. I think family dinners at your place are some of my favorite memories of growing up in Firefly Grove.”

He glanced at me. “It’s funny. I don’t remember you being there that often.”

“That’s because you weren’t there,” she teased. “You were looking for a way out while I was trying to get in.”

A thoughtful gleam entered his eyes. “You’re not wrong. As soon as I hit high school, I found every excuse in the book to stay away from home.”

“Jess missed you.” I added some oil to the pan and heated it up before tossing in the chicken. “I remember the last time I was there before we left Firefly Grove. She was so worried about why you were never home.”

“I’m not proud of it, but back then, it was just easier not to be there than to imagine spending the rest of my life on that farm.” He refocused on me. “Why did you guys leave, anyway? I seem to recall Jess lamenting the fact that your parents pulled you out of school practically overnight.”

“Yeah.” I felt my lips press into a firm line at the memory. “That’s true. I mean, it wasn’t really overnight, but it sure felt that way. As for why we left, it’s pretty simple really. We left because we could suddenly afford to.” I grabbed a spatula to push the chicken around the pan before I added a few more ingredients. “Long story short, my dad struck it big and won the lottery, made a few good investments, and one thing led to another, I guess.”

Austin’s jaw dropped. “He won the lottery ?”

“Yep. One of the smaller ones, but it was still a lot of money and he pushed most of it into investments. It didn’t take long for them to grow, but he bought an estate here in Manhattan with the money he kept and that was it. Winrey and I got home from school one afternoon and they told us to start packing whatever was most important to us. A moving company would come get the rest.”

“Wow.”

I grabbed a pot to parboil the pasta after I’d switched on the oven. “Now they’re obscenely wealthy and they’ve completely forgotten what it means to live a normal life. It’s like they just erased the people they used to be from their memories to become these insufferable socialites instead.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t have a great time growing up here despite the money?” he asked quietly.

I scoffed. “That’s putting it mildly. I know this is probably going to sound awful and ungrateful, but my sister and I didn’t want a mansion with staff and a fancy prep school. We just wanted to go home to Firefly Grove. We wanted our friends and our lives back.”

“That doesn’t sound awful or ungrateful. You were kids. Pining for what you knew seems natural to me.”

“Maybe.” I sighed. “I don’t know. All I know is that we both started resenting all the stuff and the money. None of it could replace what we’d lost back home in Firefly Grove, and for the longest time, all we wanted was to go back.”

“Did you?” he asked. “Go back, I mean. It’s only a few hours’ drive. Did you at least get to visit?”

After sliding the pasta and the ingredients from the pan into a roasting dish, I sprinkled some grated cheese over the concoction and put it in the oven. Then I glanced at him and shook my head.

“Once we got to Manhattan, my mother became a stay-at-home mom who was never home. She used to be a teacher, but she never loved it. Her last day of work was the day my dad won that lottery. Anyway, she was always suntanning at the country club pool with her friends or drinking club sodas with vodka from a coffee cup while getting her nails done. She just kept insisting she didn’t have time to drive us back to that place .”

“I’m sorry,” he said, sounding completely genuine. “That must’ve been really hard.”

“We tried to look into busses a few times, but we never did actually get on one,” I admitted, shaking my head as all the anger, resentment, and longing turned my chest into a ball of fire. “I haven’t even offered you a drink.” I reached into the grocery bag beside me and pulled out a six-pack of beer. “Want one? They’re not that warm yet.”

He chuckled. “I’d love one.”

I handed him a bottle and uncapped one for myself, intending to change the topic, but now that I’d started talking to him about this, I felt compelled to keep going. “The only place that ever felt like home to me in New York was my aunt’s small hotel.”

A smile tugged at my lips as hundreds of memories played through my mind. “I spent way more time there than I did at my parents’ house.”

“Where is she now?”

“She died a couple of years ago.” A tide of grief nearly choked me up before I swallowed it and gave him my best attempt at a smile. “Things just haven’t been the same around here since. I guess I feel like this hotel is my chance at continuing her legacy. That’s why it means so much to me to follow through on the dream.”

I didn’t share that I’d always thought my aunt would leave me her hotel, but when her lawyers finally came to settle the estate, it turned out that she’d been in debt. Technically, the hotel hadn’t been hers to give, so it was lost, torn down, and apartments were built in its place.

Saying the words out loud destroyed me every time. It had been years, but I still couldn’t believe that she was gone and that her hotel was too. It was all so devastatingly real and yet so completely surreal to me sometimes.

As the timer for the oven went off, I grabbed a mitt and pulled the dish out. Then I plated up for us and glanced across the counter at Austin again as I pushed his food toward him. “I’m sorry it’s not as good as your mom’s, but try it. It’s pretty tasty.”

He stared back at me, not even glancing at his food as his eyes locked on mine. He’d been listening and hanging on my every word, but he suddenly grinned now. “There it is.”

I arched my eyebrows. “There what is?”

“Your pitch,” he said. “Your mission statement.”

I was hit by a wave of emotion, feeling like I was about to start swaying on my feet. Austin stood up and came over to me, grabbing my hand and squeezing as he looked into my eyes. “You have a good heart, Kenny. Your aunt would be so proud of you. What was her name?”

“Dahlia.”

“The Dahlia Hotel and Restaurant,” he mused. “It rolls right off the tongue, don’t you think?”

My eyes filled with tears and I couldn’t stop them from flowing as I imagined seeing her name over the doors of the brick mansion. The pieces were finally coming together, and it was as overwhelming as it was incredible.

He gave my hand another squeeze, then went back to his food and ate as if it was the best meal he’d ever had. I finally sat down too, appreciating that he was giving me a minute to process as I tried to comprehend the magnitude of what he’d suggested.

It was so, so perfect and I was stunned at how fast he’d zeroed in on exactly what the hotel should always have been—even if it had been a jumble in my own head. He’d made it sound so obvious, so crisp and clear, but it was a continuation of her legacy.

That was what I wanted it to be. What I’d always wanted it to be. But I hadn’t been able to encapsulate it as succinctly as he just had. The Dahlia Hotel and Restaurant, a place where people could finally feel like they were at home.

Why haven’t I always just led with that? Who cares if I used to color behind the reception desk?

“I’ve been thinking,” he said when we were almost done eating. “I want to up the stakes.”

“What do you mean?” I asked after swallowing my next bite. “How do we up the stakes?”

“Let’s not just rely on the fundraiser,” he said. “Let’s push the envelope a little bit more.”

I stared at him. “Meaning?”

“I’m going to buy you a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.”

I was gobsmacked. “You’re going to do what ?”

“I see your vision, Kenny,” he said, dark eyes unwavering on mine. “I believe in it, so let’s make it happen.”

As I stared at him, I blinked hard and then I did it again, completely unsure if I’d heard him correctly, but he seemed completely serious and completely confident. I didn’t know what to say or how to thank him for this, so I nodded before I got up, taking my bowl and cutlery with me.

Austin ate the last bit of his food, then brought his dishes to the sink too, wordlessly passing me the pot, pan, and spatula as well. As we cleaned up, I glanced at him, so emotional and overwhelmed that I was liable to start crying at any moment.

“Are you okay?” he asked quietly.

I turned to face him, glancing up in those beautiful dark eyes and wondering what I’d done before he’d entered my life. “Thank you for being there today. I’m sorry for the way my parents treated you.”

“I’m not bothered by it, Kenny,” he said, reaching out to slide his arms around my hips. “I’m just sorry for how they made you and Winrey feel. Now and before. Neither of you deserved any of that.”

I stepped into him, looping my arms around his neck and pushing up on my toes to press my lips to his. I didn’t have any more words right then, but Austin didn’t need them. He slanted his lips over mine in return, kissing me deeply as he held me to him.

Putting everything else out of my mind, I stroked my fingers through his hair and focused only on the man who was helping make all my dreams come true—including those I hadn’t even realized I had.