Chapter Twenty-Six
Alexa
I’d never had anyone cling to me like they’d die if I walked away. It made my heart flutter a little to know he needed me for now. It felt good to be needed. I walked out of the bathroom before sticking my head back in, to let him know that I would be making dinner.
I put a clean towel on the counter for him since I had stolen his towel to leave the room with. I didn’t know what I was going to make for dinner, but it was four so now was a good time to start cooking either way.
I sat down in the kitchen and picked my brain about what was thawed enough to make for dinner. I got up and pulled out the last of the fresh veggies from Fairbanks and the chicken I had started marinating yesterday. Chicken salad sounded amazing.
I found some bread for homemade croutons for the salad and decided to make a garlic vinaigrette to go with it. With a little olive oil, salt and garlic the croutons went into the oven and the chicken was dumped into a frying pan. While the chicken cooked, I chopped up the head of lettuce and dumped it into a colander to rinse.
I didn’t hear Daniel come into the kitchen, so I was surprised to see him when I turned back from the sink to the counter. I took a deep calming breath and smiled at him. I turned around and checked on the chicken, making sure it wasn’t burning. It was browning nicely, so I flipped it and turned back to Daniel.
“Feel better after your shower?” Walking around the counter, I sat next to him while I let the chicken cook for a few more minutes. It was almost done, but would still need time to rest once it was done cooking. I loved the way the house smelled right now. So sweet and juicy. Daniel still looked slightly frustrated, though.
“Kinda. Still kinda frustrated. I do feel better because of you though. You listening to me. The way you took the time to hold me, and then to just let me take you. No one has done that for me. It made me feel whole for a minute. Made me feel like I hadn’t felt in a long time. Not since I was a football player under the Friday night lights.” Daniel smiled at me before sniffing, making a face. “I think your food is burning.”
I jumped to my feet, knowing it wasn’t the chicken, so it had to be the croutons in the oven. Opening the oven, I cursed. They were slightly scorched. I would have to scrape them off. I always did this. Only a few were beyond saving this time. Thankfully. Daniel did that. Made me forget where I was and what I was doing. I double checked the chicken to make sure it hadn’t burnt and took it off the heat. With everything cooling, I put the lettuce back in the refrigerator to make sure the lettuce didn’t warm up too much.
It would take at least an hour for the food to cool down enough to be salad temperature, so I went to check out what we had in way of television shows on DVD. The man had almost all of the cooking shows that I loved and they were all recorded on the discs. I picked out some old episode of Good Eats and popped it the Xbox under the television.
I know that once three episodes were over, the chicken would be done resting and I could slice it up and feed us. Maybe, even catch a few more episodes while we were eating.
“You don’t mind if I come and watch this with you, do you? This is one of my favorite shows. I enjoy the history that Alton throws into each episode.” Daniel came up beside me, leaning over the back of the couch. I patted the couch beside me, motioning for him to sit down and shut up.
“I never would've thought you were one to watch shows like this, Mister Businessman.” I giggled at him before going back to the show.
“I love cooking shows. For a while, after my football injury, I wanted to be a cook. I finally settled on going to college to follow in my stepdad's steps. I’m the only one of the kids who followed in them so I am sure when he retires he’ll give the business to me. I’m not sure I really want it though. It’s his baby. I don’t think I would do it justice.
“I mean, look at the mess my personal life is. If I was CEO of his company, it would be all over the press. I don’t want the headache. I never use to think about it, though, when I was in high school. Things change.” Daniel watched the screen. I moved closer to Daniel, putting my head on his shoulder as we watched the show.
“I always wanted to be a cook. I was going to pursue it but I got pregnant and had to realign my priorities. Then I lost the baby and I just haven’t had the drive to do anything since then. John and Sheila helped me out so much, but I needed to get out of there. So, this job was perfect. I just never counted you. The way John had described you was stuffy, to the point, and not to be messed with. Since you wouldn’t be at the house I wouldn’t really have to deal with you and then I could go back to Anchorage. Plan certainly changed there, huh?” I snuggled down deeper into Daniel’s chest.
“What in the world would you make with those ingredients?” I hadn’t even noticed the recording had changed into one of Chopped. I looked at the screen. Salmon, capers, pomegranate, and goat cheese. A relatively calm basket for that show. But, I knew exactly what I would do. Fruity and tangy. And out of the box. brazen and left field.
“Hm, I think I would make a braised Salmon, pear and apple salad with a sweet pomegranate vinaigrette, and a white wine, brown mustard reduction with a touch of brown sugar, and toasted capers.” I smiled to myself as I listed the dish. “And, if I had enough time? I would make some crostini with olive oil, the goat cheese, and cherry tomatoes. If not I would just crumble the cheese into the apple salad. You don’t think it’s too much, do you?”
I laughed as Daniel’s stomach growled at the thought of the food. He licked his lips as he looked at me, and took a breath to speak. “I think it’s perfect and I would eat it if you made it.” As if to make sure I understood he was being serious, he kissed my forehead.
“You don’t think our food’s done, do you? Watching this and listening to you talk about food is making me hungry. I worked up an appetite attempting to shovel us a path to nowhere. And then, further so in the shower.” He walked into the kitchen. filching a crouton from the tray, and groaning in ecstasy, a slow smile spreading across his face.
“Why did you ever stop cooking. Seriously, as soon as we can get out of here, I am telling John to hire the next person that applies. You are going to school and I am paying. You need to cook. Not be stuck cleaning up after a slob like me.” Daniel ran to me, grabbing me around the waist, hugging me to him. I kicked him out of the kitchen and sent him back to watch the show on the television.
I sighed as I thought about Daniel’s offer. Maybe I should enroll in a cooking school. Get out of Alaska for a bit. Go to Seattle or Paris. See the world.
It would be a chance to turn a new leaf in my book. I could look into what the best option for me would be when we got out of here. It would be nice getting out of school debt free. That would help quite a bit. But even still it didn’t matter. I loved to cook. I wasn’t going to let anything get in my way again. Not even the man of my dreams. The great thing about him though? He was willing to help me achieve my dreams and right here in front of me. I knew it was time to put myself first. But, I didn’t want to break my own heart either. I was torn.
I wasn’t paying attention and didn’t realize I had sliced almost clear through my finger until it was too late. Damn! That hurts! It was a pretty decent wound and bleeding profusely. I stuck my finger in my mouth and cursed. This was the last thing that we needed being stuck out here. We could glue or stitch it together out here, or try and walk to the road and hope there was someone coming by to pick them up.
“I need you to get my sewing kit out of the tall box and some rubbing alcohol and a first aid kit.” I decided we would do this in-house, it was the best option. I was a decent seamstress and figured I could sew myself up.
Daniel jumped off the couch and ran over to me, grabbing my hand from me. “Run that underwater and keep it there,” he looked at the wound again after it had been cleaned off a little. We could both see how bad it was at that point. I was starting to get frustrated with him by now though and wished he would just get me my damn sewing kit already.
“I can fix this myself if you would get me my damn sewing kit and the rubbing alcohol, Daniel.” I glared back at him as he continued to hold my hand in front of his face. “I know how to do stitches. I’ve had to do my own before.” I informed him.
“Alexa, please. I have what we need to take care of you. And I have training. I took EMT training in high school. Keep the pressure on the wound and let me get the first aid kit from the bathroom. Don’t move!” He glared at me and ran off to the master bathroom.
I knew he wasn’t gone long, but it was long enough for the towel to get bloody and for me to get queasy. I hated the sight of my blood, and it didn’t matter if it was my own. That was the only good thing about being unconscious when I had had the miscarriage. I wasn’t awake for all the blood.
“Okay, let me see your hand. Fuck, I hate hand wounds. They bleed too much. I wish I wasn’t playing doctor like this. I wish it was under better circumstances. Okay. This is going to hurt a little, but I am going to spray you with lidocaine spray. Then, I am going to sew your finger up and put some liquid stitches over the cut as well.” Daniel explained everything he was doing to me.
I followed his every move, from cleaning my cut to sewing my finger back together. I didn’t think I would ever appreciate him more than I did when he put my finger back together. Six stitches and a layer of liquid stitches later and I was able to finish making our meal. I was annoyed that I bled on some of the food and had to throw it out. It did make me pay closer attention to what I was doing as I washed the cutting board and I managed to put everything together without cutting myself again.
I carried our plates carefully into the living room and placed them on the coffee table, running back up to the kitchen to the get the vinaigrette I had made for the salad. I knew what I had to do as soon as I could.
It would break my heart to do it, but I needed to get out and start my new life. I could look for Daniel again. I knew he would wait for me.