Exquisite (20 page)

They all cracked up and Mason
looked down at them, “That’s never going away now is it?”

They both grinned at him and shook
their heads. “Nope.”

All was right again, well in this
part of his life anyway.

Wednesday rolled around and Lena
was surprised to find she was disappointed she hadn’t heard from Mason. She
didn’t really know what to expect but had figured after their day on Saturday
he would’ve called her. While trying not to think about it she was also trying
equally hard not to care, she was failing miserably on both counts. She’d
vacillated between, he was busy with work to he was busy with family to
finally, he’d got what he wanted and never wanted to see her again. Really what
it came down to though was she was obsessing over a man. Something she’d never
done in her whole life. Add to that he just happened to be one of the most
sought after men in their city and she just felt like a complete loser groupie,
instead of the professional doctor that she was.

Somehow, this man had worked his way
past her defenses and deep inside to a place she usually kept under lock and
key. In fact she’d let him in where no man had ever been, her heart. She wasn’t
sure to what extent but she knew she was starting to feel something for him and
that scared the shit out of her. She loved the way he never backed down when
she was in a raging mood or how he’d cook for her and snap back with comments
so witty it made her grin, and want to smack him while doing it, and that
ability he had to walk away when she needed him to but not to stay away too
long. Up until now that is. He’d stayed away to long and it was starting to
drive her insane.

Walking down to the main cafeteria
to get breakfast she saw the television in one of the waiting rooms flash up
with a news story. Next to the local morning show reporter’s head flashed a
picture of the gorgeous Mr. Langley. He was wearing a crisp blue button up
shirt that was open at the neck. His hair was pushed back carelessly as though
he’d ran his fingers through it and he was smiling at whoever had taken the
photograph. It was an amazing photo. Under it was a caption that read,
Entrepreneurial
Chef or Professional Playboy?
Lena’s eyes widened and she found herself
walking into the waiting room to stand in front of the television. There were
two other women sitting in the room and she heard one of them say.

“Oh playboy for sure. But look at
those eyes, so handsome. Why wouldn’t he be?”

Lena winced a little,
why
wouldn’t he indeed
. She waited for the story since the show had cut to
commercial break and when it came back on she reached under and turned the
volume up a little.

“Ok all you single ladies. We bring
you a report today on our favorite local bachelor, Mason Langley. We all know
the story of this handsome young man but it seems now the whole country is
aware of it. It was reported recently in
Delicious
magazine that this
Casanova is up for grabs and he actually has two mystery women out there vying
to be next in line.”

Lena felt her whole body stiffen
and she actually felt her jaw drop open as the reporter continued.

“Reports mention a ‘stunning red
head and a buxom brunette’ were arguing over the smokin hot chef on Friday
night at his restaurant,
Exquisite
. Now ladies, since we’ve just let the
whole country in on one of our city’s best kept secrets you home town girls
better hurry and snatch him up before he gets snagged by an outsider. Reports
keep tossing around the number 34 like this should be the next lottery number
you play however, sources confirm that this would be the number of women the
hunky chef has dated looking for love. So come on ladies time to get down to
Exquisite
and see if you can stand the heat in the kitchen.”

Lena felt all the blood drain from
her face and watched in complete horror as the show cut to commercial. Now it
all started to make sense. No wonder he hadn’t called her he must be furious
with her right now.
Oh god, what on earth had she been thinking when she’d
thrown that unforgivable fit of jealousy in his place of business?
She
would’ve had him castrated if he’d done that to her at the hospital. She turned
and was walking to the door when she heard one of the women behind her.

“Heck if I was a little younger I’d
be running down to that place myself.”

Lena closed her eyes took a breath
and walked out of the room mortified. She quickly made her way back to her
office completely ditching the idea of eating, and walked in shut her door and
picked up the phone. She dialed his cell phone not really knowing what she’d
say but when she got his voicemail she paused for a moment before continuing.

“Langley, ahh, hi it’s Dr
O’Donnell. Lena.” she paused rolling her eyes at her own stupidity. She let out
a deep sigh then continued, finding out for the first time in her life that she
was horrible at groveling, and even worse at apologizing.

“I just saw a report on the
television this morning about the restaurant. Actually it was more about you.
They had a great picture of you on the report by the way.” she stopped and
winced, “Listen I’m calling to tell you I’m sorry. I’m assuming that’s why you
haven’t called me because you’re pissed off.” she stopped leaning back in her
chair. “I don’t blame you, I’d be pissed off at me to. Let me tell you this
though then I’ll leave you alone.”

Taking a deep breath she shut her
eyes and took courage in both hands. “I didn’t want anyone in my life until you
fought your way into it and I miss hearing from you, even if it is just to
argue,.” she laughed a little at that, “and Mason? I want to be number 34. So
pick me not the
stunning redhead
.” then with that she hung up the phone.

T
wo weeks went by very slowly when you were
waiting for some kind of sign that you hadn’t messed up the single best thing
that had happened to you, Lena discovered as she walked into Precious Petals
Monday night. Last night she’d sat through a very awkward dinner with her
parents where they tiptoed around her and tried unsuccessfully to get her to go
with them on Sunday morning to visit Carly’s grave. She just wasn’t ready and for
some reason they just wouldn’t leave her alone about it. This just made her
even more annoyed when added to the fact she was still pissed off that Mason
hadn’t called her back.

Really she should’ve been happy
he’d had never called. She’d wanted him gone from her life only days before
that disastrous interview and he’d done it for her. However, she couldn’t help
but hate the fact that she’d called and left that horribly embarrassing, soul
bearing voice mail. She could just imagine the great laugh he’d every time he
thought about it.
Asking to be number 34. What had she been thinking?
Or
worse, he probably kept it and hit replay just so he could remind himself what
an absolute moron she was.

Sighing she moved into the store
walking through the flowers. Lena hadn’t seen or heard Catherine when she
walked in and she was happy just looking around being alone with her thoughts.
Eventually she knew Catherine would pop her head out and come help her because
the chimes had sounded above the door. She was bending down to smell a
beautiful red rose when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

“Can I help you?”

Mason watched Lena spin around so
quickly he thought she may just loose her balance, but right before she toppled
over he reached out and steadied her with his hand. She quickly moved back a
step wrenching her arm free from his touch and he immediately dropped his hand
down by his side. He had to admit he was surprised and a little bit taken aback
to see her. He’d forgotten his mother had told him she was a frequent customer
of her store and as he stood there in front of her, wearing one of his mothers
work aprons, he could tell she was trying to work out what the hell he was
doing there.

She looked around him then frowned
as she tipped her chin up to look at him. “What are you doing here?” she
finally demanded of him.

Not so much as a hello or how are
you, just typical Lena style, get right to the point.

“Working.” he answered in a way he
knew would grate on her nerves. He was right because as he stood there he
watched her jaw clench and her eyes roll.

“Working? Here? At Precious
Petals?”

Sighing he lifted his hand to run
it through his hair. It’d been a horrible week for him. His mother had been
rushed to the hospital last Tuesday after suffering a mild heart attack. He
really thought he’d been going to loose her and he hadn’t quite known what he
would do about it. Rachel had been a mess not being able to cope with the
thought of losing their mother so quickly after their father, so he’d been
consumed with trying to hold it all together.

Not to mention the shit storm that
had hit after that horrible magazine article. So even though he’d wanted to
call Lena a hundred times to explain, he just didn’t have it in him and
honestly he wasn’t even sure she would care. Right now as she stood in front of
him he was starting to think that may be the case.

“Yes at Precious Petals. My mother
owns the store.” he watched her suck in a deep breath as her eyes widened and
everything seemed to click together into place for her.

“That’s why you were delivering
flowers that day?”

Nodding once he crossed his arms
over his chest. She stood rigid with her hands by her side looking as though if
he touched her she would crack.

“Where’s Catherine then? I don’t
think she’s ever taken a day off in all the..” she trailed off toward the end
of the comment when she realized she must have given away more than she wanted
to.
See that was the problem right there,
Mason thought shaking his head
slowly,
she had to many secrets and didn’t want to share.
She was like
walking through a room full of minefields.

“She’s in the hospital at the
moment.”

The only way he could explain the
look that came over her face was one of pure horror. Her hand flew up to cover
her mouth as she gasped in a deep breath of air. Then she asked quickly. “Is
she ok? Which hospital?”

“She’s doing fine Dr O’Donnell. I
assure you she is in the best care at St Luke’s.”

She blinked twice seeming to digest
that. “I know I don’t have any right but can I ask what happened?”

Mason finally felt himself relax a
little. It was obvious that Lena cared about his mother. After all she’d been
coming to her store for a little over nine years, if his memory served him
correctly.

“She had a mild heart attack last
Tuesday here in the shop.”

Her eyes start to water and
suddenly he found himself taking a step closer and reaching out to cup her arm.
This time she didn’t pull back but he watched as her bottom lip started to
quiver. It looked as though she was going to burst into tears. Over a virtual
stranger? As far as he knew they were just employee and customer but apparently
there was a lot more going on here.

“Hey, it’s ok. We were all shocked
and worried about her but she’s a fighter and she’s recovering. Luckily she had
her cell phone and called 911 when she started to feel ‘funny’ as she tells
me.” he ended with a slight grin.

Lena seemed to be trying to blink
back her tears then she swallowed and nodded. “Good, that’s good. I’d hate
anything to happen to her.”

“Yeah me too.” he said with a kind
of ironic tone.

She seemed to gather herself up
then.“Well of course. She’s your mother after all.” she paused and shook her
head, “What a small world. I can’t believe she’s your mother.”

Mason didn’t know if he should be
insulted or complimented. “Why? Is it so hard to imagine I have a mom?”

“No, no. She’s just so warm and
comforting. I’d always wished she was my own mom.” she stopped and looked at
him with an almost sheepish expression. “I know that must sound ridiculous.”

He finally gave way and grinned
down at her.
Who was he kidding?
He couldn’t help himself and she was
standing here in his mother’s shop, who he loved with all his heart, telling
him that she loved her too.
How could he fight that?

“That doesn’t sound ridiculous
Lena. She’s an amazing woman. I don’t blame you one bit.” he looked around the
small space. “I’ve been coming to this store for years, since I was a little
boy. I don’t have one memory of her in this shop without a smile on her face.
Only an amazing woman can be that warm all the time.”

Lena couldn’t believe that
Catherine was Mason’s mother. She’d been coming to this store for nine years.
How had she not run into him before that day with the roses? It was almost
unbelievable how often their lives must have come so close to crossing over,
intertwining and yet just missing each other by a small fragment of space in
time. Focusing back on the man in front of her, who kept surprising her at
every turn, she said softly.

“Your mother, Catherine, has been
doing something for me for years.”

She watched him nod. “The
sunflowers.”

Lena narrowed her eyes and felt her
heart squeeze tight in her chest. “How did you know about those?” she asked in
a more accusatory tone than she was expecting. She just couldn’t fathom the
idea that he’d known about her all along, all her deepest most private issues
and not said anything to her. She hated feeling like someone was digging behind
her back but that was exactly how she felt at this moment.

“Sheathe your claws Lena.” he said
with, what seemed like, great patience. “I was telling my mother about the
doctor who’d made such an impression, that I’d taken her to my kitchen and
cooked for her.”

Lena swallowed but didn’t back down
an inch. “I don’t like people discussing me.” she watched as he visibly
stiffened and saw the temper flare in his eyes.