Lucky Chance (4 page)

He didn’t even bother to reply, he just sped his pace. The military had been what was expected of him, and maybe he wanted it, too. But what he wanted more than his next breath was the woman in that room. She was his reason for everything.

As Lucky tossed and turned in his sleep, the vivid memory drifting in his dreams, he knew his feelings hadn’t changed.

Instead of going to bed like she should have, Madison went to the kitchen for coffee and to reply to a few emails on her phone. Anything to keep herself from going upstairs only to climb into bed overcome with memories of Lucky. If it weren’t at the cost of her pride, she’d trade off with one of the other handlers, just to put some distance between them. Though, if her boss got wind of it, there’d be some explaining to do.

She’d suck it up and get him through this. Two weeks…fourteen days, and then he’d be out of her life again. The
again
thought had her sinking down onto one of the living room chairs without getting her coffee, or even pulling out her phone. The morning she’d told him that she wanted a break had been the hardest morning of her life, and up until recently, it had been her only regret. Now, she had two big regrets but only one had to do with Lucky. The other was her own fault.

Over the years, she had thought about him, but after they split, it never seemed to be the right time to tell him she had made a mistake. Instead, she lived with the regret and closed herself off from Gwen and Wynn to avoid the chance she might run into him. She had tried to forget him, but he always stayed with her. Even when it came to Russell.

Russell had been the most serious relationship she’d had since Lucky, and even that had been only part-time. He was the complete opposite of Lucky, and that had been some of the draw. It had also turned out to be the flaw of their relationship as well, especially when it came to the lying aspect of it. Liars were something she couldn’t move past, that and married men. Unfortunately, Russell was both.

“Forget about Russell, forget about Lucky. You need to focus on the next several months.”

She let her head fall back against the chair, and her eyes closed. Instantly, memories rushed forward. She could almost picture herself in the flame red prom dress, which had a slit up to the middle of her thigh. When Lucky had picked her up, his suit and tie had matched. He had been handsome in everyday clothes, but the suit had brought out an air of danger to him.

Morning arrived sooner than Madison would have liked. Even as she lay in bed trying to summon the strength to get up, she could hear Lucky as he moved about below. From the smell of it, he was already cooking up a storm in the kitchen. He had never been an early riser, so whatever had him up and in the kitchen at this time of the morning had to be something else. Could it be nerves?

Not able to put it off any longer, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood. She wanted to check on him before she showered and prepared for the day. She grabbed the heather gray cardigan from the top of her suitcase and slipped it on over her tank top and yoga pants before grabbing her cell phone from the nightstand.

On her way out of the bedroom, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror. The beginnings of dark circles were peeking through the skin under her eyes. Memories of their past together had kept her up most of the night, only to fall asleep shortly before the sun rose. Every time she closed her eyes, images of some of their dates popped into her thoughts. Even after she had gotten to sleep, memories of the two weeks between high school graduation, and that fateful morning at the bed and breakfast when she threw it all away, drifted through her thoughts.

He’d set up a romantic dinner on the rooftop of the building where he now lived. A friend of theirs, who’d graduated a few years before, had been a security guard there, and had pulled a few strings to allow them access to the rooftop deck. The dinner had been nothing compared to the views or the company. He had thought of everything, including music to dance to. Every day, he had made her feel like she meant the world to him, and that had been the hardest part of their breaking up. She loved him and never wanted it to end, but life was dividing them, sending them to separate ends of the United States. The jagged pieces of her heart were still there. Even after all these years, nothing had changed. She still loved him. Now, more than ever, she had to keep it to herself. He deserved that much from her.

Once again, she pushed her memories aside and ran her hands through her hair, pulling the long strands into a messy ponytail. “You can get through this if you just stop thinking about the past and focus on the future.” Even as she said the words, she wasn’t so sure. Their past was as much a part of their lives as tomorrow. It had brought them both to the place they were in now.

As she made her way downstairs, she once again wondered why she hadn’t checked each of the contestants for this competition before picking one for herself. If she had investigated things further, she wouldn’t have to spend the next two weeks stuck in a house with him as he prepared for the cooking showdown. Instead, she’d have only had to run into him a handful of times. Hindsight and all of that, but it didn’t change anything.

As she came down the stairs, she could see Lucky at the stove. Whatever he was doing, he had his back to her and he was mumbling to himself. She couldn’t make out the words, but something about his tone didn’t sound happy.

“Morning,” she called as she stepped off the last step.

“Morning. There’s fresh coffee in the pot and breakfast will be done in a few.”

“You didn’t have to make me breakfast.” The wood floors were cool under her feet as she made her way farther into the kitchen. Everything in her wanted to pour herself a mug of fresh coffee, but that was off limits now. Instead, she pulled open the refrigerator, grabbed the carton of orange juice, and poured herself some. It might not have the same wake-up abilities of heavenly coffee, but it was the best she could do.

“I’m supposed to be preparing, so here I am.” He placed a crepe onto the plate, tossed on a few raspberries, and grabbed another pan from the stove. “Crepe with fresh cream and raspberries. Along with a crab, red pepper, and onion omelet with a drizzle of rich hollandaise sauce.”

“Sounds delicious.” Even if it was more then she normally had in the mornings. Toast and coffee had been her morning routine for years.

“Sit, eat.”

“You’re not joining me?” She accepted the plates he held out to her.

“Not now, I’ve got to finish the mousse.”

“Mousse?”

“Black Tie Mousse Cake. It’s one of my specialties, and I figured if there’s a dessert part then I needed to brush up on my recipe since I haven’t made it in a few months.”

She took a seat at the bar so she could watch him. “There are three rounds. Appetizers, main course, and dessert. For appetizers, each competitor will be required to complete two separate ones. One of them will be with a mystery ingredient.”

“Mystery ingredient.” He turned to look at her. “Crap, I hadn’t considered that. Will that be an issue each round?”

“No. We’ve decided that since none of you are professional chefs who do this for a living, we wouldn’t make it that difficult for you. Only the appetizer round will have that, and only one of them will require it.”

“Then why do it at all?”

“It’s to throw each of you off-balance, to see how well you do under pressure. Well, pressure in the kitchen.” She took a bite of the omelet and almost moaned in pleasure. His cooking skills had been good before, but it seemed that over the years they had grown to a whole new level. If this omelet with the hollandaise sauce was anything like he’d prepare for the judges, he was sure to win.

“Good?”

“Better than good.” She took another bite and let her eyes close. “Mmm…this sauce is delicious.”

“That’s an old Diamond recipe with a few
Lucky
changes.” He smirked. “Besides the appetizer round, are there any other conditions?”

“Not really. Only that you have to prepare the food before the judges. We’ll shop for whatever supplies you need for your three choices that morning. One hour before we begin, you’ll find out your mystery ingredient and we’ll have someone standing by for a grocery run if need be.”

“Where will I be cooking? Will I be able to go over the kitchen and supplies before the actual day of the event?”

“You’ve already seen the kitchen.” With a fork full of crepe, she tipped her head toward the kitchen behind him.

“What? They’re not doing this in one location? How is it to be judged fairly, then? Wouldn’t that mean there’d be different judges?”

The questions flew at her before she had time to answer them. When he finally stopped, she took one last bite, and set her fork on the edge of the plate. “Unless we spent a couple thousand dollars, we weren’t able to rent one of the television studios with kitchens like on all those cooking shows. So, we decided to save the money. Because of that, we were able to offer a higher prize for the wounded veterans. Each house is well equipped, and we’ll be doing everything here. If there’s anything that’s missing, we’ll get it.”

“What about judging?”

“Everyone will have their own timeframes, and the judges will go from house to house. This won’t be televised. Well, not the whole thing. I’ve pulled a few strings and was able to get a news reporter here. She’ll do a collective piece with snippets from each house. There will be additional news reports for the one who wins.”

“If this was supposed to shine the military in a different light, why not televise it?”

She polished off the last bite of the omelet before answering. “Cost and time, mostly. It would require at least an hour spot, and would have been an expensive, time consuming undertaking to have national television exposure. My boss decided that since this was the first test in the new campaign, she wanted to play it safe. There’s a still photographer who will be recording every second so we can use it for marketing.”

He grabbed a bag of sugar from the cabinet and opened it. “What about the media appearances you mentioned?”

“Each contestant will be interviewed and photographed beforehand. Some will appear on news coverage while others will wait, and only the winner’s interviews will be broadcast.” Even though she was full, she stabbed another raspberry and remembered the second part of this whole thing.

“What’s wrong?”

“Umm…” She had been so preoccupied with seeing him again that she had forgotten what happened if he won.
I can’t hope he loses just so I don’t have to spend more time with him. That’s selfish, and he deserves better than that from me.

“Earth to Madison. What did you just think of?”

“Part two of this whole campaign.” She pushed the rest of the crepe away. “The winner and handler are off on another two weeks of media engagements with both televised and print interviews.”

“Four weeks…” He set the bowl aside that he was hand mixing something in. “Four weeks stuck in this nightmare.”

“Oh, come on, Lucky, it’s not that bad.”

“It might not be for you, but this isn’t the reason I joined the Marines. It’s sure as hell not the reason I started cooking. I want to be back on base, training with my men, hell…even going on a deployment.” He leaned against the counter and looked at her. “When I offered to be used for target practice, or as a crash test dummy, I didn’t realize how much I’d prefer those options over this. Now, I do.”

“What does that mean? Are you pulling out?” She tried not to think about how that would look on her record. That she couldn’t even keep her very first assignment on track, or even her own competitor from throwing in the towel before it even began. If she lost this job, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do.

“No.” He let out a deep sigh. “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. Graves knew I wouldn’t do this of my own free will, so he decided to make it a direct order. I might not be court marshaled for it since, after all, it’s supposed to be volunteers who are doing this, but there would be some serious hell to pay. Those consequences are not something I’m eager to endure. So, I’ll see this through.”

“It won’t be so bad. In a few weeks you can be back on base, doing what you normally do.”

“Damn right.” He grabbed the bowl and began to whisk the contents again. “Because in two weeks, I’ll be back in Virginia. There’s not a chance I’m going to win this.”

“You’d sabotage yourself?” If her boss found out, she’d be the one in hot water and possibly out of work.

“I don’t think I’m the best one to win this. I’m not a damn chef, I’m a Marine.”

She hadn’t missed that he had avoided answering her question directly. Even if he was upset he’d been chosen, she couldn’t see him screwing it up just to get out of it. “If you weren’t a Marine, you’d make one fine chef.” She nodded to the plates before her. “You should remember I’m not a breakfast person, let alone someone who enjoys eggs, but I finished that omelet. It was delicious. You were always a good cook, you get that from your mother, but over the years it seems you’ve improved.”

“When you’re a bachelor, you have to cook or you’ll starve. There are only so many times a person can eat out before they get tired of the food choices.”

There was a silence that fell over them as she gathered her dishes and began to clean up. After she had them in the dishwasher, she sat back down at the bar. “Lucky…this might not mean much to you, but before you sabotage yourself, think about Kyle and the other Marines who could use the money you’d win.”

“Guilt is a powerful thing when used properly. Mom always went to guilt when nothing else worked. Even Graves used it to get me here.” He pulled out another bowl and began adding ingredients to it. “As much as I hate being a part of this, I’m not one to admit defeat. I’ll give this my best because my fellow brothers and sisters in arms deserve that from me. If I sabotaged it, I would be hurting them, not myself, and that’s not my style. Don’t worry, I’ll play along and keep your precious game flowing on schedule.”