2
Peppa
I trailed my fingers over the stainless steel counter, enjoying the silence of the kitchen before the staff came in to prep for the restaurant opening in a few days. My life had changed so much over the past several months. I’d been right about how crappy things had gotten at Castagna when William came back from vacation. Our little chat with Armand had only made things worse. It had gotten to the point where each day was more rotten than the last. When I started to dread going to work, I finally admitted that I couldn’t stay there any longer. So I had left Chicago—and a career-making position—behind to start fresh in a small town.
Most chefs would have called me crazy, but not the ones who’d been working at my side for the past four weeks to get the kitchen at Timber Treasures up to my standards. I still couldn’t believe that so many of my coworkers from Castagna had followed me to Timber Ridge. Larken was the only one who’d known I was going to leave before I gave my notice, and she quit about five minutes after me. Word quickly spread through the kitchen, not just that I’d resigned but also that I’d been offered the position of executive chef for a new restaurant. As soon as they heard the news, Bexley, our grill chef; Thora, our roast chef; and Aero, the swing cook, had each approached me to ask if I’d picked my new team yet. I hadn’t expected anyone other than Larken to be willing to leave the big city behind for a job at a small-town startup, but they’d all accepted when I told them I had a position for them.
I probably shouldn’t have agreed to take them all with me, but I couldn’t turn them away after their show of loyalty. Living in Timber Ridge meant drastic changes for all of us, so I’d insisted that we take plenty of time to wrap stuff up in Chicago before we left. Thora and Larken hadn’t understood why I wasn’t anxious to get down there. Not until I’d gotten permission from Kace, the local alpha, to let them in on the secret of shifters since Timber Ridge was a shifter town. Then they’d been glad for the extra time to wrap their heads around the fact that not only did shifters exist, but Bexley, Aero, and I could change into animals.
Another reason for the delay was that the guys had to meet with Kace about joining the pack before moving. Luckily, the alpha was open to having all kinds of shifters in his pack since I was a lioness, Bexley was a polar bear, and Aero was a falcon. Nobody at Castagna had known what we really were, but it was always a relief to find yourself working with other shifters. It meant someone there could cover for you when your animal was close to the surface. But that wasn’t going to be an issue at Timber Treasures, which was one of the reasons I’d taken the position when it had been offered to me.
Another big part of why the job appealed to me waddled through the door with her mate at her back, making me grin even though I’d been hoping to have the place to myself for a while. Trinity Ruslan—Kemp now that she was happily mated—had a killer reputation when it came to launching restaurants. Even though she’d made her career in New York, she had connections across the country, and one of them had given her my name when word got around that I might be open to a new position. The high-end restaurant world was small, and it hadn’t taken long for gossip to spread, which I’d been pissed about at first since I hated thinking about the crap that might be said about me. But then the calls with job offers had started to roll in, and my pride was restored. None of them had felt right, though. Not until Trinity had flown her pregnant butt up to Chicago—with her mate at her side—to lure me away from a position I’d started to hate.
“It’s looking great in here.” Trinity beamed a smile at me, rubbing her hand over her big belly. “Even with all the restaurant openings I’ve been involved with, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a chef pull a kitchen together as quickly as you have with this one.”
Her praise meant a lot to me since this was the first time I was in charge of setting up a professional kitchen. “Thanks, but you made my job a whole lot easier with the resources you put at my disposal.”
“It wasn’t me.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at her mate, who’d moved to stand behind her with his arms wrapped around her body so his hands could rest over where his cubs were growing. “Damon was so happy that I didn’t drag him to live in New York that he made sure I basically had a blank check when it came to opening this place.”
Damon chuckled and shook his head. “She’s exaggerating.”
“I’m not sure I believe you.” I lifted my chin toward the Viking eight burner range on my right. “Not when you didn’t blink at any request I made for equipment, no matter how high the price tag.”
“She’s got you there.” Trinity giggled.
“Oh, I blinked all right. You just couldn’t see it because you sent me your list while you were still in Chicago and couldn’t see my reaction.” Damon slid his hands lower, supporting her belly as it bounced. “But I may have had a word with Kace about allocating whatever it took to keep you as stress free as possible until the babies come.”
“Only because he didn’t want you going berserk over every little twinge I had.” Trinity rolled her eyes. “From what Calliope has told me, you’re at least twice as bad as any of the other guys have been when their mates were pregnant, which is saying a lot since I’m told they all set a high bar.”
Damon didn’t bother trying to deny the accusation, brushing a kiss against the top of her head instead. “Nobody else had a mate who was opening a restaurant while carrying two of his pups. We’re having the first set of twins in the pack. I think that entitles me to be a little overprotective.”
“A little overprotective?” Trinity echoed softly, shaking her head while she giggled.
Talk about an understatement. Damon hovered over his mate like he thought she was made of glass. They were so freaking cute together, I always ended up smiling whenever I was around them. Gesturing toward her belly, I said, “In all fairness, he has good reason to be worried. You look like you’re about to pop.”
“Don’t you start, too.” She wagged her finger at me, her eyes narrowing. “Neither of you need to worry. I still have a whole month to go before the babies are due. I’ll be fine for the opening.”
“I’m not concerned about the opening,” Damon grunted as he led Trinity over to the office and settled her on the small couch with her feet up on a pillow. “Peppa has everything under control.”
“Of course, I do. That’s what you hired me for.” I grinned as I dropped down on the chair behind the desk.
Damon grabbed a menu off the stack and skimmed the list of entrees. “Damn straight you do. When Trinity told me that she wanted to include rare, hard-to-find proteins that her shifter customers couldn’t find elsewhere, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But what you’ve been able to find is almost unbelievable, and the dishes you’ve come up with are fucking amazing.”
I wasn’t humbl
e about my abilities as a chef, but I felt my cheeks heat at his compliment. “I couldn’t have done it without your mate’s connections. She’s the one who found the source for the wild boar, zebra, and antelope.”
“Yeah, but you’re the one who was able to add yak, alligator, and emu to the menu.” Trinity rubbed her belly, licking her lips. “Although what I’ve been craving lately is that python ravioli in wild mushroom cream sauce that you let me sample the other day. Any chance you have some in the fridge?”
“Nope, you took all the leftovers with you.” When her lips curved down in a pout, I hurriedly added, “But Thora roasted a python loin yesterday, so I could whip up a batch if you’d like.”
She clapped her hands together and grinned while Damon sent me a look full of gratitude. “Yes, please.”
“You do realize that you’re my boss, right?” I asked as they followed me back into the kitchen, Damon carrying the desk chair so Trinity would sit while I cooked.
“Yeah, but it would be so wrong for me to order you to make me something just because I was having a craving.” She shook her head and patted her belly. “If I asked you to cook for me every time I was in the mood for a particular dish, you never would have had time to get this place in order. You would’ve been acting as my personal chef every single day since you got here.”
I pointed the knife I was using to chop mushrooms at her. “If you want something, ask me. I don’t want you or the babies to go hungry just because you’re worried I’m too busy to cook for you. My staff and I have this kitchen running like a well-oiled machine. We’ve practiced these dishes so many times that we’re to the point where they come out perfect each time. Opening day is going to be a breeze.”