“Thank you, but that wasn’t all me. Once I bought the factory, everyone started working together. I used my first quarter earnings to add the white facade over the corner with the columns and awnings. Then the Scouts made all those flower boxes their project a few years ago, and all those benches, they were donated through a fundraiser the senior class at the high school worked on.”
“It makes a big difference. You’ve been an inspiration.”
She blushed. “I don’t know about that, but it’s been pretty neat to have the whole town working to improve Bailey’s Fork. But enough about me. I’m sure your restaurant in France is much fancier than my factory. French and all that.”
An acute sense of failure flooded over him. “Well, I don’t exactly have my own restaurant.” His own accomplishments seemed like a cop-out now. The two of them had dreamed of nothing but owning a restaurant and bakery of their own.
“Oh? I’m sorry. I just assumed—”
“Right. Yeah, but things work differently in the culinary world over there. I work for Francois Dumont. He owns six of the finest restaurants in the country. He’s the chef who awarded me that first scholarship to culinary school. He’s famous worldwide.”
She stood there staring at him. “You work for him?”
“I’m the executive chef of Dumont. His flagship restaurant. Rooted in family history.”
“His family. Not yours. I’m sure I should be impressed,” she said. “It all sounds very fancy, but I’ll be honest, all I’m hearing is that you left me to go to school so you could open the restaurant of your own dreams someday.” She brow arched. “But really you just left me to go to school and never came back.”
She didn’t even know what Dumont was, clearly. “It’s an honor to work for Francois.” But that was a lie. Working for Francois was a pain.
“Well, then I’m really happy for you. You’ve made it a long way from Bailey’s Fork.”
He’d thought so when he’d left France, but now, after seeing her again and hearing about her success, he was second-guessing his decisions. They’d had big plans together.
“There’s nothing wrong with Bailey’s Fork,” Andrew offered.
“You don’t really mean that.” She stared into his eyes. “This town wasn’t enough to keep you here or to bring you home.”
Quiet hung between them.
His plans had shifted and changed like the dunes of the Outer Banks during hurricane season. Once he’d gotten to Paris, he’d started to believe that he could only reach his dream by staying close to the best chefs, but somehow Kelly had managed to exceed her lofty goals right here in their own backyard and taken that success nationwide.
She was right. He didn’t have a leg to stand on. He’d made his choice.
“I wasn’t enough,” she added softly.
“Stop. Don’t say that.” He reached for her arm. She’d always been enough. That he’d made her feel that way gnawed at him. “We were young.”
She raised her shoulder and smiled, her lip slightly quivering the way it did when she was upset. “It’s true. I wasn’t enough. Our dreams together, my dreams, they weren’t big enough for you.” She took a staggered breath. “And it’s history.”
“It wasn’t an easy decision. You said yourself it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” But that didn’t change anything. It had happened. No matter how sorry he was, he wasn’t going to fix that. He’d not only left town, he’d left scars on her heart.
“I know I said it, and I promise you I meant it. You know I’d have never stood between you and your dreams.”
“You were always so kind.” He wished he’d had this conversation with her seven years ago. “I’m not saying I made the right decision. I’m sorry how it all turned out.”
“Don’t be. You should be very proud of yourself. I’m sorry for the snippy remark. I really am proud of you. You always were an amazing cook. I always knew you’d be an even better chef. Dumont is lucky to have you.”
“I don’t want to leave with all this baggage between us,” he said. “I’m so sorry I hurt you. I wished you’d come with me, and that things had played out differently, but you’re right. There’s no way to know how that would have turned out either.” He took her hand, and all of those old feelings came swelling back.
Her hand became clammy and she stiffened under his touch. Her eyes darted away.
“I want to hear about your life. What you’ve been up to. What’s next.”
Her lips parted. “It’s not the time.”
“I’m only here for a few days.”
“My point exactly.” Her lashes fluttered.
His sister stepped between them.
“Hey, you two.” Dawn’s enthusiasm contrasted noticeably to the current conversation. “I see you’re catching up. That’s awesome! Andrew, you’ve got to see The Cake Factory. She’s done such great things. And not just for herself—for the whole town.”
“Thank you,” Kelly said politely. “I’m going to go…” she started moving toward the door, “…to the van to get the rest of the cakes.”
“I can help,” Andrew said.
“No. I’ve got this,” Kelly said sharply, then turned to Dawn with a gentle smile. “I can help cut and serve them if you need me to.”
“Oh, please do,” Dawn insisted. “I’d make a heaping mess out of those pretty cakes.”
Andrew wasn’t sure whether he wanted to hug Dawn or throttle her. But seeing Kelly, being this close to her again, had stirred up a lot of unexpected feelings that were making his trip back to Bailey’s Fork very complicated.
Sam and Jason announced a break and came down and grabbed him.
“It’s great to see you, man,” Sam said.
“You too. Thanks for coming, and playing,” Andrew said. “You two sound great up there.”
Jason thumped Andrew on the back. “If you weren’t such a stranger, you’d know Sam and I play almost every weekend all over the state. Last summer, we did an east coast tour. It was a blast.”
Sam nodded. “Benefits of being teachers. Summers off. Just like being a kid.”
“Teachers. Both of
