Chapter thirty four

Chapter thirty four

Heather

The next day after you find out that your sister tried to murder you can be really hectic.

It'd been almost 24 hours since Nadia tried to run me over with a car and I still haven't heard anything from her.

I was familiar with the intimidation tactic she was using. My family was very fond of it. She would mess with my emotions until I became so careless and eventually let my guard down. That's when she would strike.

What my sister probably hadn't figured out yet was that I would never let my guard down. I haven't entirely let it down in all the years since I left home, and I wasn't going to let it loose now that danger was so close.

Nadia had bid her time well. She chose to appear in my life now that everything was finally working out for me, when I was going after what I really wanted. Of course, she'd try to ruin it.

I placed my ear over the door to pick up any sounds of Ethan. I haven't seen or heard from him since I left his apartment yesterday.

Correction: since I ran out of his apartment yesterday.

I didn't plan on leaving like that, but things were getting way too comfortable with me laying on his chest. The position was definitely heading somewhere else. I didn't want that yet. Not when we haven't talked about what we did two nights ago.

I couldn't avoid him forever, especially now that my sister was back. She could ruin everything by telling him the truth. I couldn't afford for that to happen. But I wasn't ready for the conversation Ethan and I needed to have.

What if he thought of that night as a mistake?

Bile rose up my throat and my chest tightened painfully. As if my worst nightmare had came to life, the doorbell rang making me flinch. I stepped back a little to get a grip of myself.

Well, maybe we were having the conversation now. I cleared my throat and opened the door. But the person I saw wasn't who I was expecting.

“Dallas?” I called in confusion.

“Hey babe! How are you?” Dallas smiled widely and stepped towards me. She gave me a side hug, pressing kisses to my cheeks.

“I’m fine. I didn't know you were coming over.”

Dallas pulled away from me, her brows creased in a frown. “I sent you a text earlier and you replied with ‘okay, no problem’. I was in this zip code and thought I'd say hi.”

She flashed her phone screen before me. Sure enough I had replied to her text and invited her over. I didn't remember it, maybe because I was consumed with thoughts of my sister.

“Oh yeah, sure. I've just been really stressed out lately. My thoughts are all over the place.” I snorted.

Luckily, she didn't question me. She walked fully into the apartment and settled on the couch. I went to sit beside her.

“So how have you been? How's Oliver?”

“We're fine. He's actually the reason I'm here but we'll circle back to that later. Are you okay?” she asked, her tone laced with genuine concern.

I blinked, surprised by her question.
“Of course, I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?” I plastered a fake smile on my face and hoped she didn't notice how fake it was.

She simply stared at me. Just when I thought she would call me out on my bullshit, she sighed.

“Look, I know that starting a business immediately after moving into a new neighbourhood can be a lot, but I want you to know you don't have to go through it alone. You'll always have us. You can always talk to me anytime. I hope you know that.” she said.

I took her hand in mine and smiled, for real this time. “I know, and I appreciate it. But I'm handling it alright.”

The lie tasted bitter on my tongue. I wasn't handling anything. I was frustrated and tired but I couldn't tell her any of that. Because then I'll have to reveal everything else, I wasn't ready for the disappointment I'll face from them.

Dallas didn't seem like she believed me but she nodded. She slumped back into the couch.

“A rerun of your favorite show is up in five. Popcorns or chips?” I asked.

“You’re offering me chips? You're not gonna complain about how junks aren't healthy?” she raised an eyebrow.

“You can have junks this time. Next time, I'll worry about your junk intake.”

She smiled widely. “Well, thank you, ma'am.”

I walked to the kitchen to make the popcorns. Dallas strolled after me. “So, you know the Broadway Charity Gala?”

“The one you're reluctant to go every year because it's usually crawling with rich pretentious dudes?” I snorted.

“What? I never said that.” I raised an eyebrow at her.

Dallas never really liked any gathering of rich people. The only exceptions were a few charities, but the Broadway Gala was a huge exception. But she always went to support her sister and her husband.

“Okay yeah, maybe I did say that. But this year seems to be a good year so I might attend. Also, Suzie is organizing the event this year. And she just told me that their caterers quit.”

My lips parted in surprise. “Jesus Christ, that's terrible. Why will they quit so close to the event?”

Dallas shrugged. “Who knows why some people do things. She told me it's because they got a better offer. And it's actually good that they did.”

I stared at her in confusion. “I don't understand what you're driving at but it's not a good thing. Especially not for Suzie. It's quite hard to search for a new set of caterers while still battling deadlines for other parts of preparations.”

“But she doesn't have to search for new caterers.” Dallas gave me the small smile that tells me she's planning some mischief. Her plans are usually for a good cause but the methods are either terrible or illegal.

I stared at her waiting for her to tell me when the realization dawned on me.
“You want me to make the food.”

It wasn't a question but she nodded anyway. “I can't do it, Dal. I'm one person.”

My mind whirled as different thoughts crowded it. Me cooking for what was probably the biggest event of the year? It seems a little mission impossible-y.

But even as I said it, I was already thinking about ways in which this could actually work.

“Yes, you can. You're an amazing chef. And I'm not just saying this as your chef but as someone who has eaten your meals for so long that wished I could have packed some food while on my honeymoon.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yeah. I mean, I love Capri but they don't cook like Heather Wheeler.” she smiled.

My heart swelled at the compliments. I knew for sure that Dallas wasn't exaggerating.

“Okay, maybe I'm decent at what I do, but that doesn't mean I can cook for an entire gala. If I mess it up, I could get into like a million lawsuits, and my conscience will never recover.”

I poured the cooked popcorn into two bowls and handed one to Dallas. She popped a few into her mouth while I went to get the juice from the fridge.

“You're overthinking it. Suzie has eaten your meals and she knows you'd be perfect for it. They could hire a bunch of people to assist you since the event is so close. You don't have to do it alone. Plus the visibility at the event would be perfect for when you open your restaurant.”

Everything she was saying made sense in theory, but I couldn't think past the tightness in my chest. I was genuinely honored that Suzie had recommended me to the organizers, I'd barely interacted with the woman ever since I started working at Oliver's. But she had faith in me regardless. I didn't want to mess that up.

“Just think about it before you answer. I don't want you to make any decision under pressure.” Dallas said.

“Thank you.” I smiled.

We watched the show in silence, but it was obvious that neither of us was paying attention to it. I was thinking about the bombshell Dallas just dropped on me, and I was certain something was bothering her too.

Dallas loved thus show so much. She would have completely zoned out just five minutes in, yet she was still turning uncomfortably on the couch.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” she said before sighing. “No, not really. Did you read the group chats this morning?”

I nodded. We were finally able to get through to Lisa but she'd dropped a big shock on all of us. She was coming to New York to celebrate her birthday. I was excited that she was coming over but something had felt off about it.

“You also think something is not right about it.” Not a question but I nodded again.

“But it's Lisa. She would definitely tell us if something is going on with her. Or we can find out ourselves when she comes down to New York.” I said, trying to ease her worry.

She nodded, but I could tell she was still worried. “I just wished she would tell us what's wrong so we can help her. I don't like secrets.”

I felt the hidden pain behind her words. Lots of people had kept things from Dallas, things that hurt her, and I understood she was tired of it. My chest constricted as I wondered how she would react when she found out the secrets I was keeping.

“Keeping secrets doesn't always go wrong. Sometimes people keep them so they don't hurt the people they love.”

Dallas didn't say anything after that, but she look she gave me held a million questions she would probably never get an answer to. Because I would rather keep my past hidden forever than lose the family I had found.