Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
When he realized she was gone, his facial expression shifted. The rage in his eyes flickered out as he blinked a few times. His shoulders dropped as his grimace faded. The house felt still as Dad stood in place with Mom’s disappearance. A sudden burst of finality hit the pit of my stomach as we stood in the space that now felt unfamiliar to me. The absence of Mom’s presence was the loudest silence I’d ever experienced in my life.
He turned toward me, and I tossed my hands behind my back, hiding the ring in my hold.
His eyebrows relaxed, his mouth parted, and his brown eyes glassed over like Mom’s. He looked sad. It was a kind of sad I’d never seen before. The kind that looked as if it would last forever. Instead of the intense warrior he’d been a few moments before, he was now just…Dad. A regular person who was hurting due to love. I didn’t know love could hurt so much.
His nostrils stopped flaring as he took short breaths. The shortened inhalations shifted to longer ones as he tried to calm himself down. His trembling lips pressed together as he continued looking at me.
I stared back with a tight chest, wide-eyed with confusion. Dad almost forced a smile but was too exhausted to complete the act. The left corner of his mouth twitched up before it dropped. He didn’t frown, either, though. He stood still as all signs of emotions left his system. As his slightly drooped shoulders rose, he began rebuilding himself to a neutral position. His posture straightened, and his exterior shell hardened once more. I’d never seen Dad cry, but he seemed close to tears for a few moments before growing hard again. I wished he had let it happen, but we didn’t have that kind of family. Tears weren’t a part of our characteristics—only yelling had been. Whenever I felt like crying, I’d punch my pillow instead. I’d learned that from my parents.
Dad’s brows bent, and he shook his head slightly. “Go to bed, Alex.”
CHAPTER 7
Alex
Present Day
It didn’t take long for Nathan to convince me to partner with his family’s farm. I’d taken a few trips to Honey Farms to inspect their ingredients and concluded I’d be an idiot not to use their products in my restaurant. The quality was remarkable, and the family took pride in their farmland.
Plus, now I could say I was using Nathan Pierce’s tomatoes, which seemed like an odd but grand flex. What I didn’t expect over the next few days was a ton of other small-town individuals to show up at my restaurant, pushing their products on me.
When I showed up after a busy day of doing paperwork, I found my new staff standing around at the bar with an older Asian gentleman pouring them all a few glasses of wine.
“You see the difference, right? The crisp hint of honey tones hits your tastebuds,” the guy explained as he set down the bottle of wine.
“What the heck is going on?” I barked, startling my staff. It had only been a few days, but it was clear I’d already placed a solid amount of fear in their spirits, which was a win in my book.
“Good afternoon, Chef,” they all said in unison, placing their wineglasses down.
I cocked an eyebrow. “Are you all drinking on the clock?”
“Technically, we’re working,” Eddie, the sommelier, mentioned. “Sammy was going over the menu with us all, and we were sampling the tapas with the wine when Mr. Yang stopped by with samples of his wine from the local winery.”
“You must be the owner! Alex Ramírez. I’ve heard great things.” Mr. Yang looked at me with a bright smile. His gray hair matched his beard as he grabbed a glass and poured a sample. He walked over toward me and extended it my way. “I’m Lee Yang, the owner of Honey Bee Winery, and I am excited to showcase a few of my best wines.”
“We already have our wine selection pulled,” I coldly said. “I’m not sure why Eddie hasn’t notified you of this.”
“Oh, he did,” Lee mentioned, forcing the wine stem into my grip. “I just have a way of being a bit pushy. Plus, Tatiana is a good friend and a long-time Honey Bee Winery supporter.”
Tatiana gave me that same smile she’d delivered during her interview. Though, looking back, it was more so that she interviewed me, not vice versa. “Lee is a gem. You’ll love his stuff. Trust me.”
I cleared my throat. “We already—”
Before I could finish my thought, Lee tilted the glass to my face, forcing me to take a sip, and then he grabbed one of the appetizers and shoved it into my mouth. After almost choking on the drink and food, I swallowed and was about to cuss him out for his aggression, but…I couldn’t get over how good the combination was. I narrowed my eyes and grunted as I took another sip of the wine.