Determined (Determined Trilogy Book 1) by Elizabeth Brown

Author:Elizabeth Brown [Brown, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-12-03T00:00:00+00:00

I was putting the final touches on the table when the doorbell rang. Leslie tended to the door while I lit the candles. I was blowing out a match when I heard footsteps come up behind me.

“Sam, this is Greg, our new neighbor.”

Greg was more attractive than I expected. He had a young face, but dark salt and pepper hair. He was carrying a white box in his hands.

“Hi, Greg. Nice to meet you.” I reached out my hand, and he shuffled his box to free up his right hand to meet mine.

“Good to meet you, Sam.”

“Greg, I think I told you, Sam lives around back in the cottage.”

I smiled. I always thought it was cute how Leslie referred to the tiny studio as ‘the cottage.’

“I sure do. How are you enjoying the neighborhood, Greg?”

“Oh, day one has been great. Everyone has been so friendly and welcoming. Present company included.” He handed the white box to Leslie “I almost forgot. This is for you. It’s a pear tart. I got it from the bakery down the street.”

Leslie peeked inside the box. “It looks lovely, thank you, Greg. That was very thoughtful.”

Clark appeared in the doorway with the enamel pot. “Ladies and gentleman, dinner is served.”

We gathered around the dining table as Clark dished up the fragrant coq au vin. The table murmured in appreciation as we tasted his creation.

“Clark, this is amazing.”

“Sam, has Clark ever told you how he learned to cook?”

I thought for a moment, “No, I don’t think so.”

“Clark, do you want to tell it, or should I?” Leslie’s eyes sparkled.

“Go ahead, dear.”

“So, you know Clark and I both met while we were in law school, right?”

“Yes, at Yale.”

“That’s right, Sam. Well, we had just started dating, and I thought maybe he didn’t like me, because whenever I’d try to see him, he had an excuse.” She smiled at him. “It was always, ‘Oh I’ve got chess club’ or ‘Oh I have a rugby game’.” I thought he was the busiest man on the planet. I couldn’t figure out how he was keeping up with his studies with all these extracurricular activities. Lord knew I was barely keeping up myself.”

I looked over at Clark, and he was sitting there, smiling at her. It was obvious he was still entirely smitten with her. It was sweet.

Leslie continued. “So one day, I was ready to break it off with him, but something told me to go down to the field. Clark was supposed to be at Rugby practice that night. So I climbed onto the bleachers and watched, looking for him. But he wasn’t there. So I marched back to his dorm and planted myself outside until he came back. Finally, after two hours of waiting in the cold, he showed up in chef whites, smelling like garlic. It turned out he had been working as a line cook at a restaurant in town. He’d been working that job as a way of paying his way through school, but he’d been too ashamed to admit it.

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