Vicious Valentine Read online

  Stepping into the hall that led from the kitchen to the small office was, literally, a breath of fresh air. The kitchen was boiling hot with the ovens and burners so active, and the cooler air in the hall felt like paradise after the hours spent sweltering over the stove. From the hall’s other entrance, she could hear the swells of conversation coming from the dining area, but she turned the other way, toward the office. It was a tiny room, with a single desk, two chairs, a small end table next to one of them, and a full-length mirror on the wall. She stood in front of the mirror as she brushed her hair, returned it to its ponytail, and tucked the hair net back around it. The office was quiet, and she took a moment to simply enjoy the peace before she left the room again, this time heading for the door to the dining area.

  The volume swelled around her as she opened the door and stepped through the threshold. It wasn’t very busy yet, but everyone was in high spirits and a few people were sipping drinks and laughing by the small bar, which had recently been opened for the evening. Hannah spotted Vanessa standing impatiently by the bar, near the door that led directly into the kitchen, and changed direction to go say hello to her before starting her rounds.

  “I didn’t expect to see you in here today,” Hannah said as she approached the other woman.

  Vanessa, who had been staring impatiently at the kitchen door, looked up. “I thought you and Rory had big plans.”

  “We do,” Vanessa said, annoyance already seeping into her voice. “But my coworker, who was supposed to take my normal shift today, called in at the last minute. I’m going to have to work today after all.”

  “I’m sorry,” Hannah said, grimacing. “Will you have time to go out afterward?”

  The door to the kitchen opened and Shayne came through, carrying a to-go bag. He handed it over to Vanessa, who thanked him as she opened the bag and peeked inside. Seemingly satisfied that it was the correct order, she rolled the bag back up and pushed away from the wall.

  “I asked Rory to just pick up some food and stop by my apartment this evening. Another of my coworkers said he’d be able to take the last half of my shift tonight. If he ends up changing his mind too, I’ll have to cancel completely.”

  “I hope it all works out,” Hannah said, stepping back so Vanessa could get by her. “Let me know how it goes.”

  “I will,” she promised, giving an absent wave goodbye as she strode toward the door. “Sorry, I’m in a hurry – Helena gave me almost no time to get ready for work and –” She broke off, coming to a stop in the middle of the walkway between the bar area and the main dining area. Hannah, who had been about to turn and follow Shayne back into the kitchen, intending to get back to work herself, paused and took a step toward Vanessa in concern.

  “I’m going to kill her,” Vanessa said flatly, her hand tightening its grip on the to-go bag.

  Becoming truly worried now, Hannah hurried over to her friend. “What’s wrong?”

  “That…” She ground her teeth. “Woman. She told me she was sick. Food poisoning or the flu or something. But does it look like she’s emptying her guts into a toilet right now? It doesn’t to me. And what on earth is she doing with him?”

  Hannah followed Vanessa’s gaze to a tall, smartly dressed blonde with her hair falling in waves past her shoulders. The woman was arm in arm with a handsome man, all her attention focused on him. She didn’t see Vanessa until it was too late.

  The couple was almost even with Vanessa and Hannah when the woman, Helena, glanced over at them. Her eyes widened as she spotted Vanessa. The man she was with spotted her at the same time and quickly disengaged his arm from Helena’s. She shot him an affronted look, but the effect was somewhat wrecked by the anxious glance she gave Vanessa afterward.

  “Vanessa… I thought you’d be at work.”

  “I thought you’d be huddled in bed with a thermometer in your mouth,” Vanessa snapped back. “I guess we were both wrong.”

  “I was feeling sick,” Helena started. “But then… well, I started feeling better and you had already agreed to take the shift…”

  “You called me half an hour ago,” Vanessa said, her voice low and dangerous. “I find it hard to believe that you recovered from your mysterious illness so quickly.”

  “I… I…”

  The man Helena was with touched her elbow and jerked his head toward the tables. “Are we going to sit down or not?” Even though his words were directed at Helena, his gaze seemed to be caught on Vanessa. Vanessa looked back at him coldly.

  “We shouldn’t have come here,” Helena said. “Vanessa, I’ll make the shift up to you, I promise –”

  “Save it,” Vanessa said coldly. “Go enjoy your date.” She sneered. “Really, though, Helena? You could’ve done better than my ex.”

  Corbin’s lips pressed together but he didn’t say anything as Helena finally turned and began walking in the direction they had originally been heading, her gait stiff. He followed behind her, shooting Vanessa a dirty look.

  “Wow,” Hannah said in a low voice. “I take it we’re going to talk about that later.”

  “Oh, yes, you can count on it,” Vanessa said, still glaring after the couple. “I’ve got to go now, though. I still have a shift to cover.”

  After trading short goodbyes, Vanessa left the restaurant and Hannah turned to finally go into the kitchen. She found Nadia, the other new member of the waitstaff, standing behind her with a tray full of dirty dishes and wide eyes.

  “Hopefully, that’s the most excitement we have this evening,” Hannah said, giving her a small smile. She didn’t want the younger woman to be intimidated by the drama. “You’ll see Vanessa around a lot. I promise, when she’s not angry, she’s a lot less intimidating.”

  “Intimidating?” Nadia asked, blinking. “She’s so cool. Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I heard enough of that to get the gist of what was going on. I would have been a mess if my coworker waltzed in here with my ex on Valentine’s Day.”

  Chapter Three

  The evening ran Hannah ragged. As one of the nicest restaurants in the area, Hawk’s Place was the go-to destination for Valentine’s Day dates. Some couples had driven nearly an hour to dine there, and those that didn’t have a reservation usually ended up staying even with a long wait. Hannah barely had time to think as she made dish after dish, barking out orders to Brian and Tony more sharply than she would have liked. She felt bad for Tony once she had a chance to regroup as they began winding down – he was still new there, and while he was taking to the work well, he was nowhere near as efficient in the kitchen as she and Brian were. She had snapped at him one or two times and already regretted it. She knew the horrible feeling of having a head chef berate you for something that wasn’t your fault and had wanted to avoid doing the same when she opened her own restaurant. She only hoped that she hadn’t scared him off from the job and that she would be able to make it up to him in the coming weeks by taking the time to show him the ropes more calmly. The training all the new employees had gotten had left him with the basics, but only time would give him the techniques he needed to match the pace of the more experienced kitchen staff. Even something as simple as chopping vegetables needed practice and skill to do well.

  She was reassured when she saw him chatting and laughing with Brian as they finished tidying up the kitchen before closing. He didn’t look too put out, though he did look exhausted – they all were. She couldn’t wait to fall into her bed and sleep late into the next morning, but first, she had her date with Ben.

  She had only had a couple glimpses of him throughout the evening – he had come in during their busiest hours to work security, and neither of them had time for anything other than a quick hello. Despite how exhausted she was, she was looking forward to sitting down and having a meal together, just the two of them. In fact, the sight of their entrées, plated only minutes ago by Brian, who had insisted on making the meal for her, made her stomach growl.

  “You should go.”

 
; The words made Hannah jump. She realized she had been staring blankly at next week's schedule sheet for the past minute or two. Brian was looking at her when she turned around.

  “Go?”

  He waved a hand at the door. “Go get ready for your date. We can finish closing.”

  “I still have to –”

  He made a shooing motion with his hands. “Look, Tony needs someone to walk him through the closing routine again, which means that it’s going to take longer than usual. I don’t mind doing it – I’ve got exactly zero plans for tonight. You, on the other hand, have someone waiting out there in the dining area for you right now. Whatever else you have to do, it can wait until tomorrow. Right now, you should go and enjoy yourself.”

  “But –” She broke off, sighed, and smiled. “Thanks, Brian. You’re a gem.”

  She hurried out of the kitchen, heading down the short hall to the office where she did her best to fix her hair after changing into the fresh blouse she had brought with her for her date. After a quick stop in the restroom to touch up her makeup in the better lighting, she found Ben in the dining room. He was sitting at the bar, squinting to read the labels on the bottles that were shelved along the wall behind the counter. When he heard her, he turned and his face relaxed into a smile.

  “Are you on the job, or is it officially time for our date?”

  “My sous chef kicked me out of the kitchen, so it looks like it’s date time,” she said with a smile of her own.

  “Good.” He rose and took her hand, leading her toward a table in the middle of the room. It had a tablecloth on it that she didn’t recognize, and a vase of flowers. There was already a bottle of wine waiting for them next to the vase.

  “Did you do this?” she asked as she took a seat across from him.

  “Well, I wanted to do something nice. I know how much you love Hawk’s Place, but I thought if I decorated our table a little it might feel like we were eating somewhere that you didn’t also own, so you could escape the feeling of being at work for a while.”

  “It’s lovely,” she said. “Thank you. I felt bad that you had to wait for me while we were closing, but I guess you kept busy.”

  “I didn’t mind waiting,” he said as he picked up the wine bottle and raised his eyebrows. She nodded and he poured some into her glass. “Honestly, it was nice to have some downtime. The restaurant was busy tonight.”

  “It was insane,” she breathed, taking a sip of her wine. “I’m glad we finally found some new hires. We really needed all hands on deck today.”

  “How did everyone do?”

  “Pretty well. I think there was a mix-up with one order, and Shayne got sick so he had to leave early, but overall, everyone did well. I know Brian is thankful to finally have someone to help him in the kitchen.” She winced. “It probably wasn’t a very fun day today for Tony. We sort of threw him into the deep end.”

  “I’m sure he knows not every shift will be as crazy as this one was. I’m really glad the restaurant is doing so well, though. You must be so proud of it.”

  “I am,” Hannah said. “It still feels like a dream come true to me. Moving here was probably one of the best decisions I ever made.”

  “No arguments here.”

  She grinned and took another sip of wine, feeling the stress from earlier begin to melt away. When the door to the kitchen opened, she looked around to see Brian bringing out the appetizers, for which they had put the orders in prior to the kitchen closing. The food wouldn’t be quite as freshly made, but at least this way no one would have to stay up late to shut the kitchen down after their date.

  He put a platter of softshell crab and a second one of pita chips and spinach dip down on the table in front of them. They both thanked him before he walked away. The scent of the food reminded her just how hungry she was.

  “This is nice,” Ben said. “Us having the restaurant to ourselves, I mean.”

  “It is. I’m so used to seeing this place filled with people, having a chance to just sit and talk by ourselves –” she broke off as a buzzing sound came from her phone, which was still in her pocket. She took it out and glanced at the screen, then put the phone back down after rejecting the call. She silenced her phone for good measure, not wanting her date to be interrupted by anything else.

  “Go ahead and answer it if you need to,” Ben said, gesturing at the phone. “I really don’t mind.”

  “No, it’s just Vanessa,” Hannah said. “She’s probably calling to tell me about her date. Or talk about something that happened earlier today. I’ll get back to her tomorrow.”

  “Oh, yeah, one of the new employees – Nadia, I think? – she told me that Vanessa had a run-in with some other woman earlier.”

  “It happened probably about an hour before you arrived,” Hannah said. “The other woman was Vanessa’s coworker. Vanessa was supposed to have the day off today, but Helena called in sick. Then she showed up at the restaurant…”

  She told him the story of Vanessa and Helena, including the added complication of the fact that Helena was seeing Vanessa’s ex. After that, they chatted about other things – Ben’s work, Hannah’s progress on decorating her house, and their mutual desire for spring to finally arrive. Even with how tired she had been earlier, she felt happy. She wasn’t just waiting for the date to end so she could go home and collapse in her bed as she had been worried she would be. Somehow, being with Ben, talking to him, it energized her instead of exhausting her.

  Brian stayed late despite Hannah’s urging for him to go home. He brought out the dishes they had ordered before closing and even surprised them with a small, heart-shaped chocolate cake with raspberry filling.

  At long last, she and Ben both agreed that they couldn’t eat another bite. She was beginning to feel truly tired now, with her full stomach and the dim lighting, and was glad that her drive home wouldn’t take very long. With no bill to pay, she and Ben carried their dishes back into the kitchen, where they spent a few minutes washing them – she had finally succeeded in sending Brian home after he brought out the cake– and did a once over of the restaurant before walking outside with Ben and locking the doors. As they turned toward the parking lot, she slipped a hand into the crook of his arm. He walked with her to her car.

  “I had a wonderful time,” he said, looking into her eyes as she leaned against the vehicle.

  “I’m sorry I had to work and that we couldn’t go out somewhere else.”

  “This was perfect,” he said. “I couldn’t have come up with a better evening if I’d spent all month planning.”

  “I had a nice time, too,” she said, relaxing into a smile at last. He held her gaze, and took another step forward and lowered his lips to hers. She wasn’t sure how long the kiss lasted, but when it broke, she felt flushed.

  “Do you want to get dinner again sometime next week?” he asked.

  She nodded, fighting back a grin, and said, “Definitely. I’ll have to double check my schedule, but I think I’ve got a few evenings free.”

  “Good. I’m looking forward to it.”

  They said their goodbyes and she got into her vehicle, watching as he started his. He paused, waving at her, before pulling out of the parking lot. Letting her own car warm up, she leaned back in her seat with a sigh and a happy smile. Caroline’s advice from all those months ago was right – she really had needed to build a life that didn’t revolve around work. Dating Ben made her happy, and even if she sometimes felt stressed about juggling a relationship with her job, she wouldn’t have traded it for anything.

  She plugged her phone into the cord she kept in the car and when the screen lit up, she saw that she had a couple of missed calls and a voicemail. With a jolt, she remembered Vanessa’s call from earlier and began to feel the first hint of worry. She thought Vanessa just wanted to chat, but maybe something else was going on. Perhaps her date had gone poorly, and she needed a shoulder to cry on. She’d been so caught up in her own dinner that she hadn’t even taken the time
to wonder why the other woman was calling when she knew perfectly well Hannah was with Ben.

  And now that she was looking at her phone again, she could see that Vanessa had called more than once. She was just about to listen to the voicemail when the caller ID flashed up on the screen with another call from Vanessa, and this time, Hannah answered.

  “Hey,” she said, leaning back in her seat. “Is everything okay?”

  When Vanessa spoke, her voice broke. “Rory is dead.”

  Chapter Four

  Hannah ended the call as soon as Vanessa told her where she was, but only so she could buckle her seatbelt and pull out of the parking lot, going so quickly that her tires screeched on the pavement. She didn’t have the full story yet, but from Vanessa’s tear laden voice, she knew that the other woman desperately needed someone there with her.

  Vanessa’s apartment was just a couple of blocks away from Hawk’s Place. Hannah could see the flashing lights as she drew near, and had to park part way down the block to avoid the gathered emergency vehicles. She got out of her car, barely noticing when she stepped in a puddle of slush by the curb as she hurried toward the apartment building. She stopped only when the snow-speckled form of a police officer in uniform – who looked rather cold, judging by the red tip of his nose – stepped forward to intercept her.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, but this building is a crime scene. Do you live here?”

  “No,” Hannah said. “My friend, Vanessa, she told me to meet her. She told me… she told me someone died.”

  “Right, just give me a second,” he said. He stepped back and raised his radio to his mouth. While he spoke to whoever was on the other end, Hannah stared at the door to the building, feeling a horrible guilt welling up inside of her. She shouldn’t have ignored Vanessa’s call. She should have simply excused herself from dinner and answered it. Ben wouldn’t have minded, especially not once it turned out to be so important.