Personal Chef

Chapter 87

I'd just finished rolling out some sugar cookie dough when Paige popped into the kitchen. She was still working at the bistro while she continued to half-heartedly look for another job.

"Shawn's here," she said. "He told me not to disturb you if you were busy, but I figured you'd want to know."

"It's an odd time for him to come by," I noted as I looked at the clock.

Shawn usually stopped by just after the breakfast or lunch rush. It was almost three o'clock.

Paige took over the cookies, since she'd become an excellent baker during the time she'd worked for me. I washed my hands and went out to the dining room. Shawn was at his table drinking a small coffee and eating a gingerbread man. I sat down next to him.

"Hi, handsome."

"Well hello there," he said with a grin. "How's cookie baking?"

"Time consuming. What brings you by so late?" I asked.

He leaned towards me and kissed my cheek before whispering in my ear, "I missed you."

I felt a blush creep over my cheeks.

"You get me all to yourself for three days," I said.

We were leaving for the Lake Couchiching cabin early the next morning to celebrate our first anniversary.

"I can't wait," he said with a sexy smirk.

I sat with him as he finished his cookie and then kissed him goodbye. When he was gone, I rejoined Paige in the kitchen.

"Let me guess. He missed you?" she asked.

"Pretty much."

"You two are disgustingly cute," she said. "It's almost quitting time for me. I'll see you when you get back from your romantic getaway."

I gave her a big hug. "Thanks for covering for me!"

"Anything for you. Happy anniversary, Chelsea."

Roslyn showed up as Paige was leaving. We went over some business details as I decorated the sugar cookies. Before I knew it, it was time to go home.

When I walked through the door of the condo, I was greeted by a very amorous husband. He pulled me in for a big kiss after I set dinner on the table. We were always so happy to see each other no matter how long or short our time apart had been. I didn't ever want that feeling to end.

The next morning, we loaded up my SUV and hit the road. After weeks of research, I'd picked out a Volvo XC90. Shawn insisted we upgrade to the top model for the added safety features, and I hadn't argued, though I had paid for half of the car myself. It was a pretty gray blue metallic color, and I'd fallen in love with it.

We had a leisurely lunch in a small town near the lake. I had a hot pot roast sandwich and he ate a big bowl of mac and cheese. No one appeared to recognize Shawn, or maybe they just didn't care. It was refreshing when he was able to be anonymous.

We stopped at the home of the cabin manager and Shawn went inside and got the keys. He got back in the car and frowned.

"Bad news. Our cabin had a plumbing issue so we're staying in a different one instead."

I was a bit disappointed in this turn of events. The whole point was that we were supposed to spend time in the cabin where we'd gotten engaged. I put on a happy face for Shawn's sake since there was nothing we could do.

"What's important is that we're together for our anniversary," I said cheerfully.

We drove further around the lake and parked in front of a much bigger cabin. It was made of logs like our old one, but was much more aesthetically pleasing architecturally. When we walked inside, and I could tell the place had recently been redecorated. Everything looked brand new and I smelled the faint odor of fresh paint.