Don’t Fall for the Doctor by Lacey Bolt

Chapter 20

Ashley bent over the steaming-hot bowl of soup sitting in front of her at Kelly’s table while Michael laughed at something Kelly said. He still hadn’t picked up his spoon. Kelly reached for a piece of bread from the basket in the center of the table and slowly spread butter on top. Michael touched the spoon, moved it an inched, and then released the spoon from his grasp and instead reached for the breadbasket.

Ashley sank in her chair. She should have made a salad to go along with the soup. Or something else, altogether. Anything except her family’s most guarded recipe. Her mom didn’t even share the recipe with the newspaper when the dish won first prize at the state fair twenty years ago.

Kelly said something else. Whatever she said must have been funny because Michael chuckled again while he spread butter on his bread. Ashley forced a smile on her face. She should have left when she had the chance. If she discovered that the car wouldn’t work even minutes earlier, she could have walked to the bus stop before Michael had the chance to go outside and find her.

Finally, Michael stopped spreading butter on his bread and reached for his spoon with his left hand. She’d never noticed he was left-handed. She twisted the corner of her lip. He wrote with his right hand at work. Maybe he used his left hand to eat and his right hand to write.

In slow motion, he dipped the spoon in the bowl, then raised it to his mouth. The spoon held a piece of dumpling and carrots. He opened his mouth, put the food in, and closed his mouth over it, then chewed slowly and swallowed.

Ashley stood up. “I’m going to check the food in the oven.”

Kelly motioned for her to sit down. “I took it out of the oven already. Looked perfect.”

Ashley sank into her chair again. She glanced at Michael out of the corner of her eye. He ate another spoonful of soup. “Kelly, what do you think of the food?” Maybe Michael would get the hint and say something too.

Kelly took a sip from her spoon. “It’s exactly what I expected.”

That was no help. Kelly usually raved about the soup. She turned to Michael and tried to look relaxed. “Is yours hot enough? I hope it didn’t cool down too much while we were, um, outside.”

He glanced up at her, spoon halfway to his mouth. He hesitated, then put the spoon back in the bowl. “Did you actually make this?”

She tilted her head. “Yes.”

“From scratch?”

She nodded.

“In Kelly’s kitchen, just now?”

“Well, yes and no. I made the broth the other day but made the rest of the dish tonight.”

“Whose recipe did you use?”

She hesitated. “It’s been in my family for decades, but . . .” The words caught in her throat. Her leg muscles twitched, and she tapped her foot on the floor. “My parents and I made some improvements to the recipe when I was a kid.”

He took another sip of the soup and groaned in satisfaction. “Are your parents chefs or something?”

Ashley picked up her spoon and stirred her soup. She shook her head.

Kelly jumped in. “Ashley is one of the best cooks you’ll ever meet. She has a natural knack for cooking.”

Michael smiled. “It really is amazing soup.”

Ashley sat up taller and stopped tapping her foot. He liked her soup. He even said it was amazing. The corners of her mouth turned up. She looked down at the soup to hide her expression. “It’s nothing, really.”

Michael looked at her after swallowing another bite. “You should consider opening up a restaurant or cafe. I bet you’d have people lined up around the corner.”

She shook her head and felt her cheeks catch on fire. “I only cook for fun. I’ll never do it for money.”

“You could at least go to culinary school.”

Ashley’s stomach churned. She raised her gaze to Kelly and frowned. “Kelly, did you tell him—”

Kelly interrupted her and turned to Michael. “Ashley has different goals in life. She’d be the star student in any cooking class, but she’s on her way to graduate school to become a social worker.”

Ashley clenched her teeth. Kelly barely masked the disappointment in her voice.

“Really? Which school?”

Ashley sighed. “That’s the problem.” She looked at Kelly and tried to ignore Michael’s presence. “I just heard back from the last school. I wasn’t accepted, but they didn’t reject me either. I’m on the waitlist.”

Kelly smiled and reached forward, patting Ashley’s hand with enthusiasm. “That’s good! Better than nothing. There’s still a chance, and if you don’t get in this year, you can try again next year.”

Michael had the good sense to eat the rest of his soup in silence.

A few more minutes went by before Kelly broke in again. “So Ashley, how was work today? Thanks again for covering my shifts.”

“It was alright. Jessica says hello.”

“She’s so sweet. Did Gwen get on your case today?”

“No, she didn’t, and actually, she was really weird. She stopped me before lunch and assigned me a brand new cleaning cart. She said something about someone complaining about the old cart. Can you believe it? I told her about the broken wheel almost every day, and she acted like she never knew about it until someone else complained. Did you say something to her?”

“No, I didn’t say anything today, but it’s about time. I never knew how you managed to drag around that broken cart day after day.”

“Well, I could kiss whoever it was who complained to Gwen about that.” Ashley glanced a look at Michael out of the corner of her eye. Should she ask him about his day? What was the normal thing to do when talking to a doctor outside of work? He looked odd, though. His cheeks were flushed and he scratched his neck. A thought hit her like a ton of bricks.

“Um, Michael, you aren’t allergic to anything, are you? Your face looks really red.” The newspaper would go crazy with a story like that: “Hospital Cleaner Kills Famous Doctor, Sentenced to Life in Prison”

He coughed and shook his head. “No, I’m fine. I’m not allergic to anything.” She raised her eyebrows at him. “I promise, I’m just, um . . .” He snapped his fingers. “Can I have the soup recipe? I have a friend who owns a restaurant downtown. Harvest House. He might be interested in buying the recipe from you.”

Ashley gasped. “You know Chef Houghton?”

He nodded. “Jeff and I go back a long time. I was the best man at his wedding. He told me the other day that he wants to change his menu again. He’s coming up with new recipes.”

“You think he’d actually like this soup?” She studied his face. Kelly liked her food, but she was family. Family was supposed to support one another. But Michael had no reason to lie.

“I can’t make any guarantees, but this soup is pretty incredible. He pays top dollar for new recipes. Can I send him your recipe?”

Ashley’s head started spinning. Top dollar. That sounded like enough for a deposit on an apartment and maybe a car repair. There might even be enough money to set aside for graduate school expenses.

She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “No.”

“No?” He stared at her as if she had two heads.

“I don’t share this recipe with anyone. It’s not for sale.” She crossed her arms and stared at him—end of discussion.

He paused. “But wouldn’t the money be helpful? I can’t imagine that the hospital pays you very much, and your car needs work. Plus, grad school is expensive. Wouldn’t extra money make things easier?”

She deepened her glare. There was no need for his pity. “I can take care of myself, and my financial situation is none of your business. Some things can’t be bought. My recipe is one of them.”

He opened his mouth, then closed it. He looked over to Kelly, who shrugged.

“Ashley won’t even give this recipe to me.”

He planted his gaze on Ashley again. “If not this recipe, you probably have others you could sell.”

She stood up. “Done eating? There are brownies in the kitchen. I’ll be back.” She grabbed his half-eaten bowl of soup along with Kelly’s empty bowl.

She walked out of the room and placed the bowls in the sink. She inhaled deeply and splashed cold water on her face. He didn’t know. She couldn’t blame him for not knowing. He had no idea that she dreamed of becoming a professional chef. To look around a restaurant and know that the customers were eating food she had made from recipes that she’d perfected. He also had no idea that her parents hated that plan. And he had no idea that they died the same day she argued with them about dropping out of college to attend culinary school instead.

He had no idea about any of that, and she acted like a fool by storming out of the room with the rest of his meal. He’d probably run away before she returned with the brownies. She strained her ears, but no sounds floated through from the dining room.

She splashed her face with water again. It didn’t help. She shouldn’t have let her imagination run wild and think she had a chance with him. He only helped her with her car because he was polite. No other reason. Even if he did like her, she ruined any chance she’d ever have.

She dried her hands on the kitchen towel and grabbed the brownies. She couldn’t stay out of the dining room any longer unless she wanted both of them to think she forgot how to walk from one room to another.

Taking the brownies and a knife in one hand and a stack of small plates in the other, she straightened her spine and entered the dining room again. Michael and Kelly sat at the table, deep in whispered conversation.

Kelly glanced up, and her eyes widened at the sight of Ashley. She nudged Michael with her elbow, and he turned to her, ducking his head.

A ball formed in the pit of Ashley’s stomach. There was no reason she should have been so rude to him. She shouldn’t have taken away his food before he finished. Now, she bit her lip and cut the brownies, placing a large one on his plate and then setting it in front of him. “You aren’t allergic to anything, are you? Nuts?”

He shook his head. “Looks good.”

Kelly stole the plate and brownie from in front of him and pressed her lips together.

Ashley held her breath. She recognized Kelly’s look. Michael needed to watch his step or he’d face her wrath. His insides had probably already turned to ice.

Michael reached out and grabbed the plate back from Kelly. Bold move.

Kelly picked up her forked and speared his brownie. She left the empty plate in front of him and held the brownie on the fork like a prized trophy.

Whatever those two were arguing about, Kelly won. Kelly walked out of the dining room with her brownie.

“What happened? Do you want another brownie?” Ashley lowered her voice to a whisper.

He shook his head. “Nothing. Yes. I mean, yes to the brownie.”

She cut another generously sized brownie and placed it on a clean plate. She started to cut one for herself, then stopped. “I should really go home. It’s getting late.” She started to stand up from her chair.

“Wait.” He reached out and placed his hand on her arm gently. He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry if I upset you when I asked for the soup recipe. I respect that it’s a family secret. Some things can’t be sold. But how about I introduce you to Jeff and his wife instead? I could arrange a meeting.”

Ashley’s jaw dropped. “You’d introduce me to Chef Houghton? That’d be amazing!”

He nodded.

“Absolutely!” She tried to control the smile spreading across her face. She cleared her throat and focused on speaking slowly, like a regular person and not a super-fan. “I mean, yes. That sounds nice.”

“Tomorrow night good for you?”

“Yes!”

“Great. I’ll pick you up at seven.”