The Chef's Sick Mate (Book 17 of the Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 55

After Lincoln left, Gen went down to her mother's apartment and walked inside. She walked back to the bedroom and found her mother sitting back there in a chair crocheting. "Hi Gen, you're back. Is Lincoln with you?"

"No, Linc had to go to work," Gen told her.

"Oh. What does he do?"

"He's a chef at a restaurant," Gen said, sitting down on the chair across from her mom.

"Really?"

"Yeah, He went to school for it in Italy and France."

Melissa's eyebrows shot up. "Does he cook here too? The food is excellent."

"No, he said that there's a woman named Brianna who cooks, but sometimes he helps out. He said she's taught him a lot," Gen told her. The food was excellent. She remembered the first time she'd seen him; he'd been carrying a dish into the dining room. And she'd run. She mentally smacked herself upside the head. No more running, she told herself.

Her mother nodded. "What did he say about earlier?"

"Not much, though I think he was a little upset when he heard about everything that had been wrong with me," Gen told her. She hadn't expected him to react the way he did. She wondered what he'd been thinking when he sat there holding her.

"He was very patient through all of that, Gen." Melissa smiled.

"He's been very patient the entire time. He's been amazing so far. I really like him," Gen admitted.

"Aidan and Ana have explained a lot of this whole mate thing to me. How he's basically your perfect match."

"Yes. I'm going to move in with him." Tonight.

She nodded. "I want to be wary, but just be careful. I know neither of you is human, and Aidan told me that the chances of this not working out are pretty much zilch."

"Are you going to become a werewolf?" It was something her mother hadn't said a word about.

"I don't know. I'm thinking about it. Aidan told me I would end up with a mate. I'm not sure how I feel about that," she said quietly.

"You really miss Dad, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. I wish things had worked out differently between us. I wish that he could have kept his nose clean and we could have stayed together." Melissa sighed, stopping and staring off across the room.

"I feel like it was my fault," Gen mumbled.

Melissa focused on her, a frown on her face. "No, it wasn't your fault. I won't lie to you and tell you that it didn't stress us out because it did, but that wasn't what we separated over. Your father couldn't stay out of trouble. I had to protect you and your sister. He just added to my stress."

Gen nodded. Stress that she had created. "I'm going to take stuff up to Lincoln's. It'll be something to pass the time until he gets back."

"Would you like some help?"

"Sure, I wouldn't mind that."

For the next few hours, Melissa and Gen worked at moving things up into Linc's apartment. They stopped for dinner, heading down to the dining hall to eat. Gen was still not fully comfortable with eating a lot, though. Lincoln seemed determined to get her to eat more. She noticed it earlier, when they went to breakfast and lunch. She hadn't put very much on her plate, and he had scooped some onto his and then added more to hers.

"Lincoln, I will never eat this much," she protested.

"Just eat as much as you can," he said softly.

"Is this your way of telling me that I don't eat enough?"