Take Out Chef

Chapter Three

The walk back home felt too long. I did look carefully where I stepped, and I was so excited to tell Juno and Seth about everything that had happened, that I didn't seem to get fast enough.

I arrived twenty minutes later. My lips quirked as I saw our house and I hurried to get to the front stairs. The door opened and my brother came out squealing like a little girl. I almost burst out laughing at him.

"Did you get in! Did you get in!"

"Kind of. I'll explain inside."

Exasperated, Seth grabbed me by the elbow and pulled me to the front hall. "Ouch Seth!" I rubbed my arm as he closed the door.

"Well?" He started tapping his left foot impatiently.

He looked so much like Mom. He had inherited her chestnut hair and the hazel eyes. The only thing that reminded me of our father were his dimples when he smiled.

"Jess!" He raised his arms in exasperation.

I rolled my eyes. I wanted to tell him and Juno at the same time. I glanced around. The house felt quiet. Too quiet. I also noticed the red roses in the living room.

Wait. Red roses?

I gestured at the flowers. "Where's Juno? Who brought them?"

In that moment, I wished I had a secret admirer. However, my love life was null. I never had time to date since I was working all the time.

"Sheesh... Jess how do you keep a job? You're such a daydreamer!" Seth whined annoyed.

If only he knew. Apparently, I couldn't.

The smell of fresh baked chocolate deliciousness hit my nostrils. Juno made brownies! They were easily, the best brownies in the whole wide world. It didn't matter that she baked them every week. Seth and I still fought over them.

The aroma led me to the kitchen and Seth followed behind me. This room never failed to make you feel warm and homey. It was painted in a light yellow lemon. A rustic wooden table for four stood in the middle of the room. The highlight of the kitchen was the bright blue kitchenaid that I had gotten Juno for Christmas.

It had been a huge sacrifice to afford it. I had to work my ass for the previous eight months and pretty much save more than half of my paycheck, but the huge smile on her face when she opened the large box was priceless.

Seth hopped on the counter it as he watched me amused.

"Salivating over today's brownies, huh?"

I walked to the refrigerator to get something to drink. "Where did you say, she was?" I took out the iced tea pitcher and poured myself a glass.

Seth shrugged. "On a date."

I spat peach tea all over the place, even Seth, who jumped off the counter and glared at me as he tried to clean himself up with the kitchen towel that was hanging over the sink.

"What!" My eyes widened.

"This is so gross!" Seth complained, "You're cleaning this up, you know?"

"Oh. Shut it!" I snatched the towel from his hands and started to wipe angrily at my mess.

My grandmother was on a date? When did that happen?

"Who's the guy?" I asked still cleaning the table.

"Mr. Gomez."

I stopped with the rag mid-air, "The butcher?" I blinked at him.

Seth nodded. "I hope we get discount on rib-eye or something." He shook his head. "That's better than stupid roses."