Personal Chef

Chapter 40

The North American festival dates were a lot more fun than the shows in Europe had been because it was so nice to not have to hide our relationship. I was slowly growing used to finding pictures of me and Shawn on social media. Any time we were caught holding hands or smiling at each other, his fans went nuts.

He posted plenty of pictures of us on social media. He'd rarely done this with Kat, so it made me feel special that he liked sharing these overly-cute couple pics of us. He'd started this thing where at least twice a week he would take a photo of himself kissing me on the cheek. After posting these several of these in a row, it became something his fans asked for. We'd be someplace random, like maybe the elevator of the condo or the back of a limo, and he'd pull out his phone and give me a smackaroo on the cheek and take a pic.

The funniest photo of this type was taken on his birthday. We were at his parents' house for a small family party. He took a huge bite of cake and then kissed me, leaving frosting all over my cheek. He then licked it off, but of course he didn't take a second picture showing that. Aaliyah did, however, and it caused quite a stir in the fandom. If only they knew about his other frosting-licking experience.

Shawn only had a couple festivals left as the summer started to wind down. Before those final shows, he joined me in Vancouver for Drew and Lainey's baby shower. There was no reason for him not to go now that we had nothing to hide.

We booked a hotel room at the Fairmont that had a gorgeous view of the water. We arrived on Friday morning and had an early flight out on Sunday. The shower was Saturday evening, so we had some time to explore the city. On Friday afternoon, Shawn insisted we take a charter boat out for a couple hours to tour Horseshoe Bay. The view was spectacular and I understood why my brother had relocated to this city.

That night, we had reservations at Chambar, a fine Belgian restaurant in Vancouver. As a chef, I loved going out and trying new foods.

We started with the foie gras, because you can never go wrong with that. For our entrees, Shawn chose a duck breast and goat cheese gnocchi dish that was divine. I made careful notes in my phone with hopes I could duplicate the recipe, because it was both beautifully colorful and delicious. I opted for the braised wild boar belly, since I knew I wouldn't have a chance to try that again anytime soon. For dessert, Shawn ordered the chocolate torte and I got a variation on s'mores that had a graham cracker cookie and marshmallow ice cream, topped with a bourbon chocolate swirl. It was heavenly.

On Saturday morning, we had breakfast at our hotel before going to Stanley Park to walk around for several hours. Shawn was stopped frequently and happily took photos with dozens of people. The location was beautiful, and I thought how lucky the fans were to get pics with Shawn in front of some of the prettiest gardens that existed.

After eating ice cream for lunch, we went back to the hotel to get ready for the shower. Shawn wore black jeans and a pale pink button down shirt. I wore a light blue sundress. The invitation stated that we were supposed to dress in pink or blue, depending on what we thought the baby was. Normally I'd have balked at such outdated gender-based color concepts, but I played along because it was pretty cute.

We arrived at Lainey's parents' home which was located just outside of the city, since they were throwing the shower. I hugged my sister-in-law's mom and introduced her to Shawn as she let us in.

"We're so glad you could make it!" she said. "Everyone is in back."

We walked through the house to the backyard. They had a deck and a patio that were decorated in pink and blue. We passed the gift table on our way to where my parents stood, and I set down the present we'd brought. I'd found a darling cashmere baby blanket online that I couldn't resist buying.