The Undercover Chef

Chapter 1

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Anna Gubler stood in her expansive kitchen, glancing around at the spotless counters and dishes. Everything was in its place in the nicely furnished room. Everything sparkled, just how she liked it. She was glad everything was finally clean. She sighed in weariness. It had been a very big night, one of the biggest nights of her catering career. She had just catered the Policeman's ball. It had been a huge success, and thank goodness no one had recognized her, but it helped that she lived in a different city and that she used a different name than the one she had used in her former life, one that she tried to forget, but sometimes it was so hard.

Anna glanced around the kitchen once more, her pride and joy. It had taken some money and some time to build this kitchen, but it was a success, her business was a success, even though she had only been in business two years, it was paying off. She glanced at the clock. It was after eleven. No wonder she was so tired, and she was glad she had sent her employees' home an hour earlier; it had been a long night for them also. She didn't mind that she had to clean up what was left, especially since the kitchen was an attachment to her house. She didn't have to walk too many steps and she would be in her nice soft bed that right now was calling her name.

Anna smiled once again and turning off the light in the kitchen, locked the door behind her and headed inside to her home. She had made a name for herself. She was booked with weddings and parties almost every day. She was proud of herself, for once. Lucky for her though, she finally had a few days break, maybe she could leave town for a few days to give herself time to think, and to mourn for her past life and her past love.

As she wandered into her house, she left the lights off, letting the moonlight shining through the windows to guide her footsteps. She paused on her way to her bedroom, looking out the living room window at the moon. It was full tonight, and beautiful. She sighed, a bit of sadness seeping through her. Her and her fiancé Jake used to sit on her porch swing at her other house and watch the moon as it rose over the mountains. Some nights they would sit there until dawn, just enjoying each other's company. But he was dead now, and there wasn't anything she could do about it. She shook her head to clear it. She had to quit blaming herself for his death, she knew it had not been her fault, but she always felt guilty just the same. Her name had been cleared from any wrongdoing. So why couldn't she get him out of her head? Because she still desperately loved him, that was why. Even after two years, she missed him terribly. She wiped at the tears that had started down her cheeks. She had to stop crying she did that way too much. She headed into her bedroom and walking to a small jewelry box that sat on her dresser, she opened it, the haunting melody of "Memory", wafting out to her. She picked up her engagement ring that sat nestled inside and put it on her finger. The diamond sparkled in the moonlight. She had only stopped wearing it a couple of months ago because she was hoping that if she kept wearing it that she would always feel that Jake was nearby. But it seemed his presence was forever growing dimmer, and she knew that he would want her to move on. But she didn't want too. She still loved him. She put the ring reverently back in her jewelry case and closed the lid. The music stopped, and the room seemed eerily quiet.

She sat on her bed and smiled, remembering the night that Jake had proposed to her. They both loved baseball games, and he had taken her to one, on their night off. In the middle of the seventh inning, Anna happened to glance up at the big scoreboard. Running across it in big letters was the message, "Anna Gubler, will you marry me?"

She had turned to Jake who was on one knee. Everyone around them was grinning.

"Anna, will you marry me?" he had asked.