She told them she would need time to think about it.
Her stomach swirled. She couldn’t get it to settle.
As she drove home, she kept on thinking about Damon. The kitchen at the posh restaurant had been amazing, but it hadn’t been her diner. There was no way she was going to be able to make her own menu. The chefs she’d been working beside couldn’t stand her. They spent the whole time she cooked glaring at her. It clearly meant the old chef had left suddenly and his staff admired his skills.
Either that, or they couldn’t stand a woman taking over from a man. Either way, a success or not, it wasn’t the best experience, and she told Anna all of this as she grabbed ingredients out of the fridge. She also told Anna the money they were offering as well.
“Holy shit, is this a really good place?” she asked.
“One of the best.” Teri sighed, looking at everything she had on the counter. This was what she did. When she had decisions to make, the best way for her to deal was to cook. She’d been doing this all her life.
After removing her jacket, she grabbed a knife and started to chop. All the while, she thought about Damon. She also thought about the pregnancy test she had stopped for on her way back home.
The pharmacy’s neon sign had beckoned her. Before she’d been able to stop herself, she’d pulled over and been inside the shop, looking at the best kind of tests. She had to take it still.
Her hands shook at the thought of taking the test. It made her feel even sicker. The job would be a chance to start over. No more tainting memories of Dane or the club. She liked to move around a lot. Staying in Greater Falls was the longest time she had stayed in one place, and she didn’t know if she was ready to move on or not.
The city didn’t appeal. She had lived in the city. The life there was always fast-paced, but it also made her feel sick. Greater Falls offered her the chance to slow down, to make a life, to have one for herself. The diner wasn’t some fancy restaurant, but she got to make her own menu and to even change it up come Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. She got to be with Skylar as well. Her sister was finally happy, and then, of course, there was the club. They were her family even if they didn’t know it. She loved them all so much.
Damon. He was the love of her life and that scared her even more.
“You know, if you don’t want to take the job, no one is going to force you. This is your choice. No one else can make you do it.”
Teri nodded. “I know.” She grabbed bell peppers and chopped them, slicing them down the middle, removing the stem, then the core. Next, she picked up onions. “I don’t know where my place is anymore, you know?”
“I’d say it’s wherever the club is, Damon.”
From the blush staining Anna’s cheeks, it didn’t take a genius to work out she’d heard them at night. It wasn’t like she’d been quiet, and with Damon, he was kind of hard to ignore in the bedroom department.
“I thought it was too, but the past few months, longer than that even, I don’t know.”
“Have you talked to Damon?”
“No. I told him I was running errands.” She wrinkled her nose. “I hate lying to him.”
“Then that’s what you’ve got to do first. You’ve got to tell him.”
Teri agreed. “How did things go with Richard?”
She had intended to reschedule her appointment so she could have the chance to be with Anna, but her friend had it covered.
“David’s not happy. He doesn’t believe a few emails and texts in the heat of the moment qualify him to give up full custody. I saw him today.”
“You met with David?”
Anna shook her head. “No. I didn’t meet with him. I saw him with his wife. They looked pretty cozy.”
“Do you love him?”
“No. I don’t love him. I think it was the … heat of the moment. He was older, I figured more experience, that kind of thing, but it didn’t work out that way.” Anna sighed.
Cole chose that moment to make a fuss.
“That’s my call.”
“Have faith in Richard. He’ll help.”
Anna smiled, but it didn’t quite meet her eyes. Teri hated it. She was a young woman and already had so much to deal with. Teri wished she knew of a way to make it easier for her, but nothing came to mind.
She was in the middle of finely chopping some garlic and ginger when the buzzer for their apartment rang.
After quickly washing her hands, she rubbed them dry on the towel, clicking the intercom. “Damon, is that you?” she asked.