CHAPTER FOUR Maisy

CHAPTER FOUR

Maisy

The knock on my door startled me. I hadn't been expecting anyone. Not that it mattered. My family didn't believe in boundaries— especially when it came to me— and stopped by whenever they fucking felt like it.

I was so not in the mood to deal with my brothers or my dad. I just wanted a night of being lazy, wearing clothes no one should ever see me in, and maybe eating a pint of vanilla oat milk ice cream topped with chocolate-covered espresso beans.

My plan was to be the only human around to judge my life choices. I'd gotten good at ignoring my stupid inner voice that sometimes made me question everything.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I looked through the peephole to see my BFF standing there.

"I brought food!" she yelled through the door.

My hands worked quickly to undo the chain, then the two deadbolts… and then the lock on the handle.

"Please do come in," I said as I threw the door open.

"Okay, so I have to be honest and tell you that while I did bring food, it's because I need your help." She was talking a mile a minute as she rushed inside. I did the locks back up as she set some reusable glass containers on the glass coffee table. "See, I kind of signed up for this thing, and now I'm freaking out about it. I still have about two months to get it right, but there is a lot riding on this. It could be the exposure I need… or I could have made the biggest mistake in my young food truck career and I'm going to say goodbye to my sweet Velma before we even had a chance to build memories together."

She blew her baby pink bangs out of her eyes as she flopped down on the couch. Her big brown eyes blinked at me like she was waiting for me to respond to something she said.

It was a lot to take in, but lucky for both of us, I'd had over fifteen years to learn Stella-speak. I could have understood most of that conversation on mute, I was that good.

"First of all," I said as I moved in to take up the other end of the couch. Hot Mess, my one-eyed cat that meowed like a broken machine gun, hopped up on the back of the couch. She smacked me in the face with her tail on her way to get to Stella. It was like my cat knew Stella needed love. "You are not going to lose Velma. You have been saving for years to get her and she's perfect." Stella built the inside of Velma the Vegan Food Truck, making it everything she'd dreamed of since she was fifteen. "Two, I have no idea what you're talking about. What do you need from me?"

"I need you to eat this and tell me what you think." She reached over and snatched up the top container before shoving it at me. From what I could see, it contained something red and bean-y. Chili? "It's chili." Bingo! "I filled out an application to be a part of this big chili thing for charity, and they gave me a slot. It's in the park by that good Indian place we eat at sometimes. They've set it up so one side will be food trucks and the other will be restaurants cooking under tents. I was lucky enough to snag the last truck spot. I honestly wasn't even sure what I was thinking when I did it." Her eyes bugged as she took in a deep breath now that she was done talking.

I opened the container. Cumin, thyme, garlic, and peppers hit my nose. My mouth watered. I held that container like it was the ring and I was Gollum as I hopped up and walked into the kitchen to get spoons. I didn't even wait to get back to the living room before taking a huge bite.

It was… not what I expected right away. Was it bad? No. But there was something a little weird that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

"It's…" I said as I plopped down on the couch and handed over the extra spoon I'd grabbed for her.

Though I was sure she'd already tasted it many times during the process of making it, she opened her container and dug out a spoonful.

"Right… there's something…" She took another bite. "It's too…"

"Earthy?" I raised a brow. It was a nice way to say it left my mouth feeling like I'd had a make-out session with a forest floor.

She deflated instantly. I hated to see her like that.

"It's not bad. There's got to be a way to cut that, right?" I tried.

"I used a blend of three different dried mushrooms. I think it's that."

I poked around, seeing little chunks of what I assumed were mushrooms. That was what gave it texture, which I really liked.

"The mushrooms have to stay," I said, taking another bite. "What about something a little sweet to cut it?"

She did that thing where she looked up as she thought about it, her jaw moving like she was rolling around the bit of chili she had in her mouth as she tried to place what it was she was missing.

"And rosemary," I said teasingly. I loved rosemary and wanted her to put it in everything.

She dissolved into a fit of giggles. A sound Hot Mess was not a fan of— weird little pussy— and shot off the couch like her life depended on it.

"Okay, so maybe some orange juice to cut the earthy flavor, and some rosemary to cover everything up," she said. She kicked off her shoes and tucked her legs under her, which meant she would be staying a while. I didn't mind so much that she was crashing my loser solo plans for the night. "So, how's everything going? What's up with the fam?"

"Don't ask." I rolled my eyes. "I wish Dad would be invested in my brothers' lives as much as he is in mine. And he has them bugging me all the time. Like, I'm twenty-eight, but they still treat me like I'm twelve."

"I don't think that's ever going to change," she said with a knowing look. She was right. "What about the job? Still dealing with Cranky Chef all the time?"

"Yes," I said, but I was smiling. Mad Bell was an ornery asshole, but he was fun to mess with, and besides, it was amusing to see how close I could get him to the edge. "But I've figured out how to handle him, so it's not so bad."

I couldn't help the smirk that played on my lips.

She gasped. Not totally dramatic, but it was still a shocked gasp. I couldn't hide anything from her.

"You like it!" she accused in that higher-than-normal pitch that told of her shock. "You like messing with the Grouchy Grub Griller!"

I snorted before saying, "Good one."

Yeah, maybe I did. It was fun to get under his skin. To see his face turn red. To see his lips press in a thin line like he was trying really hard to hold back the horrible things he wanted to say. To watch as he stomped away, leaving me to think I'd won yet another round.

Fine, I fucking loved it.

I couldn't say why, though.

"Is there more going on there? Like a weird kind of… foreplay?" The last word left her lips in a hush. She wasn't a prude, but she did get a little pink in the cheeks when she talked about anything sexual.

"Oh, God, no!" I snorted.

No. Definitely not. I was the bane of his existence. We were like oil and water. Or… something worse. There was this tension that surrounded us when we were in a room together, so thick you could cut it with a knife, but it didn't feel sexual. It was more like this murderous vibe that seeped off of him and filled the air. I often wondered if there would be a day I'd go too far.

Then again, he hadn't fired me. He hadn't kicked me out of his kitchen. So, one could only think that he liked the constant poking I did. Okay, maybe he didn't like it, but he didn't exactly hate it.

Mad Bell was a confusing conundrum that I refused to think about.

It was time to change the subject.

"When are you officially opening the truck?" I was going to be there, even if I had to give up a shift.

"I've got a spot on the downtown line starting in two weeks." She lit up, eyes wide with an excited twinkle in them. "I know I said I was going to wait another month, but I'm ready. There's no sense in holding off. Right now, I'm going to work the bar circuit, so weekends are going to be no fun for a while, but I think it's a really good way to get my name out there. Maybe I'll get my own little group that keeps coming back." She shrugged. "Who knows? I have to try. If I keep putting it off, I'll never do it."

That was how Stella worked. She was brave in her own way. She held back when she was scared, but then she'd run and take the plunge without any warning. I was used to it by now, so this was no surprise to me.

"You've got this," I told her, and truly meant it. She'd been ready for this for years.

"You're right. But enough about it," she said, her body moving like a wave, like she was trying to shake off the nervousness she was feeling over the whole thing. "What is this show you sent me a message about two days ago? Did you start it yet?"

"We need to watch it! I was waiting for you." We settled into the couch as I grabbed the remote and pulled up the show I was talking about. "It's a documentary on fake vegans."

She mock-gasped, her mouth falling open too wide to sell it as real. I loved the playful twinkle in her eyes as she said, "You don't say?"

"It looks tragically awesome."

I might not have been expecting to see Stella tonight, but she had this way of showing up when I needed her the most… even when I didn't know I needed her. Tonight was one of those nights. All I needed was a crazy documentary and my BFF to escape everything that was weighing me down.

I might have forgotten all the stress in my life, but that didn't mean my mind stopped. Even as we watched the show, it was going.

There was something about the chili thing that I couldn't shake. Before I knew it, I had my phone out and was searching for the event Stella was talking about.

Chili for Charity.

Hmmm.

It wouldn't leave my mind for the rest of the night. An idea began to form, but I wasn't sure it was best to entertain it.

Only, I was too impulsive to slow down and think about whether I was doing the right thing or not.