A Sweet and Spicy Kind Of Love (11 page)

“Bravo Molly! It’s about time that you gave him a taste of his own medicine. Actually, my dear, now that I think about it I have a much better idea than the party this weekend, but I will tell you tomorrow.”

 “No way are you letting me go like that” Molly cried unable to hold back her curiosity “I want to know what that cryptic comment means. What is your idea?”

“Well” her mother replied with an impish edge to her voice “what do you think about participating in the new chili competition?”

Molly was nonplussed “What does a chili competition have to do with me and Julian?”

Belinda lowered her voice to a whisper “Well if you cook something great, you can give it to him to eat. Remember dear, a man’s heart is sometimes through his stomach.”

Molly laughed out loud “You have been talking to Yolanda I see! Catch you later mom. Love you.”

Chapter 9

Molly finished up the breakfast for the day and sat down to enjoy an egg omelet. On her third bite Daisy came down to find her. Her expression reflected discontent and smoldering anger was hidden in the depths of her eyes. With a quick glance at the kitchen she turned to Molly and pointed to the upper floor. “You have a guest Molly Makepeace. Kindly make yourself presentable and come up the living room. The quicker, the better I would say.”

Molly glanced at her half eaten omelet and wondered when her life would return to some degree of normality. Before she could follow Daisy, the phone rang and she picked up the call. It was Ethan and she wasn’t in the mood to deal with him. “I don’t really want to talk to you right now and I haven’t seen you for days anyway.”

“Please, please don’t be too angry with me” Ethan pleaded “I didn’t mean to kiss you like that. It just happened.”

Molly was not appeased “I am sure it just happened, but it caused me a great deal of upset.”

Ethan’s reply was decidedly childish “The only upset I saw was the big man himself, Julian Chambers. He looked like he wanted to tear you to bits. Did he?”

“Why would you care Ethan? We have just met, both you and I.”

“But I love you Molly.” he declared dramatically “You don’t have to take a lifetime to know when you’ve found the right person. You are my sun, the stars and the moon at night.”

“Am I? And you are the head of the chili competition, so does that mean you are moving to Sunnyvale to settle down and make a life here?”

When he didn’t respond, Molly added “See? So, this little game or whatever you want to call it, is very distasteful to me and I am not playing it anymore” With a firm click Molly replaced the receiver and went in search of Daisy.

~~~

Lionel felt on edge and that made him more disgruntled. Why he felt nervous did not sit well with him, but after he spoke to the girl he had no doubt he would feel much better. He would be sure to impress upon her the need to stay away from his son. That way Julian could come back to his senses.  Surely he didn’t want to throw away his future on a small town girl that would be unable to…-

“Hello Sir, you wanted to see me?’

The soft, spoken words brought Lionel’s thoughts to a standstill and he turned slowly. Whatever he expected, it wasn’t the girl that stood before him. She emanated kindness, love and dignity which he did not expect, but it was the look in her eyes that stunned him even more. He had lost count of how many times Elenora’s eyes had stared at him with the same degree of wariness but hope, until the day he asked her to be his bride. Shaking his head to dispel his late wife’s memory, Lionel struggled to remember what he needed to say. “Yes, I wanted to see you to talk about… I need to talk about my son, Julian.”

Molly gasped out loud. This was Lionel Chambers? She had never met him before, although she had seen photographs in the local newspapers. He had aged well, but she noted tired lines and deep grooves which marred his appearance considerably. He seemed rather lost and very much alone. Feelings of sympathy welled in Molly’s heart and on an impulse she walked over and gave him a quick hug.

Surprised, Lionel returned the embrace struggling to decide how to tell the girl to leave Julian alone. “Molly, um, thanks. It’s been a long time since anyone has embraced me. I was actually visiting to tell you, I need you to know that Julian is, well it seems as though he, well the point is…”

Molly’s laughter broke the ice and she suddenly felt at ease. “It’s all right Mr. Chambers. I know what you need to say, but I need you to know that I love that man. I have from the moment I met him all those years ago and no matter what, I can’t seem to pull him out of my heart. Can you understand that?”

Lionel nodded, overwhelmed with emotions. Of course he could understand. He felt the same way when he met Elenora so he could relate to Molly’s feelings. “Forgive me my dear. I did not know. I only wished I had met you years ago. A lot of wasted time would have been avoided.” Raising Molly’s hand he kissed it tenderly and whispered “Julian is a fool and doesn’t know what he’s missing. I will bid you farewell.”

Molly watched his departure with mixed feelings. On the one hand she felt elated to know that Julian’s father did not appear to dislike her, but Julian’s feelings were another matter. Would he forgive her or would his bitterness doom them both?

When Daisy appeared, Molly thanked her and returned to the kitchen. It was time to get her work done for the day and then later, she would have time to mull over the day’s events.

~~~

The Sanderson’s house party was in full swing. Almost the entire town has turned out and the people were scattered over the Victorian style estate, from one end to the other. The grounds were well kept with wide open spaces, cherry blossom trees, attractive ponds with water lilies and ornate gazebos.

Molly helped to prepare the food and she was happy to note that everyone seemed to enjoy it. The host and hostess were pleased with the success of the event and congratulated her on a job well done.

When Yolanda appeared in a tight, gold, tube dress with large, gold, hoop earrings Molly rolled her eyes and pulled her friend into a corner “What were you thinking wearing a get up like that?”

Yolanda brushed off her concerns “I have thought of making an impression Ms. Prim. You are the one who is spoken for, not me. So I think it is time that I found a Romeo of my own. May I remind you that the whole town is here, including the love of your life? Have you seen him?”

Molly shook her head “No, if he’s here, he’s avoiding me like the plague. Anyway I have work to do. I see the grilled, fish platter is getting low. Be right back.”

~~~

Julian watched Molly from a distance. He had been observing her most of the night, but could not find a reason to approach her without feeling like a heel. He keenly remembered their last encounter and it brought a sour feeling to his stomach. He had passed the line and needed to apologize, but the words were lodged in his throat.

“You might as well approach her you know. What is the fuss with all of this cloak and dagger business anyway? Just tell her you like her and end it. You ended it in a flash with me, so it can’t be that difficult.”

Julian turned to his companion. Valeria’s petulant pout and icy eyes did not faze him, but he could not blame her attitude. After all, she had waited for years on the promise that she would be the future bride of Templeton Manor, only to discover that the situation would be drastically different.

“Don’t scratch little cat. You have gotten enough gifts over the years to keep you in luxury for quite some time if you like, so put your wiles on little Tommy instead.”

With a huff, Valeria turned her head and searched the crowd. When she spotted Tommy she got up and walked away without a backward glance.

“Hey there Julian. Nice to see you. Mind if I sit down for a moment?”

A contrite Ethan sat next to Julian with a stack of papers in his hand. “I know you don’t like me right now, but I have some details on the chili competition and would like you to review them with me.”

“Show them to me; tell me what you need and then disappear.”

Ethan nodded. The man could cut to the bone just like knife. He hoped Molly knew what she was doing. “Sure, I’ll disappear and the moment the competition is over, I’ll be gone from Sunnyvale for good.”

Chapter 10

The announcement was made that the annual Bloomfield chili competition would be held at Templeton Manor at the start of the week. Participants were invited to share and present their best work, including the spiciest chili variety they could think of.

Rules were simple: Nothing was to be prepared before the competition. Everything was to be done on site. Cooking time was approximately three hours with a possible extension of one hour more. All utensils and ingredients were to be provided by each contestant and no outside assistance was permitted at the time of preparation.

A number would be assigned to each contestant and numbers could not be switched or changed between participants. The assigned judges would vote on flavor, texture, color and blends. The most unique presentation with the best tasting flavor, aroma and spices would undoubtedly win the competition.

Yolanda read the flyer and pulled a face “Well that counts me out. I couldn’t boil an egg much less cook a prize winning chili. What about you? I bet you would win in a heartbeat! Did you hear that Valeria is participating as well? Didn’t know she could cook anything, but life is full of surprises hmmm?”

Molly smiled. She had invited her girlfriend to spend a stress free, personal, spa day and to Yolanda’s credit, she did not object to Molly’s multiple beauty experiments.

 “It sounds lovely, but I won’t be a contestant. Mother already told me that Julian is judge number two and I don’t think I can face him just yet. When we were at the house party, I thought he would cross my path, but he never did. So, that’s that as the saying goes. I have decided to leave again for the city. Perhaps I could bear another year there. Mother is happy at the manor and she and Rose are great friends. So I won’t have to worry about…-” Yolanda’s sudden cry stopped Molly in mid sentence.

“Molly my girl, listen to me. Just listen. I have it. I finally have the answer to your relationship problem with Julian.” Putting her hand to her forehead, Yolanda danced around as Molly stared at her in bemusement.

“Heavens! Why didn’t I think of this before? I know what you have to do and the competition is your ticket to do it. It is time that Julian had a good dose of a reality check and the only way to get to a man is through his stomach, yes?”

Molly shrugged “That may not apply to all men, but some do love their food I guess.”

“Rubbish and nonsense” Yolanda dismissed that comment with a wave of her hand “Men march on their stomach just like an army, so here is the deal. You have to participate but your meal will be special. So special that Julian will have no choice but to take notice, do you follow me?

 “I have no clue what you are talking about. Care to explain what your grand plan is all about?”

Yolanda put her hands to her lips as her eyes glowed. “Shhhhhh….let me think and the moment I have it all fixed in my head, we will put our plan into action.”