THE BACKSEAT SUGAR SEASON - BONUS EPILOGUE SPENCER SPEARS 1 THE BACKSEAT “ emind me again why I said yes to this?” R I meant to say it under my breath. There was enough noise in the kitchen at Cabin Cafe that I thought I could have shouted, but I must have been louder than I thought because Colin turned away from where he was talking to Charlie and gave me a sympathetic look. “Because you’re a saint?” “Hardly.” I glanced around at the shrieking group of teenagers currently destroying my kitchen. “And if I ever was, this experience is definitely enough to push me into confirmed misanthrope territory.” Maddy, Charlie’s daughter and Colin’s step-daughter, was standing in front of a saucepan that was about to boil over. Her friends Rosie and Nelson were extruding something that definitely wasn’t ice cream from my ice cream maker. And Yasmin and Michael were perilously close to chopping their fingers off as they diced vegetables while Jacey, Tom, 2 SPENCER SPEARS and Corbin were running back and forth between the oven and the stove in a way that made me distinctly nervous. “10 more minutes on the clock, chefs,” Charlie intoned, projecting over the din in the room. “10 minutes until your dishes need to be plated.” “Sounds like you need to have a talk with past-Ryan then.” Colin grinned. “Tell him to stop being so accommodating.” “Past-Ryan’s an idiot,” I grumbled. “Past-Ryan knew he was getting free renovation work done in exchange for this,” Charlie laughed, leaning around Ryan to look at me. “I’d say past-Ryan’s pretty smart.” “That was before past-Ryan knew that ‘Maddy wants to have her birthday here’ meant ‘Maddy wants to recreate Iron Chef with seven of her closest friends in a way that might permanently damage your kitchen and definitely violates several health codes.’ Past-Ryan might have thought twice if he’d known the truth.” “And that’s why past-Charlie didn’t tell him.” Charlie grinned. “Besides, it’s not like you were using the restaurant this week anyway.” That much was true. What had started out as Cabin Coffee when I’d first moved to Maple Springs had become Cabin Cafe, a full-fledged restaurant after I’d gone into business with Elizabeth, the owner. We’d expanded to take over the space next door and we were in the middle of our second renovation right now. The first build-out had updated my kitchen—which was going to be in need of a deep cleaning after tonight. For this second renovation, we were doubling the size of the dining The Backseat 3 room, which meant we’d had to close the restaurant for a week while the work was being done. Work that, to be fair, Charlie was giving us a great deal on. But that didn’t mean I was okay with accidental death and dismemberment in my kitchen. “Plus, it’s kind of cute watching 16 year olds pretend to actu- ally know how to cook,” Colin added. “We need a Gordon Ramsey here to yell at them.” I snorted. “It’s Iron Chef. I’d rather have that hot Chairman guy instead.” “I’m so telling Graham you said that,” Charlie laughed. “Oh, he knows.” I shook my head, laughing. “We’ve had discussions.” “Of which cooking-show celebrities are on your—” Colin paused, glancing around the kitchen to make sure none of the kids were paying attention. “You know, your list? There can’t be that many to choose from.” “Are you kidding? Ted Allen and Aaron Sanchez from Chopped? Hugh Acheson from Top Chef? Jamie Oliver and his whole Naked Chef thing?” “Mmm, Hugh Acheson does have dreamy eyebrows,” Colin sighed. “I forgot about him.” “Forgot about Hugh Acheson?” My eyes widened. How could you? He’s a god among mortals.” Charlie smirked. “Just don’t say Guy Fieri or I will lose all respect for you.” “What about Guy Fieri?” Graham’s voice sounded behind 4 SPENCER SPEARS me and I turned to see him pushing through the swinging door into the kitchen. “Ryan was just telling us how much you love him.” Charlie grinned. “And I have to say, I wouldn’t have thought he was your type but I learned long ago not to make assumptions about that.” “Blech.” Graham shuddered. “No thank you. Besides,” he added, squeezing between Charlie, Colin, and the wall to come up behind me, “I’ve got my own chef right here. I don’t need another one.” Graham wrapped his arms around me and hugged me from behind. It was hot in the kitchen but he’d come in from the outside and his body still held the chill of the night air. The resulting sensation from his squeeze sent shivers through my body. He kissed the back of my neck. “Missed you,” he whispered. “You say that literally every day.” I smiled and grinned up at him. “At some point, I’m going to stop believing it.” “I’m gonna say it anyway.” “God forbid either of us actually does have to travel some- where without the other one. You make it sound like you’ll implode if you go more than a day without seeing me.” “I just might. So how about we not risk it?” I turned to look at him over my shoulder, still held tight in his arms. “You know, I’d say something snarky about your attachment issues, but I think I kind of like them.” “I’m so glad my deep-seated psychological trauma meshes well with your own.” The Backseat 5 “I know. What would you do without me?” “Cry. Wail. Rend my garments and gnash my teeth.” “Aww, babe. That’s so sweet.” “Five minutes, chefs!” Charlie bellowed and Graham jumped in surprise. I laughed and extricated myself. “I think it’s time for all of you to take your seats.” I grinned at the three of them. “Go keep Jack and Kian and the rest of the parents company at the judges’ tables.” “You’re not eating?” Graham looked surprised. “I’m more concerned about these guys not burning down my kitchen than eating their food.” Besides, from what I could judge, only about half the food was going to be edible. But I didn’t say that part out loud. Maddy had asked me to choose the secret ingredient and I’d picked apples, figuring I was going easy on them. Apples were so versatile, but also, simple. How difficult could it be to screw them up? Apparently, I’d been way too optimistic. So, no, I wasn’t too broken up about not getting to test the food myself. “No rest for the wicked.” I gave Graham a quick kiss on the cheek and then pushed him towards the door. “Now get out of here, you three.” In the end, it took more like 15 minutes than five for the kids to get all their food plated and ready to go. I sent them out to the dining room in waves, one from each team to serve their courses, while the rest of them clustered nervously around the door to watch. 6 SPENCER SPEARS Maddy had printed up little scorecards and various parents and relatives had been roped in to serve as judges, rating each course on taste, appearance, and creativity. I still couldn’t get over the fact that she’d chosen this as her birthday party. When I was 16, I was pretty sure I’d cele- brated by drinking stolen liquor in my friend’s parents’ basement and trying and failing to roll a joint properly. Charlie had definitely gotten luckier with his kid than my parents had with me. Though, I suppose, Maddy had also gotten luckier with her parents than I had with mine. Things had gotten better with my parents and me recently, mostly thanks to Graham. But they’d been pretty rough there for a while and the idea of having kids, of not knowing what kind of person the tiny human you were caring for was going to grow up to be, was… daunting, to say the least. I tried to start cleaning up as the kids brought the empty plates from each course back in. There were drips and drops of soup, splatters from Maddy’s pasta dish, and spills of— God, was that bacon sorbet that they’d made?—everywhere. I’d need to come back and do a thorough clean after everyone had left tonight. Still, I might as well get started now. “Hey, Ryan, can you come out for a second?” I turned away from the gasket on the ice cream maker to see Maddy standing by the door. “Dad’s about to announce which team won.” “Sure, I’ll be right there.” Not that I was desperate to find out, but I could humor her. I straightened up and tossed the rag I’d been using to clean on the edge of the counter. I met Maddy by the door and as she pushed it open, I heard Char- lie’s voice on the other side. The Backseat 7 “So thanks, everyone, for coming to celebrate Maddy’s birthday tonight. I’m sure you’re all dying to know which team won, but before we get to that—” I stepped into the room to see Charlie standing amid the construction debris, two-by-fours and drop-cloths behind him, addressing the crowd clustered around the few tables I’d set out “—I want to first give a huge thank you to Ryan, for letting us take over his restaurant tonight.” I blushed as everyone clapped, rolling my eyes when Graham whistled appreciatively.