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yourcoolfriendwithallthecandy · 4 years

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Hearthway Hollow Chef Ryker Part 1

So what happened when I commissioned @momolady for the Hearthway Hollow Chef thing was there was a miscommunication/misunderstanding and when I got the commission back, I loved it! But there were just a few details that I wanted changed and instead of letting Momo change it, I noticed that I could change the document itself and so I, like an inexperienced commissioner- went ahead and changed the details myself in the original document - like Del was actually 8 because Del is based off of my daughter, who is actually about to turn 8 and Zara is my OC of myself so I put in more details about me personally in there. And what started off as a little tweak here and there...turned into a remodel of a house and by the time I was done, if you read this, you’ll notice the bones are kind of the same but everything else is mostly different, I bastardized my own commission because I couldn’t let go of tiny little details. I rather innocently and unintentionally broke probably every rule there is about commissioning writers. And I’m sorry. I have apologized to Momo who has been so patient and so kind and so good to me and she totally held my hand through all of it because while I have done commissions for other people, it was the first time I was the commissioner for once and then of course, I had to write FANFICTION of my own commission, but did I base it on the original? no. I based it on my bastardized version. But Momo is very very very cool in letting me show the bastard version and the fanfic to the...however many followers I have that might like this other than me and if no one does, that’s fine, at least it gets to see the light of day.

Enjoy. This is basically my hypothetical dark but sweet fantasy if my husband died and Werewolves were real and what I would do after I would grieve.

Hearthway Hollow- Chef Ryker

I was hoping a trip would be what we needed, something Del and I could share even through our subsiding grief. My husband and Del’s father- Michael, passed away last year and I felt it was time that I start living again and try to move on with my life. Del chose the location of our vacation after hearing some of her friends talking about it. I had also decided that driving would be fun, nothing like a good ol’ fashioned road trip. I’d be able to show Del tourist traps, fun locations, and introduce her to some very good food.

After Michael passed, Del did a 180 and became just as picky of an eater like her father was when he was alive, what once had been an adventurous eater, she quickly transformed into the kind of kid who only eats chicken nuggets, much less only would eat the foods Michael had once enjoyed. I think that was how she was choosing to grieve his loss and keep his memory alive in herself. But being a foodie myself, I was getting a little frustrated from eating the same things over and over and over again, I wanted to try to gently coax her out of that shell she put herself in. What better way to do that then a fresh change of scenery?

The trip down south was going to take us a couple of days, we were headed to Myrtle Beach. I hadn’t traveled like this in years, back in the day, Michael and I used to go on roadtrips all the time, trips up to Michigan and the Great Lakes to see my family that remained there, to Cedar Point, Kings Island, things like that because we all loved roller coasters. We even went on a vacation when I was pregnant with Del. Michael and I had always hoped that one day, we’d be able to take Del on road trips more often because traveling with small children could be a nightmare. Michael had an old camaro he restored himself as a teenager and a motorcycle, both were great in helping make kids but neither were very kid friendly once they were born but he had been so patient in waiting for Del to grow up and be big enough to be able to join him. But then...well, time ran out, cut so very short. Now it was up to me to pick up where he left off. This was step one.

We stopped in North Carolina for a rest stop, I got gas and took Del to the bathroom. While there we got some drinks and a couple of snacks for the road. As we were checking out Del was looking over the brochures for tourist attractions by the door.

She gasped dramatically and loudly. “Mom!” She yanked a brochure from the stand and all of the ones in that cubby came shooting out.

“Delilah!” I huffed as I knelt down to help her pick them all up. “You have to be mindful and aware of what you're doing." I gently reminded her.

“But Mom!” She prances excitedly as she holds it out to me.

I sigh and take it. “Hearthway Hollow Forest Wolf Reserve,” I murmur as I look over the pamphlet. “Wolf rehabilitation and study center, located in Hearthway Hollow. Come see the wolves that make Hearthway Hollow the treasure of the mountains. Donations help in the rehabilitation of the endangered wolves of the area. Hmm”

“I can pet a wolf, Mom!” Del bounces excitedly.

I turn to the cashier at the register. “This Hearthway Hollow, is it close by?”

“Oh yeah,” she says with a cheery smile. “You just follow Locklear Road and the signs will direct you the rest of the way.” She says as she points in the direction of the road itself.

“What’s it like?” I ask cautiously.

“It’s amazing!” The cashier gushes. “I go to the local college there and I plan on moving into town soon.”

I think for a long moment. “Any good restaurants? Places to stay?”

“Oh there’s tons of good places to eat. I would check out Guillermo’s, it’s my favorite place to go. My friends and I go there to celebrate after tests and junk.” She then smiles at Del. “There’s a killer park and a community pool there too, she’ll love it. If you’re looking for a place to stay overnight, just go to Big Billy’s Hardware.”

I furrow my brow. “A hardware store?”

“It’s the heart of the town! Big Billy looks scary, but don’t worry, he’s just a big pappa bear kind of guy and he’s a sucker for cute kids. Take your daughter in there and he’ll find you a four star place to stay dirt cheap,” she laughs.

I think for another long moment while I pay. As I get back in the car I look over to see Del clutching that brochure for the wolf reserve. Wolves have always been her favorite animal, aside from sharks... and snakes... and tigers... and unicorns, her father used to watch nature documentaries with her, and both of them would play wolves on full moons. Perk of living in the middle of nowhere, so many stars to shine in all their glory in the night sky.

“Are we gonna go, Mom?” Del pleads.

“Honey, we have a schedule to at least try to stick to.” But she can sense that my resolve is weak.

Del giggles and wriggles in the passenger seat. “So we’re going?” Well, what’s a few more hours on a detour?

“... Yeah ok." I find Locklear road and started traveling down it. Sure enough, I started seeing all sorts of signs for Hearthway Hollow pop up. There was a turn coming where the massive ‘Welcome to Hearthway Hollow’ sign stuck out like a sunrise against the dark trees.

Entering the town was like stepping into one of those picturesque paintings. The main downtown area was all old brick buildings with enchanting storefronts. But I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve come home, it was strange yet familiar and I didn’t realize how much my soul had ached for it. But by the time we found the reserve, it was closed for the day. Well, it would be open tomorrow. We could afford to stay in town for a night and see it first thing in the morning then get to Myrtle.

“Let's find Big Billy's hardware store then,” I say. “We’ll find a place to stay the night, get something good to eat for dinner, and tomorrow we’ll go visit the wolf reserve? Sound like a plan?”

“Yes!!” Del cheers excitedly.

The hardware store was easy to find, it looked like many of the other buildings, but there was just something about it that stuck out like a sore thumb. It was the classic hardware store, but the sign hanging above the door was a black wolf’s head, snarling and gnashed teeth, with Billy burned into the side.

As we walked inside there was old music playing over a stereo, a young man was behind the counter and arguing with someone in the back.

“Hello?” I ask. “I’m sorry to bother.”

The young man looks at me and smiles. “One sec, let me get through with this.” His smile vanishes and he snaps towards the back. “I’ve got a customer! Shut the hell up!” He glances back to me. “Hi, I’m Jack. Sorry about that, arguing with the old man.”

“Don’t call me that!” A thunder like snarl comes from the back and the walls nearly shake.

“Oh uhm-” I hesitate. “I’m in town for maybe a day or two with my daughter."

“Hi,” she waves.

Jack breaks into a big grin. “Hi there!” As he waves back.

“I was told if I came here we’d be able to find a place?” I ask. “I’m sorry if I was misled. I don’t mean to be a bother.”

Jack shakes his head. “Nonsense, I’m sure the old man has a few places he can rent for a couple of days.” He turns and whistles. “Yo! Billy! You got some potential renters up here!”

There is snarling and growling before a man who is more mountain than anything comes from the back. I’m sure back in his day he was a real looker, hell he’s quite good looking now, but there is a dark look in his eyes as he walks out.

“I’ve got a couple of cabins,” he huffs as he takes out a three ring binder without looking up at me. “Lemme see here, lemme see.” He glances down, seeing Del staring up at him with big bright blue eyes that matched mine and an awed expression. “What’s this here,” he leaned forward with a big grin which she quickly mirrors. “How old are you?”

"I’m eight.” Del beamed proudly.

“You’re really close in age to my granddaughter,” he chuckles.

“My daughter,” Jack huffs. Ah, so he’s either his son or son in law, that dynamic makes sense now.

Billy rolls his eyes. “What are you doing here then?” He asks Del.

“The Wolf reserve, but it was closed by the time we got there,” Del answered as she starts to pout in disappointment and I see Billy sympathetically mirror her expression. Yeah, papa bear for sure.

I pet her long blonde hair comfortingly as I stand beside her. “She saw a brochure for the wolf reserve and they’re her favorite animal.” I add.

“Besides sharks,” Del corrects me.

“Two very good choices,” Billy takes a key from behind the desk and hands it to me. “Address and everything is on the keychain,” he says. “Small cabin, good for a new family.”

A cold, stabbing pain radiates through my chest. “It’s just me and Del,” I softly corrected.

“Ah,” Billy nods. “Well, it’ll still work out for you. How long you plan on staying? A week?” He asks.

“Just tonight,” I say with a nod.

Billy chuckles. “Well, $65 a night, regardless.”

I balk for a moment, letting my jaw drop. “That’s it? For a cabin?”

“I got a lot of cabins, they ain’t getting used.” Billy says with a shrug. “Kid discount.” He motions to Del.

“Oh wow, thank you. I promise, we’ll keep it clean.” I pay in cash in advance which makes Billy happy and then I take Del’s hand to go back outside. “Oh uhm...I was told to try Guillermo’s,” I reply. “Where is it in town?”

“You go down Main Street and make a left on Lupine Avenue, it’ll be right next to the Silver Bullet a few blocks that way,” Jack replies as he points and gestures in the right direction. “It’s great, you really should try it before you leave.” He added.

“Ok, thank you!” I wave goodbye as I take Del back to the car.

We find the cabin, which is located pretty close to town. It’s behind a house where there is a moving truck parked out front. I see a woman sitting outside fanning herself by a stack of boxes.

Del and I go into the cabin, and aside from it being a little stuffy from being shut in for a little while, it’s cute and cozy and even has air conditioners in the bedrooms and the living room, and it’s pretty clean and still really nice. There’s plates and cups in the cupboards and silverware in the drawer even and a coffee maker. Nice.

“This is like the Three Bears house, Mom!” Del races around, investigating every inch of the place. She then opens the curtains in front of a sliding glass door in the back off the kitchen. She gasps loudly as she sees the endless void of woods behind the cabin and presses her face to the glass.

“You think wolves can see us?” She bounces on her toes.

“If you leave that curtain open,” I chuckle.

“Come on! Let’s check out the woods! They call to me, I must explore!” She dramatically implores me as she gestures to them.

But before we can, I hear a knock at the door.

A bit timid, I peek through the window to see the woman from the house below at the door. As I open the door she has an embarrassed look at her face.

“Hi, sorry,” she scoffs. “I know you’re here just trying to enjoy your vacation, but uhm-” she fidgets in place. “The electricity at my place was supposed to get turned on today and it’s not.” She holds up her phone and charger. “Do you mind?”

I shake my head. “Not at all, come in.” I readily invite her in.

“I’m Amelie, by the way,” she says quickly.

“Zara, and this my daughter Delilah, Del for short.” I reply and shake her hand.

“Thank you, so much, Zara. I need to call my boyfriend and tell him the electricity isn’t on yet, but of course my phone dies.” Amelie goes into the kitchen and plugs her phone in there.

“Are you just moving here?” I ask.

Amelie shakes her head. “I moved to Hearthway Hollow about a year ago. I just got engaged, so my fiance and I decided to find a new place together. He didn’t wanna live in a house so close to his work, I didn’t want to live directly in the woods. This was a compromise,” she chuckles. “So, how did you end up here?”

“The wolf reserve,” I say with a shrug. “Me and my daughter are headed to Myrtle Beach for a vacation and decided to take a detour on the scenic route.”

“The wolf reserve is pretty cool. If you’re lucky they may have the rescued wolf pups out by now.”

“Oohhh,” Del and I ooh.

“So a beach vacation with just the girls,” Amelie chuckles. “Did you have to leave dad at home?”

“Oh uh-” I start off unsurely and fidget with my wedding ring. “No I mean-” I press my lips into a tight line. “Michael, my husband, he died about a year ago so its just us." I say as I gesture to Del and I.

"He dropped dead of a heart attack at work out of the blue." Del blurted out and I huff and fix her with a look.

Amelie gasps horrified. “Oh, oh I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s ok,” I shake my head. “It’s taken some time and a lot of therapy but we're OK. Michael planned ahead and had his affairs in order so we're taken care of and now we get to get back to living and try to move forward. We wanted to create some new happy memories, get us out of the house and a change of scenery.” I explained as she nodded solemnly.

“Well, you came to a great place. Hearthway Hollow,” she smiles for a moment. “I don’t know what it is about this place, but it’s a perfect spot for healing. When I came here I was-” she shakes her head as her eyes grow glassy for a second. “I was in a really, extremely, horribly bad place. Hearthway Hollow, in a way, saved my life.”

“Oh wow,” I murmur.

“I suggest letting yourself linger here for a while, you’ll never know what you might find.” Amelie gives me an encouraging smile. “Aside from the reserve, what were your plans?”

“Oh! Well, I was told to go to Gueillermo’s,” I start.

Amelie gasps. “That place is awesome! My fiance’s best friend is the owner and head chef there, he does absolute miracles with food it’s a fusion restaurant so there’s a little bit of everything. Shahan and I were going there tonight, you should join us and get the special treatment,” she says with a grin. “Shahan and Ryker grew up together, they’re practically brothers.”

“Ryker?” I murmured to myself.

That evening, Del and I get dressed up and go to dinner with Amelie and her fiance Shahan. The restaurant already looks packed, but we are taken to a back room into the most comfortable booth that’s a half moon shape as I slide in the middle with Amelie on my left and Shahan on the other side of her with Del being on the other side of me on the end and the booth itself has a front row view of the kitchen and the chefs already hard at work like a well oiled machine, I noticed everyone is in baseball caps so I can't tell who the head chef is. It's an upscale Spanish fusion restaurant and the smells coming out of the kitchen are making my mouth water and stomach growl. The menu is killer and I want to order all of it because it's all Michelin star quality food but at Olive Garden prices. And it's mostly farm to table and seasonal, featuring produce and meats from right here in Hearthway with only a few exceptions, like the seafood. I'm impressed.

“So, what do you like to eat, Del?” Shahan asks as we look over the menus.

“Chicken nuggets,” Del says, grabbing at some crayons on the table and drawing on the paper place mat in front of her, fllipping it over to the back and using it as her canvas to create another masterpiece.

“She’s a picky eater as of late,” I sigh. “I’ve been using this trip to broaden her horizons a little.” I explained.

“How is that going?” Shahan asks.

“Stalemate,” I grumble.

“Well, if anyone can get her to try new things, I think it would be Ryker,” Shahan chuckles. “We grew up together, basically lived with me and my family after his dad passed away.”

“His dad died too?” Del asks softly and the look on Amelie’s face tells me she didn’t get a chance to tell him that yet as she looked at me apologetically which prompted me to smile reassuringly at her.

“Oh uh, sorry kid,” Shahan says gently. “You miss your dad?”

Del nods. “He dropped dead of a heart attack at work, so his last words to me were from that morning ‘Hurry up or you’ll miss the bus, have a good day at school, I love you.’ We used to do everything together, he was teaching me archery and how to ride a fourwheeler and a dirt bike and how to handle a knife, because I’m not in school I get to carry it around all the time again, this was his.” She explained as she stopped drawing and brings out the pocket knife from her pocket and shows Shahan and Amelia who both have a myriad of emotions on their face as she expertly flipped the knife open to show them before I take mine from my purse and open mine and reveal that it was a matched engraved set and Amelie and Shahan look almost near tears.

“Wow, that’s an awesome knife, can I see it?” Shahan asks respectfully before she let him take it as he looked it over before Amelie took mine, both of them studying them for a moment, appreciating the excellent quality of them before he tested it’s sharpness by shaving a patch of hair off of his forearm before he handed it back to her before she folded it up and put it back in her pocket as Amelie handed mine back before Del continued to draw on the paper placemat, her crayons nearly snapping in her hands with the force she’s using to color with them now so that she doesn’t start to cry.

“Shahan!” A man comes around to the table before he sees me and his eyes grow soft yet excited. “Oh wow, new people.” He smiles at me like I’m the moon and I can’t help but mirror his smile.

The man that stands in front of me has me dumbstruck like I’m a high school girl again. All I can think of is ‘Hello Mr. Beefy Beef Man’ because he’s this tall- like probably almost six foot, maybe an inch or two short of it, but a big burly guy, his chest is like a barrel and his shoulders and chest are really big and well muscled like a lumberjack with tree trunks for arms and a bit of a beer belly because guys, especially bigger ones who love food often have those too and I take that as a sign I’m going to eat very well tonight. He has a heavy dose of farmer’s market hot to him and is giving me the strong but soft vibes that I am digging. He’s wearing the white chef jacket but a nice heavy duty apron on and a baseball cap from Cedar Point of all places, which is my favorite place on earth. He’s got dark brown, almost black hair judging by his immaculate beard. His bright blue eyes look me over and I am smitten instantly.

“Well, hello there,” he says with a deep charming voice but bright friendly tone. “Is this couple here bothering you?” He teases and I can’t help but laugh.

“No!” Del blurts from her spot.“They invited us.”

The man then suddenly seems to realize there’s a child next to me but he doesn’t falter, instead he chuckles. “Well, I am certainly happy to hear that.” He smiles at her.

“This is Zara and Del, they’re renting the cabin above the new house for a spell,” Shahan replies. “Amelie invited them out.”

“You did?” The man laughs looking at Amelie with surprise.

“I’m growing, learning to trust,” Amelie defends herself. “This is the Ryker, by the way,” she says to me.

“THE Ryker, I like that,” he laughs. His bright smile turns on me and I am that dumbstruck teenage girl again with a hurricane of butterflies in my stomach. “Ryker Guillermo, at your service.” He holds out his big, meaty but sexy hand to me and it’s all I can do to not giggle like a loon as I shake it firmly. My small hand disappearing into his. His hands are so warm and a bit calloused from hard work which for me is another really good sign. He has a good grip but so do I.

“Huh-hi,” I choke out. “Nice to meet the miracle worker. I’ve heard so much about you.” I say.

“Aww, are they bragging on me?” He says. “I just try to make good food, that’s all.” He shrugged as his cheeks stained cherry and he kicked at an invisible stone on the floor as his smile turns bashful.

“What’s the special tonight?” Shahan asks.

“Good question,” Ryker laughs. “What are you in the mood for?”

“Chicken nuggets,” Del chimes in.

Ryker makes a face. “Bad news sweetie, this is an anti-chicken nuggets restaurant.”

“Excuse me?!” Del blurts as she puts her hand over her chest and fixes him with a look like a true southern bell who’s just been scandalously outraged and I have to cover my mouth to keep from laughing too hard as Amelie and Shahan lose it because the girl has spunk and personality for days as I smile up apologetically at Ryker.

“You do realize if you eat too much chicken, you’ll become a chicken?” Ryker says. “Do you want to become a chicken?" He asked and I want to kiss him for taking that so well and using humor to diffuse this situation.

"That's not true." She countered suspiciously as she narrowed her eyes at him, seemingly measuring him up.

"Are you sure? There's a saying, 'you are what you eat', where do you think that saying came from?" Ryker teases and Del seriously thinks it over. "Could you trust me to make you something just as delicious as chicken nuggets but way, way better? Because I can." Ryker offers as Del considers that too. “It will be super awesome, I promise.” Ryker crosses his heart. He then winks at me and I melt like butter as Del looks him up and down a little wearily before she makes her decision and simply reaches out and offers him her pinky for a pinky swear.

“Pinky swear.” Ryker immediately swears and hooks her pinky with his and shakes before Del finally gives him a smile. Before I offer my pinky too and he does the same to me, both of us laughing again.

“Surprise me, I trust you.” I offer which makes him smile even brighter.

“You got it.” Ryker beams before he leaves the table and I can see his hair is short and well cut and I greatly appreciate his fine figure from behind and I have to bite my lip when he has one hell of an ass on him. The thirst is killing me.

A few moments later the waitress brings by a basket full of screaming hot freshly fried tortilla chips and a bowl of salsa and a bowl of white queso along with a charcuterie board with meats and cheeses and all kinds of stuff on it.

“Wait, is that queso blanco?” Del realizes as her eyes grow wide before she grabs a chip and dunks it and eats it and then tries to hog the bowl all to herself as I sample the salsa first and I feel like I’m just shoving a whole garden into my mouth.

“Oh my god,” I gasp. “That’s some Willy Wonka intense flavors, but it’s the best salsa I've ever had.” I practically moan before the waitress comes back with a second bowl of queso for the rest of us having seen Del try to hog the first one and gives us our drinks including a bottle of wine on the house. But one sip and I realize it’s dry and I make a face.

“Do you not like dry wine?” The waitress asks.

“No, I’m very tannin sensitive, do you have anything sweet?” I asked hopefully.

“Like sangria sweet or alcoholic juice sweet?” She asks.

“Alcoholic juice sweet.” I immediately answer.

“I gotcha girl.” She nods sagely with a grin before she returns with another bottle, this one is AMAZING and I take a picture of the label so I can find it and buy it for myself.

“Much better,” I praise as Amelie takes my previous cup and pours the contents into her wine glass.

“Can’t let this wine go to waste.” She tells me which makes me giggle.

Ryker returns several moments later, carrying out the plates for us. “I hope you all enjoy,” he says. “I tried something a little different tonight, after all I have a pinky promise to make good on.” And my heart melts like the queso.

Del giggles as she looks at her plate and her eyes light up when she sees a moat of queso around the main dish and her eyes light up. And for my platter, it’s like I have at least six different dishes loaded onto it and I can’t decide what I want to dig into first but one of them is a mini copy of Del’s plate.

“These are my special Shawarma enchiladas.” Ryker explained as he gestured to Del’s plate before he points to each thing on mine and tells me what each thing is as my smile grows bigger and bigger and brighter and brighter with every new thing until I feel my smile is making my face split in half is so big and excited. He really did put half the menu on this plate and it’s everything I had my eye on too. How did he know?!

“Do your tattoos mean something special to you or did you get them just because they look cool?” Del suddenly asks as Ryker is thrown for a loop but recovers quickly as a big smile blooms on his face.

“A bit of both…” Ryker says as he starts to point out each one that shows on his forearms and explains each one as Del listens closely and respectfully as she continues to eat, talking with her mouth full occasionally and before I know it, Ryker has pulled up his sleeves to really show her the other tattoos on his arms which she eagerly looks at as I can not help but notice how strong and muscular his arms are and start fantasizing about massaging them and them wrapping around me. He looked so strong, I wonder if he’s strong enough to pick me up and toss me over his shoulder and haul me off and pound..whew, ok, gotta get my mind out of the gutter. I gotta actually listen to the conversation he’s having with Del since Del has then showed him her temporary tattoos on the back of her hands that she got at the supermarket.

“So does your mom have any tattoos?” Ryker asks since Del’s attitude was typical of kids with parents with tattoos and I nearly choke on my food and furiously shake my head no.

“No, I’m scared of needles.” I answer, my mouth covered because I still have a bite of food in my mouth before I quickly try to finish it.

“She has to give herself shots every month for her migraines and she has a hard time not getting panic attacks just doing that.” Del added and I have to nod in agreement to that.

“Wow migraines bad enough you give yourself shots for it?” Ryker asked as he looked physically pained by that.

“Oh yeah, I get the kind where I lose my vision, I’m super sensitive to light, sound, motion and throw my guts up for four to five days at a time, several times a month. With the medicine, I get one or two a month and with my other two migraine meds, it’s reduced to feeling awful for not even an hour before they kick in and then it’s over, it doesn’t get downgraded to a headache the size of Texas either. It’s worth trying to get over my fear of needles for.” You explained with a nod and big gestures.

“Well I’m happy you’re getting relief.” Ryker smiled, his own relief visible on his face. “Well, bon appetit, I gotta get back.” Ryker excused himself.

The enchiladas are served with a vibrant salad and a small dish of black rice mixed with chorizo and what tastes like heaven. I have never seen Del eat something with as much fervor as she did those enchiladas and I of course feel like I’m inhaling my food and my eyes want to roll back into my head but I keep catching Ryker looking over to me while he continues to work, stealing glances at me and Del and all I can do is try to smile over my bulging cheeks and offer two big thumbs up and every other hand gesture I know that means good and now my eyes instantly seem to find him in the kitchen and I can’t take my eyes off of him and I notice he’s not yelling at anyone and while he gives clear direction, it’s always given respectfully and kindly.

“I take it she liked the meal?” Ryker asks, coming back to the table after we finished eating and getting the leftovers boxed up.

“It's been forever since I've seen her so excited to eat something new, we loved it, it was so good, best meal of my life, thank you,” I gush. “Thank you so so so much.”

“It was exquisite, that queso blanco was sublime.” Del praises and Ryker is impressed with her vocabulary.

“How old are you again?” He asks curiously.

“Eight, I just graduated the second grade and I’ll be in third grade in the fall.” Del answered proudly.

“That’s awesome, high five.” He offers which she readily gives. “Well, I wanted to send something else home with you I thought you might enjoy these later. You can warm them up for breakfast even.” Ryker invited as he revealed the largest ‘to go’ bag already filled with to go boxes of more food. Having been working on this while we were eating.

“Oh wow, thank you so much!” I gasp. “We will probably be back before we have to leave again,” I say with a big grin as I suppress the urge to get up and hug him and kiss him all over for being as awesome and amazing as he is.

“I hope you do,” his voice is gentle yet so hopeful. “Well uhm, back to work!” He seems to want to linger but he pulls himself away. When the waitress comes back, I ask for the bill but she informs me that there isn’t one. That Ryker waived the bill for our whole table.

“Aww, he didn’t have to do that, he’s so sweet!” I fawned before I made sure to give the waitress a very hefty tip, which was what I thought I would be paying for the meal to begin with which makes her happy.

As we leave, we don’t notice Ryker come out and talk with the waitress and pick up Del’s drawing that she left and look at it appreciatively before he carefully folded it up and put it into his pocket.

That evening after Del has a shower and she’s taken to a food coma in bed, I go to the kitchen to unpack the to go bag and I find a bottle of wine! It’s the same wine I enjoyed with dinner! As I place the containers into the fridge a piece of paper falls out and floats to the ground. It’s the kitchen’s receipt for our table and I see that we were coded as ‘Chef’s special guests’ with instructions for Del’s food ‘Make it perfect- pinky promise’ and mine is ‘greatest hits, give her everything’. And I’m just so touched I start tearing up but I can’t stop smiling before I turn it over to see a note written on the back and I see a phone number and a message scrawled on it. “If you need any advice to combat your picky eater, call me. Ryker.”

My head nearly explodes, I have the cute chef’s number!

“Yyeeeaaaasssss!” I squeal before I clamp my hand over my mouth to keep myself from waking Del up but I can’t help but jump up and down and celebrate and do a victory dance in the kitchen in front of the sliding glass doors who’s curtains are still pulled back before I put the number into my phone and dig into the cheesecake Ryker had sent with me as I plug in my headphones and dance around the kitchen while eating the cheesecake which is my favorite dessert and it totally tastes homemade and out of this world. I’m so lost in my own little world that I don’t see two light green eye shines from in the woods and I definitely don’t notice them getting closer until their right at the edge of the woods before I get tired and put the left over cheesecake away and start stripping down to my underwear because my impromptu workout has me sweating and I had turned off the airconditioners downstairs before we left as I go through the cabin and start turning the lights off as I go. I get ready for bed and I’m on cloud nine. I can’t help but think of Ryker as I try to fall asleep, keeping the window open since it has a screen so it won’t let any bugs in and the spring mountain air is just so sweet and refreshingly cool so I don’t need to run the air conditioner and before I know it I have a need that needs to be fulfilled so I grab my little vibrator that I packed and a little bottle of lube and get down to business and in no time at all I’m trying to stamp down my voice but still let a pleasured keen escape as I find my release before I heard clawing on the side of the house that almost sounded like it was right underneath my window... on the second floor of the cabin.

“What the hell?” I frown as I get my phone and use the flashlight feature to look out the window to see if I could see anything and I wonder if there’s a raccoon or something outside. But the clawing stops and I hear the tell tale signs of something running back into the woods, must have been a big raccoon, I just shrug it off and go to sleep.

#Hearthway Hollow #my bastard version of this commission #but yay it gets to see the light of day

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