Clicking on the genealogy program, it came alive. Quickly, I opened the section Sophia would be in. My Aunt Leelyn could recite all of the information by memory.
As I remembered, Devlin Covington the Third and Sophia Marie Montgomery were listed together. There was no date. There was a small red cross and I clicked on it; indicating there was more information. Daniel Gael Stowe and Sophia Marie Montgomery appeared also with no dates. What I hadn’t noticed before was there was an additional green cross on Daniel and Sophia’s name. I hovered on it and gasped.
“Ashlin, the suspense is killing me. What did you find out?”
I heaved out a sigh of relief. “I don’t think we’re related. They did have a child named Joselyn Marie Stowe. Thank goodness, it’s not Annabelle which was Devlin and Sophia’s daughter. Oh Gael, we aren’t related.” I sunk back into the chair, drained from the adrenaline rush.
Gael let out a sigh, too. “I feel the same way, sweetheart. I’m in serious need of you. Knowing, there was a chance we wouldn’t be able to be together has me wanting you now.”
Desire curled within me. “I can’t wait. I’ve missed you. Those Fraisiers better be out of this world.”
He chuckled. “I hope so, too. After hearing you read those parts with Daniel and Sophia, I’m going to be hard thinking about you all through class today.”
“You liked that. Maybe I’ll have to do it more often. It wasn’t as embarrassing as I thought it would be. You’ll have to be really good to get me to do it again.” I bit my lip at the obvious flirty line.
“I’ll be good.” There was a knock at the door. “Hold on, Ashlin. Let me see who it is.” There was talking on the other end. The phone was muffled and I was unable to make out any of the words before he came back on the line. “I’ve got to head down. Chef François wants to meet with me. I’ll call when I can.”
“Bye, Gael.”
“Bye ...” he paused. “Ashlin.”
The phone went dead and I wondered if he was going to say something else instead. Feeling drained, I slunk upstairs and tucked myself into bed.
What would we have done if we had been related? There wasn’t an acceptable answer I was able to come up with. Harris was worth dealing with to have Gael.
Gael.
In two days, we were going to be together in every way possible.
One more day until Gael was home. Evening was quickly approaching. I hadn’t heard from him since early this morning at five. There was another full day of cooking and there wouldn’t be a chance to talk.
Microwaving a Lean Cuisine meal, I tried to quell the excitement for what tomorrow would bring. The food popped and sizzled under the cellophane wrap and my mouth watered. I was starving and this was the extent to my cooking abilities. The phone vibrated and danced on the counter. Gael’s name showed and an involuntary smile spread across my lips.
“Hey, you’ve had a long day. How was it?”
He yawned. “It was long, but I get to see you tomorrow. I have to make this quick, but have a favor to ask you. The restaurant needs a bottle of wine from my house that’s a special request for an eight o’clock reservation. Would you mind going out to get it? If not, I can see if my mom could go.”
“No, no, no. I’ll go. It’ll give me something to do. I was about to eat a Lean Cuisine meal, but I’ll reheat it when I get home.” I heard a groan on the other end of the line. “Why are you groaning like that?”
He groaned again. “Ashlin, Lean Cuisine is like a curse word to me. I cannot believe you are eating that when you have a restaurant at your disposal. Do not eat that.”
His obvious dislike for microwave meals had me giggling. “Come on. It’s nutritious and yummy. And it only takes four to seven minutes to have a completely balanced meal.”
“Please throw that away. I’ll have something waiting for you at the restaurant when you give them the wine...”
I looked at the container. “But it’s yummy turkey with mashed potatoes and dressing. It’s so good. I live on these when I’m at home. You’d probably die knowing how many I’ve eaten over the last two weeks.”
“Seriously, Ashlin. You’re causing me a coronary. Get your cute ass to my house. I’ll have something good waiting for you at the restaurant.”
I was practically in tears as I laughed. “Okay, okay, okay. I won’t eat it. I’ll get something from the restaurant. But, beware if I ever cook for you, this could be on the menu. What kind of wine am I looking for?”
Chucking, he responded, “You will not see that touch my lips. I’m going to educate you on proper food. The wine is a Henri Jayer Vosne-Romanee. Thanks, sweetheart. I owe you.”
> All the possibilities of how Gael could educate me popped into my head. My hormones were in overdrive … again. “Yes, you do. I’ll make you pay up tomorrow. Let me get my shoes on and I’ll head that way.”
“Okay, I’ll call you back to make sure everything went okay. Thanks again.”
“Anytime.”