“So do I. Which ones do you like?”

   They talked about which were their favorites. It turned out they shared a number in common, from cooking shows to a couple of the reality competition shows.

   “I know you told us all yesterday how you started your career in cooking. But I’m interested in your earlier life. Did you learn to cook from either of your parents, Amelia?” Lydia asked.

   “Oh, no. In high school, actually. I took a basic cooking skills class and fell in love. The instructor encouraged me to take an advanced class, which I did, and from there I was hooked. In college I got my bachelor’s degree in management, found a job at a restaurant and worked there while I went to school. After graduating, I attended culinary school.”

   “It’s great that you knew what you wanted and went after it.”

   She nodded. “Yes, much to my mother’s disappointment.”

   Lydia frowned. “She was disappointed? Why?”

   “She thought it was a frivolous career with no earning potential. She was a financial analyst, so money was everything to her.”

   “Oh. Well, that’s disappointing. For you.”

   Amelia shrugged. “My mother was always about career. A lot less about home and family. I was kind of an afterthought to her.”

   Lydia reached out and laid her hand on Amelia’s arm. “I’m sorry.”

   Amelia looked over at Lydia, horrified that she’d spilled so much personal information. “I’m . . . sorry I brought it up. I never do. I don’t know why I said anything. I honestly wasn’t looking for sympathy.”

   “No, you said it because you wanted to talk to someone about it. Am I right?”

   “Maybe. I think it’s also because I’m so fascinated by your family dynamic. You have such a warm and loving family. The siblings all get along, your husband’s brothers live nearby. It’s such a tight-knit group.”

   “And you didn’t have that.”

   “Not really. My father loved and adored me. He gave me everything I could ever want in a parent, so I never felt I was missing anything. He passed away ten years ago.”

   “I’m sorry, Amelia.”

   “Thank you. My mother remarried about a year after my father died, and she relocated to Arizona where her new husband’s family lives.”

   “Do you see her often?”

   Amelia shook her head. “Hardly at all. We weren’t close anyway, and the geographical distance only separated us further.”

   “That has to hurt.”

   “It did at first. I felt like she’d abandoned me after my dad died. But in actuality, I find I don’t really miss her all that much. I suppose it’s because she gave me so little affection as a child. I do miss my dad though. A lot.”

   “I’m sure you do. You don’t have any brothers or sisters?”

   “No. Just me.”

   Lydia gave her a sweet smile and squeezed her hand. “Well, you know, family comes in many forms, not all of it blood.”

   She returned the smile, feeling the genuine warmth and affection that she’d felt from the moment she’d met Lydia. “Now, that I do know. I stayed close with my best friend from college, and she lives in San Francisco. So we’ve grown even closer since I moved there. She and her husband own a house just down the street from me. It’s been wonderful having a best friend nearby.”

   “That’s good. It’s important to have a friend you can share all of your secrets with.”

   Amelia laughed. “Laura definitely knows all of my secrets. And all of my sins. She was there for me, on the phone and in person with many visits when I went through my divorce.”

   “Oh. I’m sorry about that, too.”

   “Trust me, I’m much happier now than when I was married. I made a huge mistake and married the wrong guy.”

   “That happens. But it sounds to me like you’re heading in the right direction now. You have close friends and a wonderful career as a chef.”

   “I am. I’m very happy. I have to say how much I admire you, Lydia, for giving up your career to put your family first.”

   Lydia smiled at her. “I never felt as if I was giving anything up. Easton and I saw this property and we fell in love with it. We wanted to give the kids a rural lifestyle, away from the city. He was several years away from retiring from football, and we could have waited for that, but I felt it was the right time to buy the ranch before the kids got too old. And I didn’t want to miss their childhoods while I was working. I knew staying at home with them was the right decision for me. I couldn’t imagine other people raising our children while both of us stayed in Wisconsin and continued with our careers.

   “It was an easy decision to make. Easton was concerned, of course, because he knew I loved my job, but honestly? My kids always came first. And I loved having that time with them before they were all grown and gone. We were lucky my staying at home was an option financially.”

   Amelia blinked back the sting of tears. Her mother would have never made that choice. Asking her to give up her career—even give up a day of it—would have been like asking her to give up a vital organ. “I don’t think you really have an idea how much it meant to your children to have you there with them.”

   Lydia looked out over the property, a warm smile on her face. “Oh, I know. It benefitted all of us, trust me.”

   And that was what it was like to feel the love of a mother. Even though Lydia wasn’t her mother, she could feel the thousand-watt strength of that love pouring out of her.

   It made her very happy to know Lydia. To know Flynn, and know that he came from someone as wonderful as this woman.

   After sitting outside a few more minutes, they went back in and started on another cooking task.

   Lydia was very easy to talk to. Maybe that’s why Amelia had blurted out some secrets from her past. She hoped Lydia didn’t feel too burdened by them, or think less of her for telling them.

   But surprisingly, Amelia felt lightened by sharing a little bit of her past with Flynn’s mother. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt closer to Lydia for having shared parts of her past. And maybe that was a good thing.

TWENTY-SIX

   If Flynn ate one more thing today he was going to explode. Or have to go on a run again tonight. He was so full. There’d been so much food on the table he hadn’t been sure he was going to be able to fit it all on his plate.

   Oh, who was he kidding? Of course he’d gotten it all on his plate. Just not in the first round.