It only takes a few days for Ollie D'Angelo to lose his boyfriend, his job, and his home. Instead of mourning what he doesn't have, Ollie celebrates what he does: the freedom to pursue his real passion -- cooking. He begins Dinner at Home, a home-catering business, and it takes off.<br><br>Late one night, Ollie catches Hank Mellinger, a streetwise hood down on his luck, about to rob his car. Ollie soon discovers that appearances aren't necessarily what they seem. Hank isn't a criminal caught red-handed, but a hungry young man trying to make a life for himself and the four-year-old niece he's trying desperately to take care of.<br><br>Instead of calling the cops, Ollie offers Hank a job and a way to pull himself up by his bootstraps. Together, they discover they can really cook ... and that their shared passion for food just might lead to a passion for each other.

Dinner at Home

There was that smile again! It was more akin to a grimace. “Me too, Oliver. And there’s always hope business will get better, and when we start calling people back, you’ll be at the top of the list. That is, if someone else hasn’t already snatched you up.”


“Thank you for all your contributions.” And then with a nod to Amanda Priestly of The Devil Wears Pradafame, she said, “That’s all.”


Ollie wanted to snicker one more time as he left her office.


He returned to the office he’d occupied for the last several years, recalling the day he had moved into it, when Marcia herself had given him the news he had been promoted to creative director. It had been a happy day for him, the culmination of his dreams.


And once again he laughed, because the memory was false and he knew it. Although he couldn’t put his finger on precisely what his dreams were, they weren’t this. He had plodded along here, doing work he’d never really cared about.


Chapter 12