Personal chef Beau St. Clair, recently divorced from his cheating husband, returns to the small Ohio River town where he grew up to lick his wounds. Jack Rogers lives with his mother, Maisie, in that same small town, angry at and frightened by the world. Jack has a gap in his memory that hides something he dares not face, and he’s probably suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Maisie, seeking relief from her housebound and often surly son, hires Beau to cook for Jack, hoping the change might help bring Jack, once a handsome and vibrant attorney, back to his former self. But can a new face and comfort food compensate for the terror lurking in Jack’s past? Slowly the two men begin a dance of revelation and healing. Food and compassion build a bridge between Beau and Jack, a bridge that might lead to love. But will Jack’s demons allow it? His history could just as easily tear them apart as bring them together.

Dinner at Jack's

I continued to walk around the room, taking in the wall-mounted flat screen above the maple bookshelves, already filled with horror and romance paperbacks, most of which I’d read, the blue corduroy recliner in one corner, the glass-topped coffee table. Pushed against another wall was a double-size four-poster bed, a little worse for the wear, its mahogany stain scratched and dull, but looking so comfy with its patchwork quilt that I was quite tempted to lie down and take a nap. I could already visualize myself waking up there with the sun streaming in and Ruth curled up at my feet, snoring like a trucker, as she did.


Chapter 17