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

Maisie grabbed my arm with more force than I thought she had in her. She steered me to the door. Before we even made it there, the TV was back on, volume blaring. Christopher Meloni was calling someone a dirtbag, and for a moment I thought the TV star was yelling at Jack.


I tried to pull away, but she held fast.


“Don’t you want me to help clean up?”


She tugged me from the room. I glanced over at Jack, who stared at the TV screen, a smirk on his face. I wanted to call him a dick but held my temper in check and tried to reason that he couldn’t help himself. He was a wounded person, with scars I had no idea about.


Once in the kitchen, Maisie nervously lit up again. She blew the smoke at the ceiling and then regarded me warily. She didn’t say anything for several minutes, and then she whispered, “Thanks for everything.”


Chapter 31