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 lay there for a long time, letting my mind savor the dream imagery. It took me all of about two minutes to put it all together, and when I did, I gasped.


Ruth stopped snoring for a moment and then went right back into it, louder than before.


I sat up, agitated, on the couch. I stood and stretched my arms above my head and moved to the window. The sky had cleared and was now full dark. An orange crescent moon hung low on the horizon, and I could see its shape, wavery, reflected on the slick blackness of the river. A barge was making slow progress on the water’s surface.


I spoke the words aloud because I was dumbfounded by the revelation. “Isit him? Is Jack…Jackson?” I shook my head—no, it can’t be—and then pressed it against the coolness of the windowpane. It simply couldn’t be. Too coincidental.


Chapter 34