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 had to ask him. “So you never liked Ross…because why? I just always thought you hated him, hated us, because we’re gay.”


“Ah.” He waved a hand at me. “I don’t understand why a man wants another man when there are so many beautiful gals in the world.” He shook his head and chuckled to himself. “But then, as I got older, I did come to see that there were lots of things I didn’t understand and probably never would.” He shrugged. “I won’t lie—it took me some time and several good talkin’-tos from your mom to make me realize that you were who you were—the son I raised.” He looked over at me and said in a rush, almost a whisper, “The son I love.”


Chapter 37