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

“Well, it wasn’t just how he looked sitting there, not knowing I was watching him. And it wasn’t just his appearance, although he was gorgeous…my kind of man. We really hit it off that night. We talked for hours, easily. About everything.” A memory came to me then, and I could see the smile on Jackson’s face. “He told me about you.”


“Yeah. I just remembered. He told me what a good mom you were and how, growing up, it had always been you and him against the world. He said you never had much, but you never made him feel he lacked a thing.”


“Oh now, Beau, quit making stuff up to make an old woman smile.” But Maisie wasn’t smiling. Tears stood in her eyes.


“I’m not making it up. He told me he called you every Sunday, without fail.”


“He said that?” Maisie sounded a little breathless.


I nodded. “It only added to my esteem for him. When we said good-bye that night, I couldn’t wait to see him again. I was like a little kid.”


Chapter 43