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 opened the door before I could get to it. She must have been watching for me. She was grinning.


I slid around her and came into the living room. Maisie was still grinning.


“What? Did you win the lottery or something?” I asked as I set things down on the kitchen counter.


“That grin tells me something good happened. Or you’re just sohappy to see me, which, of course, is totally understandable.” I hoped to hear that there was progress with Jack. Something. Anything. I’d settle for even a little improvement in his disposition.


But why Maisie was grinning turned out to have nothing to do with her son.


Maisie continued to wear the grin of an adolescent schoolgirl. It was charming and wiped years off her face. It made megrin.


As I set out my ingredients, I said, “I didn’t know you gave him your number.”


Chapter 45