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, he’s back.” She sat down on the edge of his bed and, annoyingly, picked up the remote from its surface and turned the TV off. He was in the middle of an old Twilight Zoneepisode, one where two little kids found escape from their unhappy home life through a portal in the bottom of their swimming pool.


Jack wished they could have afforded a pool…


Maisie went on, ignoring his tsknoise of protest at the TV being shut off. “You should give him another chance, Jack.”


“Why? I’m perfectly happy with whatever slop you throw my way. In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t expend a whole lot of energy these days, so your Banquet pot pies are just fine.”


Maisie’s mouth turned down, in a little moue of disappointment, he supposed.


“Yes, when he was here to see you. I suppose that was a dramatic statement on your part. So, bravo. But I noticed the leftovers I put in a Tupperware in the fridge were gone the next day.”


Chapter 46