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

But he felt he needed to give Maisie something, because he realized, and certainly not for the first time, that his prison was also her own. And that wasn’t fair. The idea of walking the few steps out to the kitchen to eat were more terrifying than almost anything he could imagine, but he could try and throw her a bone. Even a tiny one…


“I can try, Mom. But can he meet me halfway and bring it in here?”


You would have thought he’d said something like “You’re the best mother in the whole wide world!” the way her face lit up at his small acquiescence. “Thank you! Thank you so much, Jack!”


“Just—let’s get this over with.”


He turned the volume back up. Maisie left the room, closing the door behind her.


Chapter 47