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

We sat there for two or three minutes that seemed to stretch out for much longer until finally Jack opened the front door and came in, bringing with him the smell of cold and damp. He closed the door behind him and then peered at us curiously. I suppose we both looked as Maisie did—expectant, relieved, worried.


Maisie leaned forward, and I had a feeling something like “Where have you been” was poised on the tip of her tongue. If I was a betting man, I’d add that she wouldn’t even wait for an answer before following the question up with the revelation that she had been “worried sick.” It was what my own mother, God rest her soul, would have said. Mothers were all alike in some respects.


I spoke first, trying to keep things low-key, casual. “It’s cold out there,” I remarked.


Chapter 55