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

I smiled. “The extra sleep did you some good this morning too, didn’t it?”


In response, Ruth trotted over to a patch of grass in the distance where a big stick had fallen from a maple tree. It was always hard to suppress a laugh when she ran, which was more like a waddle combined with a hop. She had no fear of being kidnapped for the dog races.


She came back with the stick and trotted around me a couple of times, head up, not letting the stick drop.


She stopped in her tracks and then looked up at me over the stick. She blinked. And then she dropped the stick at my feet, daring me to pick it up.


Lightning quick, I snatched it up, because I knew from past experience where this game was headed. If I showed any hesitation in bending down to reach for the stick, she’d grab it and trot away, expecting me, stupid human, to give chase. Oh, the merriment!


Chapter 75