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

Ruth barked at me, and I wondered if it was an admonishment.


Still, the crisis with Jack had temporarily set aside my own cold. I sat down on the bed next to the pile of clothes and hugged myself, still shivering. Finally I did a more useful thing, forcing myself up from the bed and toward the thermostat on the wall. I turned the heat up to eighty. Too hot? Maybe. But not for the situation at hand.


I quickly stripped out of my own wet clothes, leaving them in a heap on the floor. Ruth came over to sniff them. From the closet, I pulled out jeans and an old flannel shirt that was so faded its reds, blues, and yellows almost ran together. Putting the shirt on was like giving myself a hug. I slid into my fleece-lined bedroom slippers and then sat on the edge of the bed, listening for the hiss of the shower to stop.


Chapter 77