She turned to leave, but he grabbed her arm. When she glanced at him, the humor had faded.
“I’m sorry,” he said, looking as if he meant it. “I was having a bad dream. I woke up on the floor. I guess I thrashed around until I fell. It was good of you to worry about me.”
She sighed. “But unnecessary.”
“I could pretty much take anyone.”
“Whatever.”
“I appreciate you coming to my rescue.”
She pulled free of his touch. “Now you’re mocking me.”
“A little.”
At that moment, her entire hormonal system stirred to life and noticed there was a half-naked man standing very, very close. Elissa felt the chemicals pouring through her body. Wanting exploded as her girl parts got hard or melty, depending on their placement. All this and she hadn’t even had her coffee.
“I need caffeine,” she muttered.
“Me, too.”
“I have a pot on and—” she glanced at her watch “—twenty minutes until I have to leave. You’re welcome to a cup.”
She expected him to refuse. Instead he surprised her by saying, “That would be great,” then following her downstairs.
She wanted to point out he had bare feet and wasn’t wearing a shirt. Then she told herself that if he didn’t care, she should just smile and enjoy the show.
Once in her kitchen, she put down the baseball bat, grabbed a second mug and held it out to him. He waited for her to pour her own coffee before taking the carafe for himself.
“I assume you take it black,” she murmured, aware of Zoe sleeping just down the hall.
“I used to be a Marine,” he said. “What else?”
She smiled, then leaned against the counter. “Have a lot of bad dreams?”
“They come and go.” He shrugged, then took a drink. “Some things can’t be forgotten.”
“Is that why you left?” she asked. “Too much bad stuff?”
“Maybe.”
She had the feeling she was prying. “We don’t have to talk about it.”
“It’s okay. I spent a lot of time looking for snipers and listening for bombs. Sometimes they come back to me.”
She had her own nightmares, but they weren’t nearly that violent.
“I hope I didn’t wake Zoe,” he said.
“You didn’t. I checked on her before I went up to your place. She could sleep through a tornado. I vacuumed a lot during her naps when she was a baby. I read somewhere it works for kids who sleep soundly. In her case, it worked.”
This was the strangest conversation she’d had all week, she thought. She would never in a million years have imagined a half-dressed, barefoot Walker in her kitchen at four forty-five in the morning, drinking coffee and talking about her daughter and being a Marine.
“She’s a good kid,” he said.
“I like to think so.” She hesitated. “Is it strange to be back in civilian life, having a child living nearby, that sort of thing?”
“There are kids everywhere. At least here, Zoe can grow up safe. I didn’t always see that.”
There was a lot of regret in his voice. She wondered what he had seen, then realized she probably didn’t want to know.
She noticed that even that early, his posture was perfect. She tried to subtly square her own shoulders and slump a little less.
“Great chicken,” he said.
It took her a second to realize he meant her uniform. She glanced down and laughed at the large hen on her apron. “I work at Eggs ’n’ Stuff. It’s a breakfast and lunch diner.”
“I know it.”
“Then you recognized the uniform. Frank, my boss, is a great guy, but we can’t talk him out of the chicken. Apparently it dates back to the 1950s. At least the shoes are comfy.” She held up one foot, showing her white orthopedic lace-ups. “I’m just waiting for these bad boys to come in style.”
“You’re on your feet all day.”
“Still, a little pretty wouldn’t hurt. But they, and the chicken, are a small price to pay. I get fabulous tips, really good benefits and once Zoe starts school, I’ll be home before her.”
“Who gets her ready in the morning?”
“Mrs. Ford.”
“I thought maybe your ex-husband came over to take care of things.”
For a full two seconds she thought he was fishing to find out about her marital status. Then she remembered the unfortunate babbling incident a few days before, where she’d flat out told him she wasn’t interested in dating or sex, only to realize the poor man hadn’t even asked.
“No ex,” she said easily.
“Then if I see a strange man lurking in the bushes, I’ll beat the crap out of him.”
“Absolutely.”
She took a last drink of coffee and looked at the clock.
“You have to go,” Walker said, putting down his mug. “Sorry about bothering you. I’ll try to have my nightmares more quietly. Thanks for the coffee.” He picked up the baseball bat. “And for coming to my rescue.”
She sighed. “I hate starting my day feeling foolish.”
“Don’t. You did a good thing.”
He put the bat down and left.
Elissa rinsed out both mugs, slipped the bat back in the hall closet, did a last check on Zoe, opened the door between her place and Mrs. Ford’s, then walked to her car.
As it was August, the sun was already up and birds all over the neighborhood were announcing the fact. She drove down the quiet streets and thought about Walker. He was an interesting man. Not a serial killer. She was willing to let that worry go. But he did have his secrets. Of course, so did she.
CHAPTER THREE
DANI BUCHANAN LOVED everything about her job. As assistant to the executive chef, she was in charge of reviewing food orders, making sure the kitchen staff showed up when they should, acting as liaison between the front of the house—the dining room—and the back of the house—the kitchen. During the dinner rush, she expedited plates and made sure the right orders got to the right table at the right time.
With Penny approaching zero hour on her pregnancy, she was spending less and less time at the restaurant, which meant more responsibility for Dani. Instead of feeling the pressure, Dani felt energized. She loved the challenges, how no two days were the same. She enjoyed the foul-mouthed cooks who had made her prove she wouldn’t blush at the raunchy jokes. Here in the kitchen of The Waterfront, she was just staff. Not Penny’s sister-in-law, not one of “the” Buchanans. She was judged on the job she did, nothing more.
She finished checking the produce delivery and signed the receipt. As the delivery truck rumbled away, Edouard, Penny’s sous-chef and the man now temporarily in charge of the cooks, walked in.
Dani eyed his scowl. “Someone not getting any?” she asked sweetly.
“This job is cutting into my social life,” Edouard told her with a sniff. “I am forced to leave the clubs before I am ready. Sometimes I am forced to leave alone. I do not like that.”
Edouard was French, moody, brilliant and recovering from a breakup. He could have made a reputation for himself, but he didn’t want the responsibility. Instead he was happy to be highly paid by Penny and have a life outside of work. Except while she was on semimaternity leave.
He walked into the kitchen and looked at the list of specials.
“You change them every day,” he complained. “Why is that?”
“Partly tradition and partly to annoy you.”
“We do not have the same people dining here night after night. They would not know if the specials remained the same for a week or so.”
“Suck it up, big guy.”
Edouard spread out his knives and checked the blades. He reached for a particularly nasty-looking cleaver. “I do not like it when you call me that.”
Dani held up both hands and smiled. “Point taken.”
“Good. Now I will cook your specials because I am a professional, but I will not be happy about it.”
“Duly noted.”
He sighed. “When will Penny be back?”
“She hasn’t left yet.”
“She is not here all the time. I miss her doing the hard work.”
He continued complaining, but Dani slipped out of the kitchen and headed to Penny’s office. There was more paperwork to be done before things got busy. She settled in front of the computer and entered the information for the produce order. Thirty minutes later, that was complete and she went to get another cup of coffee.
Several of the cooks had arrived. Stocks were already simmering as vegetables were chopped in preparation for that night’s dinner. A far cry from Burger Heaven, Dani thought as she filled her mug. Their setup was no more complicated than prepping burger toppings and picking the milkshake flavor of the month.
She’d stayed there too long, hoping her grandmother would notice the great job she’d been doing and move her to this place or Buchanan’s, the family steak house. But Gloria never had. A combination of family loyalty and the need for the great insurance had kept Dani in place until a few months ago, when she’d discovered nothing was as it seemed.
The insurance for her husband had become unnecessary when the lowlife cheater had asked her for a divorce. As for family loyalty, that was no longer an issue, either. When Dani had pushed to find out why she wasn’t getting promoted, her supposed grandmother had gleefully informed her that she, Dani, wasn’t actually a Buchanan. Dani had quit that instant.
The momentary act of thumbing her nose at a woman who had obviously always hated her had sustained her for all of forty-five minutes. Then Dani had been left with no job, no home and no idea what to do with her future.
A job offer from Penny to be her assistant had solved all of Dani’s problems and had given her time to figure out what she wanted to do while getting fabulous experience for her resume. In addition, Penny’s marriage to Cal meant Dani could take over the lease on Penny’s house. Plus there was the added bonus of knowing her presence at The Waterfront made Gloria furious. As Penny’s employment contract stated she was allowed to hire whomever she liked for her assistant, the old cow couldn’t touch Dani.
That was the upside of her life. The downside was finding out she wasn’t who she thought. And then there was the small mystery of her father.
Apparently her mother had had an affair that resulted in a pregnancy—Dani. But who was the guy? Did he know he had a daughter? Did he care? If Gloria knew, she wasn’t telling. But Dani was going to have to decide what to do.
Someone knocked on the open door, interrupting her musings. She turned and nearly passed out as all the air flew out of her lungs.
A man stood in the doorway. But not just any man. This one was tall, blond and oh so good-looking. Greek-god-like, even. His dark blue eyes and square jaw were male perfection and exactly Dani’s personal fantasy. Was it her birthday? Had someone wonderful sent her a present?
“Hi. I’m Ryan Jennings. I’m looking for Dani or Edouard?”
“I’m Dani.” She stood and brushed the front of her tailored blouse, wishing there was a way to subtly unbutton it a little more. She might be on the short side, but she had curves and she was suddenly in the mood to flaunt them.
He smiled. “Hey. Good to meet you. I’m really happy to be here. This is a great store and I’m looking forward to being on the team.”
Team? So he would be working here. Hmm, maybe her luck was changing. After the past few months, she was due for something wonderful to happen.
“Gloria Buchanan doesn’t exactly keep me in the loop on new hires,” Dani said easily, able to forgive the oversight when Ryan was so yummy. “And I haven’t talked to Penny yet today. You are going to be…?”
“The new general manager. Gloria didn’t tell you?”
“Don’t take it personally. She likes to spring things on people.”
“Interesting management style.”
“You don’t know the half of it.” She walked around her desk until she was next to Ryan. “Welcome aboard.”
They shook hands. She felt definite heat. Until that moment, she hadn’t given a thought to her love life. She was in the middle of a lot of personal upheaval and getting involved hadn’t seemed important. But suddenly, she saw possibilities.
“I’m a little overwhelmed by all of this,” he said. “I only interviewed a couple of days ago. I wasn’t sure I’d done that good a job, but she called this morning and made me a great offer.”
“Which you took.”
His eyes locked with hers. “Lucky me.”
Her thoughts exactly.
There were actual sparks, which she hadn’t felt in a really long time. Sparks, heat and a lot of potential. She suddenly felt like bursting into song.
“Okay then,” she said, telling herself it was important not to act like an idiot in front of Ryan. “Let me show you around the place. Are you from the Seattle area?”
“No. San Diego. I moved up here to help a buddy open a restaurant. Unfortunately the funding fell through and I found myself looking for a job in a strange city.”
“Seattle is great,” she said.
“I like what I’ve seen so far.”
He smiled at her as he spoke, as if implying he wasn’t just talking about Seattle.
She wondered how inappropriate it was to drag him back to her desk and have her way with him. Or not, she thought. Maybe she should take things more slowly. Show him the restaurant, let him meet the staff and drag him to her desk in the morning.
She smiled. It was always nice to have a plan.
“ELISSA, PHONE CALL.” Mindy held out the phone and smiled. “It’s a guy,” she mouthed.
Elissa put down the sugar container she’d been refilling in the lull between breakfast and lunch and told herself there was no reason to panic. Only she couldn’t seem to stop her heart from thumping wildly or her breath from disappearing.
She almost never got calls at work. The only one she could remember in the past year had been to tell her that Zoe had woken up with a fever and wouldn’t be going to preschool that day.
Could Neil have found her again? He always seemed to. It was the Internet. With fifty bucks, you could find anyone. Or maybe someone he knew had come in and recognized her. Or was it worse? A doctor at an emergency room, phoning about a horrible accident that had hurt her daughter?
“Hello?” she said into the phone.
“Elissa, it’s Walker. I’m sorry to bother you at work.”
Walker? She hadn’t talked to him in nearly a week. Not since their predawn coffee moment. “Is everything all right? Did something happen to Zoe?”
“What? No. As far as I know, she’s fine. This is about something else. Do you have a minute?”
“Sure. But let me call you back from the employee phone in the break room.” She scribbled down his number, then hung up and announced she was taking a break.
Mindy smiled knowingly as Elissa walked past her. She was going to have some explaining to do later.
She settled in one of the plastic chairs and picked up the phone. Seconds later she heard Walker’s low voice.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“I need to come by the restaurant and I wanted to explain why.”
There was an explanation? “It’s a public place,” she said. “Anyone is allowed.”
“I know, but this is different.” He paused, then said, “Before I left the Marines, a buddy of mine died. His name was Ben. He was a good kid. Determined. We were friends. He took a bullet and I wrote a letter for his family.”
“I’m sorry,” she murmured, wishing there were other words, more meaningful words, she could speak.
“He lost his folks when he was pretty young and grew up in foster care. He didn’t have any family, so there’s no one to send the letter to. But he told me about this girl. Ashley. He was crazy about her and wanted to marry her when he got out. All I know is that they went to high school together and her first name.”
“You want her to have the letter,” Elissa said, knowing moments like this put her life in perspective. Honestly, what did she have to complain about?
“Yeah. Ben went to four high schools in four years. I’ve made a list of all the Ashleys and I’m visiting them one by one.”
Suddenly the call made sense. “Ashley Bledsoe works here.”
“She’s on the list. I want to come by and talk to her, but I didn’t want to freak you out.”
She smiled. “I wouldn’t have thought of you as a guy who said words like freak.”
“I have many sides.”
She liked the ones she’d seen.
“Ashley works until two. If you come about one-thirty, we’re pretty slow. You can ask your questions and have lunch.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
She tightened her grip on the phone. “I won’t say anything to her,” she told him. She sensed it was important for him to have the conversation himself.
“I appreciate that. I’ll see you at one-thirty.”
She hung up, then stared out the window at the parking lot. Ben must have meant a lot to Walker for him to go to all this trouble. It made sense that living through dangerous situations together would forge strong bonds of friendship. Whoever Ben’s Ashley was, she was going to be getting some sad news.
Elissa tried to remember if her friend had ever mentioned a guy named Ben, but the way Ashley dated, it was tough to keep track of all the guys.
She stood and walked out of the break room. Both Mindy and Ashley were waiting for her in the short hallway.
“What?” she asked, knowing they were about to start grilling her.
“It was a man,” Mindy said with a grin. “A guy called you. And don’t try to pretend it was your dentist or something. He didn’t sound like a dentist.”
“It was Walker, my neighbor. He had a question.”
Ashley and Mindy exchanged glances.
“Uh-huh,” Ashley said. “A question that couldn’t wait until tonight? I can’t believe you’re involved and you didn’t tell us.”
“I’m not,” Elissa said firmly. “I swear. Walker is my new neighbor. We’ve talked a few times, but that’s it. There’s nothing going on.”
Susan Mallery Bundle: The Buchanans Page 56