by Liz Isaacson
“At least you’re here, Charlie.” She stepped past the dog who’d always kept her company on Friday nights, who always came running when May came home from the restaurant in the middle of the night, who curled up beside her on the bed and listened to her cry about her failed attempts at finding a husband.
“Let’s go lie in bed, shall we?” May shed her black heels and her expensive jacket, one she’d bought as a birthday present for herself over the summer when she’d turned thirty-eight.
Thirty-eight. Her age sounded ancient. She remembered when her mother had been close to forty, and May had thought her positively geriatric. Now she found herself in the same situation, but without a husband or children.
She’d taken several steps toward her bedroom, Charlie trotting ahead of her, when her phone rang out a calendar reminder. Adrenaline spiked, and she checked her device and saw Family meeting, 10 minutes.
She sighed, her tiredness unbearable now when she’d thought it had been heavy before. She’d forgotten she’d agreed to meet her parents at the restaurant they owned after her date. Her father had been asking her for a family meeting for months, but there was the Fall Festival they catered, then all the Thanksgiving orders she had to fill as the pastry chef for Sotheby’s, and she’d just endured Christmas, with it’s dozens and dozens of rolls, and name them, five wedding banquets.
Five wedding banquets that weren’t hers. She hadn’t had to work Heather’s, as they’d been friends for several years now. May had commiserated with Heather many times after their broken relationships and awful dates. Problem was, Heather actually liked cowboys, which was great as Hill Country was full of ranches, farms, and cowboys.
But May was done with them. El fin. The end.
She had a fleeting thought about canceling on her father, but she decided against it. With Valentine’s Day coming up, the restaurant wouldn’t be any less busy, and she’d already started her chocolate covered strawberry orders and half of her available spots were already taken. If they didn’t meet tonight, it would be a few more months before they could.
Truth was, the restaurant business left little time for relaxation, sleeping, or building a relationship. Wasn’t that exactly what her only serious boyfriend in the past decade had said?
I don’t want to be second to Sotheby’s.
May could still hear Luke’s voice in her head, even six years later. And she hadn’t even been able to tell him that she often felt second to Sotheby’s too. Back then, she hadn’t. But as more and more time passed, and all she had was her career, she realized she’d spent her energy in the wrong places a decade ago.
But she couldn’t go back and change what she’d done, just like she couldn’t postpone this family meeting.
So instead of continuing down the hall and changing into her stretchy pants, she turned around and slipped back into her heels. “Come on, Charlie. You can come for the ride.” The mini poodle could wait in the booth if May fed her a bit of dried liver from her purse.
As she drove into town from her sprawling estate on the western outskirts of Grape Seed Falls, she realized her life had been reduced to carrying dog treats in her purse. Other women her age had extra diapers and wipes in their purses. Binkies. Twenty dollar bills for their children’s lunch money.
May’s mood worsened with every mile she put between her and her pajamas, and when she pulled into the back lot of the restaurant, the only car that remained was her parents’ sleek, black luxury sedan.
“Come on, Char.” She scooped the little dog into her arms. The apricot-colored pup weighed sixteen pounds, and May could tuck her into her purse if she needed to. Another item most other women her age didn’t even think about putting in their bags.
The back door to the restaurant was unlocked, and May cast a glance left and right before entering and flipping the deadbolt behind her. The kitchen gleamed with polished silver, and the chefs had already cleaned up for the night.
The front of the house was silent except for her parents’ voices. They sat in the corner booth that had windows on both sides, the exact spot where they’d met forty-four years ago. They’d held family meetings there every six months as May grew up, as her two younger sisters had matured, gotten married, and moved away. Well, Kate had, at least. Beth lived in town, and her husband, Juan Carlos, was their head chef. They’d met right here in the restaurant too.
So maybe May had thought she’d be able to meet her soul mate while at work too. But no one had presented themselves, and May had grown to separate her work activities with her personal life.
“Hey.” She slid into the booth and took in the nearly empty plate sitting in the middle of the table. A few bites of mashed potato remained, and her mother smiled and scooped up a spoonful of the meal her parents had shared.
“May.” Her father lifted his water glass to his lips and sipped, and for the first time, May noticed how…old he looked. He would be seventy-one in March, but she’d never categorized him as old.
But his hair was totally white now, and the skin on his hands was more wrinkled than she remembered.
“Hello, dear.” Her mother leaned over and gave her a kiss on her cheek. “How was your date?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Oh, no. Not again.”
“Again, Mom. He actually talked about his ex-girlfriend before we’d even ordered.” She wished she had her own glass of water to sip, to hide behind.
Her dad waited while they chit-chatted about nothing important, and May finally looked at him. “All right, Dad. Let’s do this. I’m on pastry in the morning.” And though Sotheby’s wasn’t open for breakfast, in order to make sure they had their delicious dessert options ready for lunch and dinner, she had to be in a six o’clock.
Her mom put her hand on May’s, and that was May’s first clue that this meeting wasn’t going to go well. She exchanged a glance with her mom, who had always been her biggest champion, and focused on her father.
With dark hair and coal-colored eyes, May looked a lot like her parents when they were younger. Her hair hung almost to her waist, though, and her mother had been cutting hers into a bob for years.
“May, I’ve been working in this restaurant since I was twelve years old.”
May pressed her lips into a smile, but she’d heard this story a thousand times.
“Fifty-eight years in the restaurant business is hard,” he said. “You seem to like working here, yes?”
“Of course.” She did. Her first love had been standing at her father’s side, learning how to temper egg yolks so they wouldn’t scramble when hot milk was added to make custard. She’d loved her years in high school as a waitress. She’d enjoyed her time at pastry school, and that she got to come home to her beloved hometown and use her acquired skills to present perfect desserts for the people of Grape Seed Falls.
“I’m ready to pass the torch,” he said.
Her mother’s fingers tightened, almost painfully.
“I’m ready, Daddy.” May leaned forward. “I love Sotheby’s. I love this booth. Beth and Kate don’t want the restaurant.”
Her father looked at her mother, and they both wore a look of anxiety as well as sadness. May’s heart started knocking against her ribcage. “Mom?”
“We want to leave the restaurant and the entire Sotheby empire to you,” she said. “But we have some concerns.”
“Concerns?” May’s voice came out too high. She cleared her throat and pressed her free hand over her pulse, hoping to quiet it. “What concerns?”
“We want the restaurant to stay in the family.” Her father looked remorseful, but he spoke with absolutely authority.
May fell back against the booth, his words simple but sounding like bullets in her head. “And I don’t have a family.”
“We know you’ve been trying to find someone,” her mom said.
“I have,” May insisted. “It’s a small town, Daddy. I’ve been trying to date men from other towns.”
&nbs
p; “Maybe you’re—”
“I’m not being too picky, Daddy. I went out with Victor Valence. Vic-Tor Val-Lence, Daddy.”
He nodded and looked out the window as a pair of headlights passed by. “That does sound like you’re trying.”
“I am.” She looked at her mother. “Mom.”
“Daddy’s retiring this summer,” her mom said, her voice sympathetic and her eyes filling with tears. “We’d like to have the paperwork in order by the end of the year. If you’ve got a serious prospect for a husband by then, we’ll have no problem giving the restaurant to you.”
May’s throat scratched it was so dry. Still, she managed to say, “And if I don’t?”
“Juan Carlos has been with us for eleven years,” her dad said. “We’re considering him to buy-in to the restaurant and become the eventual owner. Then Sotheby’s will still be in the family through Beth.”
Out of the three Sotheby girls, Beth was the least inclined to run the restaurant and injustice pulled through May. But she was well-acquainted with her father, and though he seemed sorry about what he’d said, she knew he’d meant it.
“All right.” She scooted to the edge of the booth. “I’ll up my game.” She didn’t say good-bye or ask if the meeting was over. It was. And she needed a new game plan, stat.
An hour later, she’d changed into her stretchy pants and climbed into bed with her computer. She’d texted Heather and asked her about the dating website that had been mentioned in passing a couple of times when she’d come in to plan things for the wedding banquet.
“Texas Faithful dot com….” she muttered as she typed the letters into her laptop. The dating website came up, and May didn’t read the About section the way she normally would have. She couldn’t relocate. She didn’t have time to waste. Surely there would be men on this Christian dating app that didn’t wear cowboy hats and cowboy boots, though they were limited to Texas.
Though the time inched toward midnight, and the very thought of getting up in five short hours had her yawning and a headache forming behind her eyes, she continued setting up her profile, complete with just her first name, her location, and an old picture of her from pastry school.
After all, she didn’t want to scare men away with a current picture of herself, which would be a bad selfie or a quick snapshot of herself in the dead of night. She didn’t need to scream desperate from the get-go.
She activated the account by putting in her credit card information and sat back, finally done. With the app activated on her phone, her profile picture came up and she began scrolling through the male options.
“Is it really as easy as tapping that heart?” she wondered aloud. Char lifted her head but otherwise didn’t answer. She flopped her head back to the bed where several fluffy pillows softened her fall.
She scrolled back to the top and started narrowing her search to location and occupation. The first man that came up was ten years younger than her, with a missionary haircut and straight, white teeth in his smile.
Her thumb hovered over the heart, wondering if he’d get notified. And then what? They’d start chatting? And then…?
She tapped the heart, and a message popped up on her phone. Congratulations! You’ve made your first love connection. Give Brian twenty-four hours to respond.
“So it is that easy.” Feeling accomplished, she closed the laptop and put it on her nightstand. As she stretched over to plug in her phone, it zinged a sound she’d never heard it make.
A heart icon sat in the notification strip across the top and she swiped down to open the alert. You’ve got a connection! TexasFaithful.com said, and she tapped on the heart.
The man looking back at her wore a warm smile. She was immediately attracted to his salted black hair, which screamed he wasn’t in his twenties. Kurt also wasn’t wearing a cowboy hat, and he had a degree in human resources.
“And he lives here in Grape Seed Falls?” May scrolled back up and looked at his face. She didn’t recognize him, though she certainly didn’t know everyone in town. He couldn’t have grown up here, at least.
Feeling brave and bold, and maybe a bit desperate, she hit the heart below his name. Within seconds, a chat box appeared on her screen, with Kurt saying, hey are you online right now
May looked up, her nerves coiling and constricting. She didn’t really have time to chat right now, but she didn’t have time to waste either. She had no idea how to date online, but she felt freer than she ever had. She could literally say anything.
are you a chef his next message read.
Yes, she typed, dictating out loud as she did. And I have to be to work really early in the morning. Can we have a rain check on this conversation?
sure talk tomorrow
She reached over and stroked Char, needing some of the dog’s comfort. “He seems nice,” she said to the poodle. “Though he doesn’t know how to use a punctuation mark.” But Char didn’t comment on the man’s grammar or his niceness, so May looked back at Kurt’s handsome face, a smile pulling at her lips. With any luck, and a whole lot of prayer, maybe May could have a bonafide beau by the end of the year.
Preorder COURTING THE COWBOY, featuring the foreman at Grape Seed Ranch, Kurt Pemberton, and restaurant owner and chef May Sotheby.
Want to read about Kurt, the Grape Seed Ranch foreman? Awesome. Read Courting the Cowboy, Book 4 in the Grape Seed Falls Romance series.
Did you miss Heather’s brother Dwayne and his romance? Go read Book 2 in the Grape Seed Falls Romance series, Craving the Cowboy.
Enjoy small town western romance? We all do, right? Read more great Texas ranch romance in the Three Rivers Ranch Romance series!
About Liz
Liz Isaacson is the author of the #1 bestselling Three Rivers Ranch Romance series, the #1 bestselling Gold Valley Romance series, the Brush Creek Brides series, the Steeple Ridge Romance series (Buttars Brothers novels), the Grape Seed Falls Romance series, and several other collaborations. She writes inspirational romance, usually set in Texas and Montana, or anywhere else horses and cowboys exist. She lives in Utah, where she teaches elementary school, taxis her daughter to dance several times a week, and eats a lot of Ferrero Rocher while writing.
Learn more about all her books here. Find her on Facebook, twitter, and her website.
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CHARMING THE COWBOY
Book Three in the Grape Seed Falls Romance series
by Liz Isaacson
Copyright © 2018 by Elana Johnson, writing as Liz Isaacson
Published by AEJ Creative Works
All Rights Reserved
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this book can be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the express written permission of the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in, or encourage, the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
Cover Design by Steven Novak, http://www.novakillustration.com/
Interior Design by AEJ Creative Works
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