by Megan McCoy
“I was Jeb and Rose’s foster kid for over five years,” Cole said, simply. “This was the only home I’ve ever really known.”
Jeb stepped up, around the desk and hugged him. “He’s my brother’s kid,” he told Candy. Then turned back to Cole. “They wouldn’t tell me what happened after your mom came back,” he said. “Rose and I tried, really hard.”
“I know,” Cole replied, hugging him back. He wanted to say more, but he couldn’t breath and couldn’t swallow. Suddenly, he didn’t feel like a man, but like a teenager again.
Jeb stepped back. “You’re home now, boy, and you’re a man. No one can take you from us again. Candy, this is Cole Lyon. Technically, he’s my brother’s son, but I’ve always considered him mine. He was here as much as I could have him, growing up, till his mom took him from us.”
Matt stepped closer, too. “Brother,” he said and Cole fought to fight back tears then stepped back, feeling too overwhelmed. He couldn’t believe this was happening. After everything that had happened to him and in his life, he was finally home.
Chapter 2
Rayne Thompson pushed her strawberry blonde hair from her eyes and looked at the GPS again. Okay, she had to be on the right road. She knew she was headed into the country, but didn’t know it would be this much country. There was nothing for miles. She liked that. It was exactly what she wanted. She’d been with too many people for too long and couldn’t wait for a little alone in the country time. A nice quiet kitchen that she was in charge of, the boss of, hers. Creating what she wanted every day.
It was going to be great. She said it out loud, to convince herself. “It is going to be great.” She hoped so. Miss Cassandra had told her that there were procedures in place now, breakfast and lunch buffets, dinner served family style, but after she’d been there a few months, she could do what she wanted, within the confines of staff and time. She’d always only worked in chain restaurants or diners, with set schedules and requirements, and wasn’t sure how it was going to work out. Was she to be there from 5 in the morning till 10 at night seven days a week or what? Since she wasn’t doing anything else right now, that was okay. Preferred even! Especially if they paid overtime.
Didn’t matter. She’d be here a while and move on down the road. She had a plan that landed her in New Orleans, eventually. This was just another, well paying stop on the long road south.
Turning down the long tree lined lane, she rolled down her car window and inhaled. Nope. No smell of car exhaust and hot pavement here. Only something odd. Fresh. Hmm. Lake? She’d gone to the lake a few times for vacation as a kid. She remembered that smell. Smiling, she remembered swimming in it, too. The beach wasn’t sandy and soft like in the movies and books she read, but muddy and nasty and grabbed at your feet. She and her sister used to swim out to the buoy and sing a stupid song they made up from listening to cheerleaders. “Gooky Island is our man, come on, guys, let’s give him a hand!” Then they would dive back in the water. Why that popped in her head, she had no clue. But it made her giggle. She couldn’t remember the last time she giggled. This would be a good place, she could already tell.
There it was, the sign leading to the office. A few minutes later, she pulled up, feeling nerves. She had no reason to feel nerves. She’d been hired. Stomping the nerves down, she got out of the car. Now all that was left was checking in and the learning curve, being in charge of ten to thirty employees, depending on season, making sure three meals a day fed between thirty and two hundred plus people and what the heck had she been thinking? Could she do this?
“One day, one project at a time,” she told herself and then flicked the lock open on her car door. Her new life should begin, soon. Till the next new life. There was always another life down the road. Like the Music Man ‘there’s always a band, kid,’ there was always a new life.
Walking with more confidence than she actually felt, she walked to the office door. Noting the sign said, “Come In,” she pushed the door open. Instead of Miss Cassandra, the lady she’d interviewed with, there was a man behind the desk who looked up as she walked into what seemed to be a combination office, gift shop and living room.
“Hi, I’m Matt Lyon, are you here to check in today?”
“Hi, I’m Rayne Thompson. I’m actually here to start work,” she said. Okay. He was hot. She could deal with this kind of eye candy.
“The new chef! Glad to meet you,” he stepped up from behind the desk. Tall, built and damn! “Can you make wedding cakes?”
All right, that was the strangest greeting she’d ever had. “Is that a requirement?” she replied.
Matt laughed and she found herself quite interested in that sound. Hot cowboy with a sense of humor. This she could deal with.
“No, but I’m getting married next month and we’re having a hard time finding someone to make the cake on such short notice,” he said.
So much for hot cowboy. Oh well. “I think a month is plenty of time to make a cake, you know, depending on what my work hours are and how elaborate you want it.”
“I’ll let you and Liz talk about that. But don’t worry, I know the boss, and he’ll give you some time off to do it.”
He gave her a wink and her knees about gave way. Not good! Suck it up, Rayne, she told herself. No messing with the engaged boss. “I’ll do that. Do you know where I’m staying or where I’m going?” she asked him.
“I do. I know most everything, but I’m in middle of wedding planning and I promised Liz I’d be here till I got the list she gave me done. But I texted my son a minute ago, and he’s going to be here to get you settled and give you a tour.” He sat back down at the desk, looked down at his tablet and then looked back up at her. “I’m going to put you down to talk to Liz about the cake, okay?”
Rayne nodded. That Liz was a lucky girl. She’d make the wedding cake for them and would make it the best cake they’d ever seen. It would be a good introduction to her job and the people around here. If there was one hot cowboy, there had to be more.
In fact, there was one now.
“Rayne Thompson, this is my son, Blaze. He’s going to help you get unloaded and show you around. Then you’ll have the rest of the day to unpack and wander around seeing the place. Candy, or someone, will meet with you later to introduce you to Cole, who’s filling in now for our chef.” Matt said. “Dammit, how am I supposed to know what font we want on the invitations?”
“Chill, Old Man, I’m sure you’ll get it wrong. Everyone expects that,” Blaze said and shot Rayne a smile.
Were all the guys here this hot? She was not going to be able to deal. But had a thought. “If the wedding is in a month, you need to make a decision right now,” Rayne said, trying not to sound alarmed. “The invitations should be out by now.”
“Really? Shit.” Matt bent his head back down.
“Come on, let me show you your place. He’s going to fuss like an old lady about that all day,” Blaze said, sounding amused.
“So, is it weird that your dad is getting married?” she asked him, following behind him.
“Nah, my granddad did a couple years ago. It's Dad’s turn. This your car?” He asked, and opened the passenger door at her nod.
“You next?” She teased, climbing in the driver’s seat.
His hesitation was palpable. “Who knows? Drive down this road till it comes to a T, and then turn right,” he said. “I’ll help you carry your luggage into your new place and then show you the kitchen. We built a little apartment on the back of the mess hall for the new chef this last summer when we knew Mariah was leaving. We’ve had a hard time getting a new chef, and hoped that would help. If you want to stay here, it's a perk, but Mariah lived off the ranch, so we don’t really care if you decide you want to move eventually. Our rent is cheaper and you can't beat the commute.”
Rayne looked around as Blaze guided her into the parking spot behind the mess hall. Happiness filled her soul and curled around her heart. Could this be her home? She hoped so.
Roses.
Roses, pink, red, yellow and some that looked almost black. Roses everywhere. The mess hall looked to be two wings, probably one for the crew and one for the guests, she surmised. It matched the log cabin look of the other cabins they’d driven by. Nothing looked cookie cutter, but everything coordinated and were tied together with roses. She’d never worked in a place this gorgeous.
Blaze pointed to an almost concealed doorway in the back, and said, “That’s the entry to your apartment. The bigger door is for deliveries and goes directly into the kitchen storage room. You have to come out your door to get in. There isn’t an inside connecting door. We didn’t want any of the guests wandering in on you accidently.”
“Good plan,” she murmured. It was exciting to see her new place and she especially couldn’t wait to see the kitchen where she’d be spending most of her days. Blaze unlocked the cabin door and then handed her the key, saying, “This is the only key, but for one that is locked in the office safe. Dad, Grandpa, and Grandma Candy are the only ones with the access to it.”
They both grabbed a suitcase and carried it in. The room was large and dressed in autumn colors of rusts and greens. The L shaped room with a few doors off it, seemed more than adequate for her needs, she thought as her eyes flew around it. Small galley kitchen against one part of the L, bed against the other, what looked like a big closet, and two comfortable rocker recliners. TV, view of the woods out the large window. It would feel good to relax in one of those chairs, and put her feet up after a long day. All in all, it was a very comfortable place to retreat nightly. Putting her bag down, she told him, “I’ll unpack after a bit, but I’d love to see the kitchen. I’m sure you’re ready to get back to work.” She didn’t want to keep him all day.
Blaze grinned at her, in what she already recognized as the Lyon trademark smile. No wonder this place was so popular. People probably came just to see the Lyon men smile at them. She would.
“Nah, nothing nicer than showing people around the ranch,” he told her. “Anything else can wait, and besides, I’m just real proud of it. I helped construct this little place, and think it turned out pretty well.” She smiled at his proud glance around the room. “It's not very big, but I think there’s everything you need in here.”
“The room looks wonderful,” she agreed.
“Full bath through that door,” he said, “And like I said, you have to go outside to get to the kitchen.”
“Not a problem,” Rayne followed him out the door. It would be lovely to get some fresh air, morning and nights, even if it was only about fifteen steps.
They went through the wide unlocked back doors, and entered the cool, dark, storage room, full of neatly labeled boxes and fresh produce. She couldn’t see anything to change in here. It looked very well organized, was clean and smelled clean. Always a perk when she didn’t have to have a daylong deep clean session when she started in a kitchen.
They walked through to the kitchen and her heart skipped a beat. Yes. She had worked in several high-end kitchens, and this seemed by far the biggest and best laid out. “I love this,” she breathed.
“It is nice, isn’t it?” Blaze said. “Let me show you the front end and then you can come back and poke around or go unpack or wander around the ranch if you want.”
“Sounds good,” Rayne said, and went through yet another set of doors, reluctantly. She didn’t want to leave her kitchen yet, but knew Blaze needed to get to work.
“Here we are,” Blaze said. “This is where we do breakfast and lunch service. You can see the steam tables here. Mariah always did a buffet for both meals, because people tend to wander in and out over a few hours. It's usually six to nine for breakfast, and eleven-thirty to one-thirty for lunch. Then she set dinner hour for 6:30 and served it in the other room, family style. Set the platters and bowls on the table and everyone passes. We first built this to feed the clients in one room and the hands in the others, but found out everyone likes to mingle. So, Mariah came up with this idea instead.”
“I like it,” she said softly. The room with the steam tables had large round dining tables with eight chairs each. The bigger room had long wooden rectangular tables. Both rooms had huge windows that looked over the softly rolling hills in the background.
Rayne couldn’t wait to see it in the fall and then in the winter. To wait for spring. She already loved this view.
Then she saw something she loved more, or at least made her mouth water. A tall, dark haired man walked in the front doors, wearing jeans and a black t-shirt. He had a confident air about him, as if he’d seen too much or knew too much, but his smile was friendly and he held out his hand to her.
“Are you Rayne? I’m very glad to see you,” he said, shaking her hand. His was hard and warm and she wanted the handshake to not end.
Ever.
Tingles and heat shot up her arm, but she pulled her hand away with a strength of will she didn’t know she possessed. “I am and glad to see you, too.” That was stupid, she told herself. “Who are you?” Oh yeah, that was much better.
She saw Blaze exchange an amused glance with the other man. “My name is Cole,” he said. “I’ve been filling in as the chef while we were waiting on you to arrive.”
“Sorry to take your job,” she said, softly, then wanted to kick herself. Was saying stupid things to him going to be her go-to? She needed to get hold of herself. She needed him to get hold of her.
“I was just the fill in. People will be glad to eat some real food, I’m sure,” he laughed showing that lovely smile again. Yeah, he needed to do that more. “I’ll be heading to the barn in a few days, once you know your way around.”
“I hope it won’t take me that long,” she said, then sighed inwardly. Her brain needed to engage any second now.
Cole laughed. “See, she’s trying to get rid of me already.”
Blaze grinned. “You seem to have a way with women.”
“I am not!” Rayne protested. They had better not make her mad.
“Let’s not ask what she’s not, okay?” Blaze said in a teasing tone.
“Good plan.” Cole turned to Rayne. “Come on, let's go back to the kitchen where maybe you’ll be more comfortable.”
“Thank you,” she said, softly, feeling her cheeks burn. While she didn’t want to be out of his presence, she almost wished it was Cole and not Blaze giving the jaunty wave and leaving the dining room through the front door. No matter which way she hoped, he was the one leading her back to the kitchen. Suddenly, the expansive space seemed very small.
Chapter 3
After dinner service the next night, and the kitchen was cleaned, Rayne sank down on a kitchen stool and surveyed her new kingdom. Had she bitten off more than she could chew here? There was a staff of mostly teenage kids, with a few professionals in the bunch. There were two people who made bread and the morning pastries, and then some desserts for the evening meal. Other than that, however, most of the things they made were found in any family diner. Comfort food, down home meals, made in bulk and kept warm or cold till serving time. Nothing too fancy. Ham on Sunday, beef roast on Tuesday, pork or ribs on Thursday. Friday was still fish night and sometimes, she’d been told, twice a month they had a big fish fry. Cook’s choice or leftovers on Monday and Wednesday. Sandwiches and soup or salad on Saturday where they often had bonfires and cookouts during the height of the client season, or many of the clients went to town.
Cole had corrected her earlier when she called them tourists. “Around here, they are clients, never guests or tourists,” he’d said. “Apparently, it makes a difference, so try to remember, okay?”
She’d felt like a scolded child, but in a good way, and that made no sense at all.
She scribbled a few more notes in her bible of knowledge as she called the notebook filled with tips and recipes and general knowledge, and looked up as the back door open.
“Cassandra!” she cried, happily. This was the woman in charge, the one who hired her. She loo
ked too young to be in charge of anything, much less a ranch this size. But apparently, she was.
“Hello, Rayne!” She came in and sat down, Rayne thought, gingerly.
“You okay?” she asked, watching her squirm.
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine, just a little sore,” Candy replied.
“Horses can make you that way,” Rayne surmised. “I haven’t been on one in years.”
“Well, take it easy when you do,” Candy seemed to find a comfortable spot. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you got here. How was your first day of work?”
“Overwhelming, but fun,” she said, honestly. Well, almost honestly. She’d been very distracted all day with Cole in the kitchen with her. He exuded male and testosterone and something undefinable that made her shiver with nerves around him. It made no sense at all. She’d been almost relieved when he’d left after dinner service began. Then she could focus on her kitchen.
She’d think about Cole later tonight when she was in bed, alone, but right now, she needed to focus on her boss lady.
“Well, I like to hear the fun part,” Candy said, and squirmed again. “Do you need more help for a few more days? I know Cole is staying to help till the end of the week, but then he’s excited about getting into the barn again.”
“Again? Did he used to work with the horses?” Rayne wanted to kick herself for asking. She needed to focus on kitchen things.
“Oh, he grew up here,” Candy ran her hand through her hair, charmingly, Rayne thought. Did she know how cute she was or was it simply effortless? She’d like to seem effortless. Unfortunately, she seemed, contrived or showing off, when she did things like that. The only time she felt graceful was in the kitchen. Dating was something she knew very little about.
“He did? I thought he just came last week? I’m confused,” Rayne said.
“Yeah, it's a little complicated,” Candy said. “I’m still a little confused too. I’m sure we’ll get it all shaken out in the next couple days.”