by Andrea Hurst
Lily laughed.
“At least they were sturdy and well-bound,” Grandpa John said, trying to cheer her up. “What’s going on with Jude?”
“Things with Lindsey went sour again, and on other fronts, rumors started flying about Chef Ryan’s dark past. Jude adores him and got worried that Ryan wasn’t telling her the whole truth. So this morning we took a closer look into the background of Ryan Folger and Peyton Chandler.”
Grandpa John shook his head, “Miss Chandler. She’s not happy unless she’s creating total havoc. So how did you go about uncovering Ryan’s past?”
“Jude, Kyla, and I went over to Marco’s café early this morning. He has a pretty good setup down there and the best Internet in town. Of course we had some of his great coffee. And then we Googled him.”
Grandpa John chuckled. “Didn’t Jude ever check his references?”
“She did, she checked the restaurant references, but after that, you know, it is the island. She didn’t exactly go searching for a detailed background check or anything.”
“So what did you find?”
“Lots of gossip about him and Peyton. It seems they’d been in a hot and heavy relationship when they lived in San Francisco. They were even engaged to be married.”
“Engaged? That nice young man engaged to her?”
“Well, it seemed maybe Ryan wasn’t the nicest guy back then, at least from the pictures. He was an up-and-coming chef, very handsome and debonair. Probably moved in the same circles as Kyla when she was in New York. There were lots of pictures with celebrities, and he was nominated for several awards for best new chef. The spotlight was certainly on him and Peyton together.”
“Hmm, I can see that,” Grandpa John said. “So?”
“Something happened, but it’s not really clear what broke them up. There was a big scandal around a restaurant opening with a famous chef who died of a drug overdose. Ryan was there and he was a close friend of the deceased chef. No charges were filed. But after that incident there’s not much about Ryan anywhere. It’s just like he went dark.”
Grandpa John let out a long sigh. “And Peyton?”
“Peyton’s star shined ever bright with lots of movies and appearances. The next big news was when she married Todd Chase, the actor she’s still married to now. At least, I think she’s still married. There are all kinds of recent pictures of him and some young starlet.
“So what are you trying to say?” Grandpa John said.
“I guess Peyton has been flirting with Ryan and having Lindsey work on the movie with her. She’s stepping hard into Jude’s territory, and not in a friendly way. There are too many of red flags around whether Ryan’s telling Jude the whole story, and just what Peyton’s intentions are.”
Grandpa John was quiet for a moment. He thought about Peyton, about Ryan, and about how Jude had been through enough.
“I just can’t imagine it. I really can’t.” He said.
“I hope you’re right.”
He winked at Lily. “I usually am.”
“You are,” she said, “You usually are.”
She smiled at him and for a minute John thought it was Maggie’s smile. The family resemblance was growing stronger.
“If you get a minute can you talk to Jude?”
“I will, don’t worry,” Grandpa John said. He patted Lily’s shoulder. “I always look out for you girls.”
She stood and kissed him on the forehead. “You’re the best. I’m going to go and check on little Gwyn. Has she been a good girl today?”
“An angel, as always. She’s sleeping right now, so be real quiet.”
“Like a mouse,” Lily said. “I’ll just slip into her room and watch her sleep.”
John watched Lily enter the house. He was happy her burden had been lifted a little by talking. But he was a little worried about Jude. Jude had been through so much, too, and now she wanted this love with Ryan more than anything. He remembered when she’d first come to the island, a single mom, starting a café. John had known more than he really should about Jude, because at one point Maggie had confided in him. “That woman needs our friendship,” she’d told him. He’d frequented the café quite a bit, bringing in new customers and trying his best to be there for Jude. Pretty soon her beautiful smile and her wonderful heart had charmed half the island. Under her watchful eye, Island Thyme Café had become a real success.
But John knew Jude was hiding her broken heart under that sparkly smile. As little Lindsey grew up, her daughter had been her pride and joy. Jude loved that little girl, and the town doted on her.
He leaned back in his rocker. Clear as a bell, the memories came flooding back of that day. Lindsey was in her early teens then, a real beauty and headstrong as a horse. Restless and pouty, she’d been hard to reach for a while. John had come into the café for lunch and asked where Jude was. A waitress had pointed to the back room where he found Jude crying.
He’d sat down beside her and waited until she was ready to talk. The pain he’d seen in her eyes was almost worse than when she’d first arrived on Madrona Island. Jude poured out the story to him of how Lindsey’s long lost father, who’d barely been around or managed child support all these years, had remarried a woman not much older than Lindsey. Mitchell was starting a new lease on life and started communicating with Lindsey again. Jude had no idea that was happening.
John remembered the conversation well.
“My daughter,” Jude had said. “He wants her to live with him now. She’s all I have, all I care about.”
“Well, he can’t have her,” John said. “We’re all here to help you.”
Her eyes filled with gratitude. “Thank you, but it won’t help. Lindsey’s made up her mind. She’s bored here, hates the island, and wants the excitement and travel that living with her dad can bring.”
John nodded. “Those teenage years. If only we could reach them with our wisdom now, but they need to learn on their own.”
“I know,” Jude said. “I love her and want her happy. Whatever it takes. She’s so happy now that her dad is finally paying attention to her. And his golden checkbook is being dangled before her, too.”
“Mitchell knows the way to a teenager’s heart, it seems,” John said.
Jude sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Lindsey wants to move to Seattle next month and live with them. Permanently.”
It was clear Jude was devastated, but there wasn’t much she could do. Jude was wise enough to know she could fight Mitchell, but then Lindsey would end up hating her. John was sad to see Lindsey leave the island, but he could understand why a teenager might feel restless here, and how the flash and glitter of her father’s money would sway her.
“I’m worried how she will change, what she’ll become under his influence. And now, I’ll be truly alone.”
Grandpa John had hugged her tight. “You’ll never be alone here on this island, Jude. We all love you too much.”
Soon after, Jude closed the café for several days and came to stay at Maggie’s bed and breakfast. Maggie cooked her food and piles of brownies. He’d see them walking the beach every day, and they’d joined him right here on this porch and cried together. They assured Jude that someday her daughter would come around, but after Lindsey left and Jude finally went back to work, they weren’t so sure.
“Maggie. Oh, Maggie,” he said to the clouds. “You knew how to make everyone feel better.”
If only Maggie were here to speak with Lindsey now that she was back on the island and possibly causing even more trouble. She was a good girl at heart, just a little lost. Maybe he’d have a talk with Lindsey himself; after all, he’d known her since she was a baby. He guessed she wouldn’t listen. The young rarely did.
Chapter Twelve
After a quick taste of the spicy mixture, Ryan added another pinch of salt to the marinade before placing the large
shrimp into the bowl.
“Make that one-and-a-half teaspoons of salt,” he said to Lindsey.
He watched her sitting on a stool at the kitchen island, her fingers flying across the keyboard as she entered the ingredients for his Lemon-Lime Spicy Shrimp recipe on her laptop. “Thank you for helping with these,” he said. “At the rate I type, the book would never get finished.”
Lindsey shrugged. “I have nothing else to do.”
Ryan washed and dried his hands before taking a stool next to her at the butcher-block island. “A good attitude goes a long way to making things better,” he said.
She spun around to face him, obviously ready to pounce. Ryan held up his hands. “Hold on, Lindsey, let’s talk about this in a calm way.”
He watched her shoulders droop and her face soften slightly. “You know and I know you lied to your mother about my knowing where you were off to the last several mornings.”
“What I say to my mom is my own business.”
“Not when it includes me,” Ryan said.
“She never lets me do anything I want. I was hoping you’d support me. You’re following your passion, even if it is on Madrona Island.”
Ryan noted Lindsey’s change of tactics. He hoped Peyton wasn’t rubbing off on her. “I’ve worked a long time to figure out just what I want to do and find the right place to do it. You are talented girl, but you are a lucky one too, to have a mom who loves you so much.”
“If she loved me, she’d let me do what I want and not keep me trapped on this island all summer.”
He was not getting through to her, or more likely, she didn’t want him to. “My understanding is you asked to come here for the summer.”
Lindsey pushed her hair back from her face. “It’s not like I wanted to or anything. I had no where else to go.”
“Really,” he said. “I find that hard to believe.”
“All right, so I wanted to come home, see my mom, and just chill this summer. Working with you in the kitchen is great, and Peyton helped me get some work on the set.”
Ryan paused. “When Peyton Chandler is helpful, it is almost always because she wants something from the person and is setting them up. I’m not saying you didn’t deserve the work or do a good job. Just watch out.”
Lindsey stared at him. “What would she want from me?”
How much should he tell her, he wondered. Undoubtedly Peyton had a plan, and she wouldn’t hesitate to use Lindsey as collateral damage to get what she wanted.
“At this point, it might be better if you stop meeting her in the morning until and if your mother changes her mind about you going. Agreed?”
Lindsey’s face fell into a pout. “Whatever.”
“One more thing,” Ryan said. “I want you to tell your mother the truth about me, that I did not know what you were doing.”
“Why don’t you tell her?”
“I already told her I thought you were taking morning walks, but it would make things clearer if it came from you. She needs to understand that I wasn’t helping you hide a secret.”
“Fine. Now let’s get back to work. We have two more recipes to finish this morning.”
Jude entered the kitchen and eyed the food lying out on the counters.
“We’re finalizing some recipes for the cookbook,” Ryan told her.
She shrugged. “It’s a good idea. It’ll help business.”
Relief flooded Ryan. “When would be a good time for us to sit down and go over the cookbook idea so you can make your suggestions and approve what I have so far?”
“I don’t know,” Jude said. “Not today.” She walked over to where Lindsey sat typing. “I see you’re working here this morning.”
Lindsey nodded and said nothing.
Jude flashed a look at Ryan. “I’ll be making coffee,” she said before turning her back to him and walking out.
She’d said everything he wanted to hear, but her voice had been flat and her eyes weary. Not today, she’d said, like a warning to stay away. Perhaps a day or two would be best, give Lindsey time to fess up to her mother and set things straight. But somehow his gut said something was sliding way off track, and not in a good direction.
Chapter Thirteen
Jude paced the floor of her living room. It had been a couple of days since the Google discoveries and she’d waited to calm down and think things through before confronting Ryan. They had arranged for him to come upstairs to her apartment when he finished today, and he would be here any minute. She knew it was time to talk to him. They’d barely spoken since the blow up over Lindsey. He’d tried a few times, and at one point he’d kidded her about him “being in the dog house,” but she hadn’t found it funny. She’d been walking around in a daze, worried, sad, and lonely for him all at once.
She checked the time and tried to calm her racing heart. This stress and worry was making her sick. Every day she felt less and less like eating, less like her normal self. All she wanted to do was curl up in her bed and sleep. One more week, she told herself, and the extra work caused by the film people will be finished. After that, all she had to get through was August, the biggest tourist month on the island. Jude yearned for a vacation. A real long one.
Ryan’s footsteps were noticeable on the stairs, and she took a deep breath. He knocked at the door. Jude waited. He was getting more formal. Usually he knocked, then popped his head in. She opened the door and met his eyes. Something was shifting between them and it made her feel off balance.
“Come on in,” she said.
Ryan walked in a few steps and stopped, as if he didn’t know where to sit or stand.
“You wanted to see me?” he said.
His eyes were sunken like he hadn’t slept in days either. Shoulders slumped, he looked beat up on the inside, and her heart went out to him. “Would you like a glass of wine?
“That would be nice,” he said.
She walked into the kitchen and opened a bottle of the local Pinot from Luke’s winery with the warm black cherry aroma, and poured two glasses. Luke and Kyla’s winery now, she reminded herself.
She pointed to the couch. “Let’s sit down.”
Jude sat on a chair facing him, making sure she was not too close. She had something important to say and did not want to be swayed by his physical proximity. He barely sipped his wine, although when she thought about it, that was really all he ever really did. He obviously was not much of a drinker now.
“Have you ever had a problem with alcohol?” she forced herself to ask.
He looked blindsided. “What do you mean? I barely drink the stuff.”
“I noticed that,” Jude said, “but that’s not how it always was, is it?”
He thumped the wine glass down on the table. “No it wasn’t. What’s this about, Jude? You certainly know I’m no alcoholic.”
“Were you ever?” she asked.
“Is it your business?”
She flinched at his reply. That fact that he was holding out on her flamed the fires of her fear.
“I think it is,” she said. “As your boss, it’s my business to know if you are doing drugs or abusing alcohol.”
“You’re my boss. Is this an employee talk right now? I thought we’d moved a little beyond that, Jude. I know it’s your café, but pulling rank and accusing me of doing drugs is a bit much. What’s going on?”
“Well,” she caught her breath, “I never officially checked your resume and recently some things have surfaced.”
“What made you check it now?” he asked. “I’ve been here for over a year with a perfect record. I’ve always been there for you and helped build your business. Why now, Jude?”
“Obviously, there are things you haven’t told me. I know you’re a private person, and I respect that, but now things are more complicated. We work together and . . .”
“We’re lovers,” Ryan said. “If it’s Peyton, I told you there’s nothing there. Did Lindsey confess the truth to you about her accusation?”
“Reluctantly, she did. But it’s not just about that.” Jude sighed. “You and Peyton obviously have a past.”
“I told you that was over.”
“Ryan, please just let me talk.”
“Okay.”
“It’s obvious the two of you were together and she’d like to be again.”
Jude put her hand up to stop him from saying anything else. He sank back in the couch.
She continued. “So, I know you’ve told me it’s over, and I see your face when Peyton walks in and it’s not pleasant. But, I also see your manner when she touches you and how you respond. I get it. She’s gorgeous. What man could resist her? But that’s not the point. I don’t know what to think about where that leaves us in our personal relationship, but at least our business relationship needs to be clean.” She looked him right in the eyes. “I Googled you, Ryan.”
“Why?” he asked.
His hurt expression cut right through her. “I Googled you to find out what you haven’t told me and exactly who the man really is who’s working with me everyday and I’m building a relationship with.”
“Who do you think I am?”
“You know what I’m talking about,” Jude said.
“What are you asking, Jude?”
“I . . . I . . . I don’t know how to put this Ryan. I’m sure you’re not, but it came to my attention that there is some history with you connected to drugs and . . .”
“Fine,” Ryan said, “if you want, I’ll do a drug test.”
“Of course not. Just tell me the truth, all of it. You know I have to be careful.”
His face was pale as he inhaled deeply to calm himself. Jude wanted to hug him, but first she had to get it all out.
“You never told me you were a celebrity chef. You never told me that you and Peyton were engaged, and you never told me why you just left and went off the grid. What are you really doing here Ryan?”