by Amy Woods
“Straight from heaven, it would seem,” said the other woman, moving forward and offering Sam her hand. “Hi, I’m Tessa. Forgive my bestie here. We’ve had a rough morning, if you hadn’t figured that out already. The chef really did just up and quit, so it’s true that you are just in time if, in fact, you’re really a chef, Mr. Haynes.”
Still holding his hand after shaking it, Tessa batted her eyelashes at Sam. The woman he’d assumed was Ms. Monroe tossed her an irritated look.
“What?” Tessa asked, innocence sugaring her words as she finally released Sam’s hand.
“Never mind her,” Lucy interrupted, waving a hand at her friend. “Where did you train, Mr. Haynes?”
“Call me Sam. Please.”
“Okay, Sam. Where did you train? And where are you from? And what—”
“Hang on now. Let’s tackle one thing at a time, if that’s all right with you.”
She seemed to back down and lower her defenses, just a little, enough so that Sam had a moment to figure out where to go next. The fact that he was an experienced chef was the definite truth. From there, he’d have to be careful. He wouldn’t outright lie to her, but he couldn’t come out with the full reason for his presence there, either. He would figure out a way to bring up his daughter, but for now, he seized the opportunity before him.
He had a way in, and it might be a good approach to find out more about his kid. He’d have to take his chances. He could always quit and head out of town if things didn’t work out, or if the PI’s info had somehow been wrong. But he knew when a bone had been thrown in his direction, and he wasn’t about to toss it aside.
“I have no formal training, but I assure you, I’m qualified. I know my way around a kitchen and I own a few restaurants here and there. I can get paperwork to you soon enough, but if you don’t mind my saying so, it looks like you’ve got a little emergency here that needs taking care of before we talk official documents. I’ll help you out now, free of charge, and if you like my cooking, and if the customers leave satisfied with the food, then maybe you’ll consider giving me the job on a more permanent basis.” Sam held out his hand, offering a deal that could benefit them both.
Lucy narrowed her eyes, staring him up and down. Skepticism—and he didn’t blame her for it—was written all over her face, but she accepted his hand. Warmth rushed through his skin at her touch as though he’d jumped into a sunbaked river. Sam saw a flash of something in her eyes, and he knew she’d felt it too, but it passed just as quickly.
“I don’t think I’ve said yet, but I’m Lucy. Lucy Monroe.”
Sam gently took back his hand and crossed his fingers that she’d buy in to his offer. He knew he could prove himself in the kitchen, and doing so was a start to proving himself to the town, where he hoped to find his daughter.
“All right. You fix this mess and we’ll talk,” she said, glancing nervously toward the door as she pushed her glasses farther onto her nose.
The motion was endearing, and, even though he’d never dated a girl like her, Lucy was undeniably adorable in her giant, grape-colored glasses. Still, he couldn’t keep himself from wondering what she would look like if he took them off.
“Great,” Sam said, a sigh of relief escaping his lungs as he pushed away the scene he’d begun to imagine against his will. He was surprised at how good her mild approval felt, but he didn’t have time to dwell on that now. He had a lot of work ahead of him if he was going to convince her to let him stay.
“Don’t get carried away yet, Sam,” Lucy said, holding up her palm. “I make no promises. Just...cook the lunch,” she said, waving him away, “and we’ll go from there.”
Sam nodded and took off his suit jacket to begin rolling up his sleeves. Lucy showed him where the aprons were, observing him suspiciously the whole time as if already regretting her decision. He could tell she wouldn’t be easy to win over. Something about her indicated it would take a lot of hard work and dedication to get her to trust him. And, though Lucy’s last name was the same as Jennifer’s, he still didn’t know Lucy’s exact relationship to his daughter. He still had a lot to figure out. But he’d been given a lucky shot, and he planned on taking it.
* * *
Tessa and Lucy watched in amazement as Sam prepared turkey and provolone sandwiches, faster than either of them could believe. But they weren’t just any turkey and cheese stacks. He scoured the pantry as if he belonged in that kitchen, pulling out items as if he’d worked there his entire life, and chucked pine nuts, olive oil and basil into the food processor to whip up a pesto sauce to spread on the bread. It looked and smelled amazing. Lucy ate in the café often since it was convenient and inexpensive, and Axel’s dishes had been delightful in a comforting sort of way, but Sam’s style was more adventurous and a little more daring than anyone the Lonestar had ever hired before.
Lucy wondered if maybe he would prove to be a good change.
Ticket and tour sales were suffering lately. It seemed families and schools weren’t spending as much on educational vacations and field trips, at least not to the observatory. Despite some steady funding from the university, which had seen some scary cutbacks in the past few years, they needed the revenue from tourists to cover employee salaries and up-to-date equipment. Lucy and Dr. Blake had already spent agonizing hours, scaling down as much as they could without actually letting anyone go, which was something Lucy all but outright refused to do. If she didn’t have Shiloh to provide for, she would give up her job before making anyone redundant. She feared that would become necessary at some point, but she kept hoping she could push that day further and further into the future until things got better and she could just forget about it altogether. Maybe hiring someone like Sam was a good idea. At least they could give him a try and see how visitors responded. Maybe they could keep some of the old favorites on the menu and add some new dishes to test things out.
“Do you think he’s legit?” Lucy asked Tessa, who had cleaned up several pie pans while Sam worked, and had come to stand at Lucy’s side, blatantly enjoying the sight of their new company.
“What?” Tessa asked, forcing her eyes away from the new guy with concentrated effort.
Lucy rolled her eyes.
“I said, do you think he’s legit? Do you think he’s really a chef?”
“I just think he’s pretty,” Tessa said, resting her elbows on the table with her chin in her hands.
Lucy jabbed her friend in the side, but stopped short of disagreeing. She wasn’t blind, after all.
“Come on. I just let a total stranger take over the kitchen, which I’m indirectly responsible for thanks to Axel the ass, and all you can think about is how he looks in that suit.” Even as she spoke, Lucy knew she was just voicing her own thoughts. Apparently Tess caught on.
“Hey, sister. I said nothing about that suit. I’m just appreciating the scenery. It’s nice to see a man dressed up, rather than the rest of the scientists in their twenty-year-old khakis and plaid.” Her eyes gleamed. Tessa teased them, but Lucy knew her best friend loved the geniuses just as much as she did. “Besides, you should have seen the way he was ogling you earlier. That man couldn’t pull his eyes away, and, you know I love you and all, but you’re a mess today, so he must have some real interest.”
Lucy shook her head, used to her friend’s playfulness, and it was Tessa’s turn to roll her eyes before pointing a thumb in Sam’s direction.
“Anyway, what’s the worst that could happen? We’ve been watching him the whole time. The dude washed his hands. And maybe he’ll be able to calm the starving masses outside the door. As far as I can see, he looks like he’s got everything under control.”
“What do you reckon he’s doing here, though? He’s a little too timely, don’t you think?”
“Maybe applying for Axel’s job, like he said. He’s a handsome stranger in Peach Leaf, Luce. We could use a little mystery around here, so don’t be so quick to kill it.”
“But I didn’t post the position
yet. I haven’t had time,” Lucy said.
Tessa raised her palms in exasperation.
“I don’t know what you want me to tell you, sweetheart. Maybe he’s an angel dropped right out of the dadgum sky,” Tessa said, her face filled with more conviction than Lucy was comfortable with, considering the woman’s ridiculous suggestion.
Lucy didn’t believe in angels, or miracles, or chance, or luck. She believed in what she knew, in what she could see and touch and quantify. She believed in hard data and facts. Although something inside her told her that Sam Haynes was okay. He didn’t seem like an ax murderer, and he dressed decently and had showered at least. Not that Lucy was an expert on appearances, but he seemed all right. And there were those sandwiches and cookies. So far, she had no valid reason not to give him a shot.
She would consider this an experiment, and, if it didn’t work out, she’d start with a posting in the Peach Leaf Gazette. Jobs were in short supply in their small town, and there were a lot of folks looking for work. If she couldn’t find a trained chef to take over full-time, she was sure someone could be taught to manage breakfast, at least.
But then, who would teach that person?
Lucy hung her head.
She really didn’t have much of a choice at the moment. Sam looked better and better for the job as she weighed her limited alternatives and came up with a whole load of nothing.
Tessa was right. Not that Lucy would voice as much.
“I suppose he deserves a chance. But, if this plan doesn’t work out, I’m coming at you first.”
“The only reason you’ll come to me is to thank me,” Tessa said, crossing her arms with an air of confidence and giving Lucy a fake angry look, complete with her tongue stuck out.
Sometimes it was as if not a moment had passed, and they were still in second grade, with shy, bookish Lucy holding up walls at school dances while Tessa partied the nights away, both of them carrying bruises inside that no one else could see.
With the exception of a few minor details, not much had altered. It was just one of the many ups and downs of living the whole of one’s life in the same small town.
Chapter Two
Lucy was rarely wrong, and when she was, she hated the feeling more than almost any other. But boy, was she this time.
“All right, so this worked out,” Lucy said, a couple of hours after Sam had arrived, as she and Tessa rested in the dining room while he finished up in the kitchen. “That doesn’t mean he’s sticking around. It could just be beginner’s luck.”
“Come on, Luce, I know you don’t believe in luck any more than you believe in love,” Tessa said.
Not this conversation again, Lucy thought.
“I believe in love,” she said, emphasizing the word, “just not romance. There’s a huge difference.” She continued quickly before Tessa could bring up her usual objections to Lucy’s theory. “Anyway, sometimes experiments have false positives, and that just tells me we need to figure out what’s going on here. We need more data before we’ll be able to draw any authentic conclusions.”
“Lu, honey, Sam is not one of your science experiments. He’s a real person. And I don’t need to point out that he’s an especially attractive one.”
Tessa raised her eyebrows up and down several times and Lucy couldn’t help but giggle. To some extent, Tessa was right. But Lucy trusted only one thing in life, and that was science.
Sure, Sam had shown up at the exact moment they’d needed him—that she’d needed him—and sure, he’d cooked gorgeous sandwiches and had somehow pulled a delicious cookie recipe out of thin air and brought it to life. Sure, the salad he’d made her and Tess for lunch after they’d served all the visitors was possibly the most delicious thing she’d ever eaten—despite her general hatred of salads—but that didn’t mean he was the right man for the job. Although, at the moment, she was having a really hard time coming up with reasons to support the contrary conclusion.
“I guess he did sort of save my butt, huh?” Lucy said, glad she’d made the wrong call. Tessa made no effort to hide her victory.
“He did way more than that. He saved the observatory money,” Tessa added. “Can you imagine what would have happened if all of those people went back to Austin and told everyone they knew that the Lonestar Café had no food?”
Lucy didn’t need to answer. They were both aware of the exponential damage that could be caused by a single customer’s bad experience.
“I guess he can stick around for another day or so. We’ll see how well he does planning a menu for tomorrow, and if he doesn’t run off with the company credit card when I send him for groceries, maybe we can let him stay.”
Tessa nodded in agreement.
Sam finished washing his hands and came out of the propped-open kitchen door to join them at their table in the dining room. His hair stuck out all over and he was covered in various food messes, but still, the man was gorgeous.
“So,” he said, searching Lucy’s face with what looked like a mix of hopefulness and apprehension, “do I get the job?”
“Not so fast, Mr. Haynes,” Lucy answered. “I still know nothing about you. And I’ll need some form of ID to give to Human Resources if you’re staying.” Lucy held up an authoritative forefinger. “Notice I said if.”
Sam grinned and something stirred deep in Lucy’s chest. He really was beyond appealing, scientifically speaking. His face was symmetrical with a perfectly proportioned nose and a strong, angular jaw. His eyes were the soft golden shade of fresh caramel, and his collar-skimming sandy hair picked up the late-afternoon sunlight streaming through the windows of the café. He stretched long arms across the table easily, as if he was completely comfortable here, despite his very recent arrival, and Lucy couldn’t help but notice the shoulder muscles flexing under his crisp white dress shirt.
Since when did she notice things like that about a man?
She was Lucy Monroe, quiet, hardworking wallflower, just as she had always been.
She was happy here at the observatory, but she’d long ago given up on any thoughts of romance, or men in general. The guys at the observatory were much too absorbed in their work, and the married ones, well, Lucy sometimes had difficulty figuring out how they’d got that way in the first place, as clueless as some of them were about the opposite sex. They certainly never noticed her for anything other than her interest in the field of astronomy. Even though she hadn’t finished school, she loved to hear their theories and any updates in their research. In a way, she lived vicariously through them—they were a connection to what she might have been.
But dating any of those guys? No way, and part of her liked it that way. The status quo kept her from having to admit to herself that she was afraid of anything resembling a relationship. She had become involved with a few guys in the past, and things with Jeremy had been serious. When that part of her life hadn’t worked out, she’d finally paid due attention to the glaring signals that she just wasn’t cut out for romance, and she’d given up trying.
Besides, she didn’t have time for that sort of thing. She had her management work—more than any one human could possibly ever finish—and she had Shiloh, whom she loved more than anything else in the world, but who required more time and attention than other kids her age, or at least Lucy thought so.
Though lately, Shiloh had been resisting anything to do with her aunt, pushing Lucy away whenever she tried to talk to the girl she considered her own daughter. It was hurtful sometimes, Lucy had to admit, but she only wanted what was best for her niece; she’d dedicated her life to making a decent living and to providing the best she could for the girl. Parenting was sometimes a thankless job, and it didn’t matter that Lucy hadn’t chosen the position for herself. She was the only true parent Shiloh had, and Shiloh was Lucy’s whole world now. She would do anything to make her niece happy—a wish that sometimes seemed as far off as the moon.
“Got it. If I’m hired,” Sam said, breaking the silence and raising his hands
in surrender, his thick voice teasing. His smile widened and small creases formed near his brown eyes. Lucy felt her face warm and she had to look away, uncomfortable with his attention. She knew he only wanted the job, and was probably just trying to charm his way into it, but all the same she felt as if she was the only girl in the room when he looked at her across the table.
Usually, when Tessa was in the room, it was pretty hard to feel that way. Her friend had been a cheerleader in school, and even though she was gorgeous, she’d latched on to Lucy the first day of second grade and had never let go, despite the differences in their social statuses. It was only one of the many things Lucy loved about her sweet best friend. But sometimes, she had to admit, being around pretty Tess brought her straight back to their school days, when Lucy felt inadequate despite her history of perfect grades and the commendations she’d received before she’d been forced to give up her scholarship at the university to take care of Shiloh.
Shiloh. Lucy checked her watch and stood up from the table. She needed to meet her niece at the bus stop soon.
“I’m sorry to cut this short, Mr. Haynes—Sam—but I have to head out and meet my niece. Would it be possible for you to meet me here in the morning? I can get James to show you the ropes for breakfast. He’s the dishwasher for the early shift, but he usually puts out a small spread for morning visitors and for the volunteer docents and other employees—nothing fancy or complicated. Muffins and fruit and coffee—that sort of thing. Then, later, if you decide you’d like to stick around a bit, we can talk about working out a menu and deal with the shopping. I hate to do it, but we may have to close the café if we can’t work something out. And I can’t thank you enough for your help today.” Lucy met Sam’s eyes and noticed their hazelnut color for the hundredth time since they’d met only a short while earlier. It was silly, really, how much trouble she had focusing with him around.
“Don’t mention it again,” Sam said, that warm smile causing both his face, and Lucy’s heart, to light up. “I’m glad I could help. And of course, I’d be happy to help with breakfast in the morning. Should I arrive at seven? I noticed the café opens at nine.”