Bistro Bachelor: Working Man Series - Book 2

by Rose, Elizabeth

  “God bless you, Jack Talon, for taking this lost child into your care,” said the priest, making the sign of the cross in the air with his hand. “You are like the Lord’s shepherd guiding the lost lamb.”

  Jack released a slow, frustrated breath. Why did the priest have to put it that way? Jack never could turn away someone in need, and that always ending up getting him in trouble.

  Instead of speeding away like he wanted to do, Jack slowly put the car into park and turned off the ignition. Lost lamb, the priest had called her. He doubted it. If the girl was anything like her father, she was probably a wolf in sheep’s clothing. She’d probably be after whatever little money he had left. Even still, he couldn’t leave the girl all alone in a foreign land. He supposed it wouldn’t kill him to give her a place to sleep and some bread and water until Elliot found some long-lost relative of the professor’s to take care of her.

  “God will smile on you for this,” whispered Elliot from the curb as the threesome approached the car.

  “Yeah, well, my father won’t be smiling,” grumbled Jack. “When he gets home and kills me for losing everything he’s worked so hard to gain, and finds out I’ve ruined his name, I might just have that chance of meeting the Creator face to face after all.”

  “Or his competition.” Elliot smiled, looking like the devil himself.

  “Just see what you can do about getting me out of this mess,” ordered Jack. “I’ll keep the girl at my place for a few days while you pull some ropes.”

  “And what ropes might those be?” asked Elliot, squinting in the sun as he spoke.

  “The ropes that’ll make up your noose if you leave me in this mess.”

  “My hands are tied, Jack. There’s nothing I can do. I’m a private investigator, not some sort of magician.”

  “What do you mean by that? There’s got to be someone who’ll take the professor’s daughter. The girl has to have some kind of relative or –”

  “Nope,” Elliot shook his head, stopping Jack in mid-sentence. “There’s no one, Jack. Why do you think he sent the girl to you?”

  “To sell off as a slave to pay back the money he owes me?”

  “Oooh, I wouldn’t talk that way if I were you,” Elliot warned him. “A man who’s wanting God to smile on him and all.”

  Jack winced as the trio came closer to his convertible. A trusting priest, a feeble old woman, and an overdressed circus girl with a hat so big it cast shadows over her face, looked to him with hope in their eyes. What was he getting himself into? Why hadn’t he just driven out of this place while he still had the chance?

  “I don’t care about anyone smiling on me,” grumbled Jack to himself as he waved a pretense greeting toward the priest and flashed a fake smile. The only one he needed smiling on him right now was Lady Luck herself.

  Chapter 2

  Eden peeked out from under the brim of her hat at the handsome man behind the steering wheel of a small car. Father Elswood blessed himself and then laid his hands atop her shoulders in what she figured was another blessing of some sort.

  Before she knew it, her father’s neighbor, Mrs. Hammond opened the door and helped her into the vehicle.

  “Where are we going?” she asked in her own language, forgetting the Americans had no idea what she was saying. She’d been so flustered lately, that it was taking her a while to decipher their English words. One thing she did understand was the name Jack Talon, because that was the man her father had instructed her to go to for help.

  The car sped off with her in it. Her glance at the side mirror showed Father Elswood and Mrs. Hammond waving a slow goodbye. A click and loud music coming from the radio dragged her attention back to the man named Jack as they zipped away down the street.

  Eden kept her head down, not sure what to do. She was alone in this strange country with no one to care for her. Her father was dead, and her mother waited for her back home in Peru.

  The man named Jack didn’t speak at all, and this made her nervous. She peeked out from under the brim of her hat and observed the man behind the wheel. The sun beamed down atop his neatly-trimmed dark hair. His sideburns lowered to just in front of his ears with his hair ending just above the collar. It was all so perfect. Not a hair out of place.

  A pair of mirrored sunglasses on his face kept her from seeing the color of his eyes. He had a strong nose and a mouth that looked as if it’d be good for kissing – something she’d never experienced but longed to try. The man named Jack was clean-shaven with a dimple in the middle of his chin that made him even more striking.

  He wore a white pinstriped satin shirt and a black suit that looked as if it were expensive. By the frown on his face, she was sure he was feeling as much grief over her father’s death as she was. She didn’t know how Jack was acquainted with her father but he must have been a close friend if her father placed her in Jack’s care.

  Eden decided she felt safe with him. Jack would help her return home to her mother and relatives, and he would pay for her ticket. After all, he looked as if he could afford it. Her family was poor. They farmed the land for a living. They also wove their own clothes, grew their own food, and even built their own houses. The mountain people did whatever they needed to do to survive. They’d learned to live on little and had never wanted anyone’s help.

  Eden never wanted anyone’s help either, before now.

  Jack felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle the way this woman was staring at him. She made him nervous. They’d been riding in the car for a good ten minutes now and, still, she hadn’t said a word. The least she could say was thank you. After all, he was under no obligation to help her out. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t sure why he was doing this at all.

  When he glanced over at her, she looked away quickly. He pulled up to a stoplight and reached over her lap to pop the glove compartment open. His abrupt action caused her to lurch toward the door. That’s when he realized he must have scared her.

  “I’m only trying to get my smokes.” He pulled out the pack of cigarettes and slammed the glove compartment closed. Gee, the girl was jumpy. He ripped open the package with his teeth and tapped a cigarette into his palm. He caught her looking at him again and offered her the package. “Care for one?”

  She looked at the package and then down to the floor.

  “Guess not.” He pushed in the lighter, thinking this whole thing was a big mistake. “So.” He really didn’t know what to say. “Sorry to hear your father didn’t have the money to send you back home.”

  Somehow, that didn’t sound the way he’d intended it to. She crossed her hands over her chest and lowered that damned big hat of hers like she was taking a siesta. He pulled out the lighter, lit the cigarette, and pushed the lighter back in place. From the corners of his eyes he caught her peeking at him again, probably not knowing what a cigarette lighter was, now that he thought about it. After all, by the looks of her, she probably lived a pretty primitive life.

  “It’s a lighter. It makes fire.” He talked slow and deliberate, trying to make conversation but seeing she didn’t understand. “Great! You don’t even speak English.” He took a drag of the cigarette and blew out a puff of smoke. The light changed and he took off with a squeal. “Just what I need,” he mumbled. “The swindling souse kicks the bucket and leaves me strapped with a child that can’t say boo. Hell, she probably speaks Spanish,” he said out loud. “Too damned bad I never learned it.”

  Eden bit her lip, wanting to curse at Jack in his native language. She understood him perfectly. It was all coming back to her now after being here and hearing the English language for a few days. Not to mention, he was talking slowly which made it easier. After his little rant, she decided she wasn’t going to give him the benefit of knowing she understood him. Not after he called her father a swindling souse and her a child. Let him stew in whatever it was that was eating him. She’d tell him in due time she knew his language but, for now, she’d keep it to herself. Eden was in no mood for talking, s
o this scenario suited her fine. By keeping quiet, she could find out exactly what Jack Talon really thought about her father. She wanted to know everything before she gave him the contents of the bag to pay off her father’s debt.

  When they pulled up in front of a small restaurant, she noticed the lighted sign atop the building read The Golden Talon. There wasn’t an empty parking space on the street, so he squealed the tires as he rounded the corner and pulled into an alleyway out back. He pushed a button, and a garage door automatically opened. Then he barreled into the two-car garage and came to a sudden stop. With a quick flick of his wrist, he shut off the motor and hopped out of the car.

  “You coming, or what?” he growled.

  She knew she couldn’t stay there all day so she decided to follow him. Eden was no sooner out of the car than he had the garage door coming down, and she had to run to make it out before it closed. Eden took in her surroundings as she followed on his heels. A row of tall pine trees made a natural barrier to a parking lot that sat on the other side of the restaurant, only big enough for about half a dozen cars.

  A yard out back was small, but green. It looked to be mostly weeds. It had lots of sun, but there were no flowers or a vegetable garden anywhere. Looking up at the building, Eden saw a glass-domed room atop the restaurant, wondering what it was.

  She followed Jack through the back of the building into a quaint kitchen. Two men in white aprons were tossing dough in the air between them. People buzzed around her, carrying trays of food. One woman stood at a metal counter making salads, and a big man with a crooked jaw hosed down dirty dishes and loaded them into a machine.

  Jack stopped for a second and grabbed a plate with a steak off a waitress’ tray. “Who the hell cooked this?” he growled.

  The waitress nodded to the short man by the grills.

  “Alfredo, you killed the cow again,” Jack told him. “Did the customer say they wanted their steak burned?”

  “No burn. That’s medium,” answered Alfredo in his broken English.

  “Like hell it is. Try it again and do it right this time. I don’t want any complaints. Rare is still mooing, medium is red and runny, and well done is pink. How many times do I have to tell you that? It’s the way my father likes it.”

  As Jack walked through the kitchen, Eden heard Alfredo tell his co-worker in Spanish that he’d done it on purpose since he was upset that Jack didn’t give him the raise in salary he’d been promised over three months ago. His co-worker nodded and said they were all upset with the way Jack was treating them lately. He had even put a dead cricket atop one of the customer’s salads in retaliation.

  Eden felt everyone staring at her as she made her way through the swinging doors and out into the nearly empty restaurant. She caught sight of Jack sliding into a booth and heard him calling to a waitress.

  “Ruthie, bring me a coffee and an ashtray.”

  “Right away, Jack,” answered the woman.

  “Tell Nathan to get over here, too. I need to talk to him,” Jack continued.

  Eden eyed up the restaurant. It was clean and fancy, but rather small. There was a long bar and stools on one side and about a dozen tables on the other. There was only one table occupied in there for so near the noon hour. She didn’t wonder why, when people like Alfredo and his co-worker were sabotaging the business. But then again, if Jack had treated them better maybe they wouldn’t stoop to such low tricks.

  Sliding onto a bar stool, Eden opted to sit there instead of joining Jack at the booth. She could see the curl of his cigarette smoke rising far above the padded seats even though she couldn’t see his head. A sign on the wall said no smoking, but Jack didn’t seem to follow the rules. The waitress named Ruthie brought him a whole pot of coffee and an ashtray, pouring him a cup as Jack busied himself, looking at his cell phone. A man joined him that she guessed was Nathan. She had the impression he was a manager or helped run the place in some way.

  They spoke in low voices for a minute and then Nathan talked loud enough for her to hear. “What do you mean hold off on the food order?” asked Nathan. “What are we going to feed the customers?”

  “I don’t know,” snapped Jack. “Think of a way to handle it. Put less meat and more fillers in the meatballs or something until I tell you otherwise. You think of how to pull it off. I have to cut back this week. I was counting on some money that never came. I need to pay the electric bill or they’re going to shut us off.”

  “Don’t forget about the refrigerators. They’re on the blink again. If those go, the food will all spoil and we might as well close down.”

  “See if you can get one of the cooks to try and fix them,” said Jack.

  “You can’t be serious, Jack. What do they know?”

  “Just do it.” Eden heard the sound of Jack texting someone. He leaned back in the booth and she could see that he wasn’t looking at Nathan at all.

  “Can I tell them that you’ll at least pay overtime if they do it?” asked Nathan, sticking up for the workers.

  “Hell, no. Get Alfredo to fix them. He can’t cook anyway. Rafael can double up on the chores.”

  “What’ll it be, ma’am?”

  Startled, Eden looked up to see Ruthie standing before her, chomping on gum. A woman in her fifties with a wad of gum in her mouth just didn’t seem right to Eden. She took a menu out from under her arm and slid it in front of Eden.

  “Did you want to order, or are you just going to sit there and stare?” Her lack of manners did nothing to help out the situation at the restaurant.

  “She can’t talk,” came Jack’s voice from the booth. The phone was on his ear now as he looked over, talking to Ruthie on and off at the same time as he spoke on the phone.

  “What do you mean she can’t talk?” Ruthie eyed her up. “And what’s up with these rags she’s wearing? Is she one of them bums from the streets? I thought you stopped letting beggars in here, Jack.”

  Eden almost gasped aloud. This woman was so unprofessional that it was no wonder there was hardly anyone in the place. If she spoke like that to all Jack’s customers, they’d be sure to run from here in a hurry.

  Eden was about to give Ruthie her order when Jack called out and interrupted.

  “She’s from Peru,” Jack shouted across the room. “She speaks Spanish I think. See if you can get Alfredo to ask her what she wants. Oh, hell, just bring her whatever we have left over.”

  Eden hated this place already, Jack being at the top of the list. It was evident now where Ruthie got her rudeness lessons. Jack wasn’t high on the ladder of winning personalities either. Why bother to talk when he had already made up his mind she couldn’t, and was doing it for her? Eden decided she’d just sit back and let Jack act like a fool. He deserved it. She’d let him think she couldn’t speak English for now. Eventually she’d tell him, but not until she darned well felt like it.

  Holding the menu in front of her, Eden smiled and pointed to the potato soup. Then she handed the menu back to Ruthie.

  “Soup, huh?” Ruthie chomped on her gum as she wrote on her note pad. “You probably don’t even know what you ordered, you poor thing. I’ll bring you a hamburger instead.”

  “No, bring her the soup,” called Jack, amazing Eden how he could hear their conversation, talk on the phone, and talk to Nathan all at the same time. “We’ve got to save the meat for the dinner crowd. We’re running low.”

  Her impression of Jack being a generous, caring man was changing rapidly. She ate her soup in silence and sipped on the lemon-tinged water. Every so often, she peeked up at Jack from under the brim of her hat as he talked to Nathan and at the same time shouted instructions to the employees. He scared the hell out of her every time he raised his voice. After her soup was finished, Eden picked up her water glass and went over to sit at a table by the window. She didn’t like being in such closed quarters and longed for the open skies of home.

  People passing by the restaurant stopped and stared at her brightly colored clothes. She smi
led at them and waved, trying to be friendly. Before she knew it, a dozen people entered the restaurant, if nothing else just because they were curious about her.

  “Jack, do you want me to stay on until the dinner shift?” asked Ruthie.

  Jack glanced up from his phone call and noticed the people in the restaurant. This was the first time in the last six months he had customers between lunch and dinner. What was happening here?

  “Where did all the people come from?” He motioned for Nathan to leave the booth and get back to work.

  “She brought them in.” Ruthie popped a bubble.

  “She? She who?” asked Jack, not knowing what Ruthie was talking about.

  “The circus girl.”

  Jack peered over the top of the booth and noticed Eden sitting right near the window. He cringed and hung up on his phone call and jumped from the booth with the phone still in his hand. “How long has she been sitting there in plain view?”

  “Long enough for half the city to see her,” Ruthie answered.

  “Damn! This isn’t some kind of sideshow. Get her out of there and take her upstairs already.”

  “Whatever you say, Boss. But who’s going to wait on the tables?”

  Jack shook his head and stuck his phone in the pocket of his sports coat. “Forget it. I’ll handle this myself.” He stormed over to the window seat, smiling politely to the customers along the way. Leaning over, he talked into Eden’s ear. “Come with me, Little Miss Muffet.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her along behind him as he made his way up the stairs.

  “Eden,” she corrected him.

  He stopped in his tracks and stared at the top of her ridiculous hat. Well, she knew her name anyway, though he was certain she had no idea what he was saying.

  “Eden,” he ground out and headed up the stairs.

  Chapter 3

  When Jack opened the door to the room, Eden couldn’t believe her eyes. It was a beautiful one-room apartment, but bigger than any house back home. And the sky – the beautiful sky lit up the room through the wonderful glass-domed ceiling overhead.