Roadside Attraction (Castle View Series Book 2) (12 page)

“Man, I’m glad to see you.” Cari pulled Maggie into a hug as soon as she walked into the restaurant. “How are you? How’s Sandy?”

“Mom’s doing great. She’s back home already. We set her up in the guest bedroom downstairs and Destiny’s already moved in.” Maggie felt a relief being back at the restaurant. She’d enjoyed her time with her mother, but she’d always felt on edge, like her mom would break if Maggie looked at her wrong. Destiny, on the other hand, was a natural with all the gadgets, medications, and assistance her mom had needed. “Looks like you have a full house. Has business been good?”

“Business has been amazing. Everyone in town must have eaten here at least once in the last week, some, probably twice. They want to support your family, so they show up here. I’ve talked to Laura at the sanctuary and she says walk-in donations for the cats have gone up sixty percent.” Cari led her toward the back. “Sarah, take over for me as hostess for a while, will you?”

Cari and Maggie walked to the kitchen. “Josh has been wonderful through this whole thing. Even though his sister’s visiting, I can barely get him to take a break. I didn’t know half the things he did about running a restaurant.”

Maggie put her hand on Cari’s arm, stopping their forward movement. “Wait, Josh has a sister?” Had he told her about his family before? She couldn’t remember past this morning when she woke up and stood under the shower, washing the craziness of the last few days out of her mind, off her body, and down the drain.

“I know, shocked me too. I think her arrival was a bigger shock to Josh. He didn’t think anyone in his family knew where he’d perched.” Cari didn’t move, and when Maggie looked up, her manager was considering her. “Is he going to stay or what?”

“I don’t think so. Which means I’ve got to get busy finding a replacement. Can’t run a four star restaurant without an executive chef.” She looked at the kitchen door. “Why are we going back here?”

“So you can say thank you. Josh and Bryan kept the kitchen going and I handled the front. We made sure the cleaning crew got in, shopped at the farmers market for produce, and generally, handled the place just like you would have had you been here.” Cari grinned. “I’m kind of proud of the group. Of course, your customers are going to miss Josh’s Latin flair specials, especially that soup.”

Maggie knew how wonderful the soup had been. They’d had a meal of it the night her mother returned from the hospital. Eating it had felt like a warm welcome home hug. The corn bread, it had been to die for. Yes, Josh Reyes was going to be missed in little St. Josephs. And not just for his wicked mad cooking skills.

Then she saw him, laughing with Bryan over something. Maybe a joke or perhaps a shared memory. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him this happy.  Maggie’s heart swelled and she swallowed hard to push away the emotion.

“Hey boys, look who finally decided to show up to work.” Cari pushed Maggie inside the kitchen and the smile died on his lips. A searing heat pulsed between the two of them, so strong she knew Bryan and Cari must be feeling scorched.

“Maggie, so great to see you. How’s your mom?” Bryan bounded around the divider between the stoves and the front of the kitchen. “I heard she broke her hip by just falling. Man, old people are fragile.”

“Don’t let my mother hear you call her old, she’ll give you a piece of her mind.” Maggie grinned at the prep chef. “She’d doing great. The family said thanks for the lovely stew the other night.”

“That was Josh’s idea. He’s always stirring up something new to try in the kitchen.” Bryan turned and noticed Josh was still behind the counter. “Come on out here.”

Shaking his head, Josh followed his teammate’s orders. He paused at the edge of the circle of three. “It’s good to see you Maggie.”

At first, she thought he might kiss her, at least on the cheek, but instead, he held back, his hands loose at his sides. Hands Maggie could remember holding her, stroking her until she screamed and then gently rocking her to sleep. And now they were acting like strangers with each other.

“It’s good to see all of you.” Maggie smiled and tried to keep her gaze off his arms, or his chest, or…Damn, there were way too many landminds in this conversation. She met his eyes. “Cari tells me your sister is in town. Do you need a few days off to visit?”

He cocked his head like she’d forgotten something important. Then he spoke slowly. “I’m not going to be here long. You might as well get as much use out of me as you can. You have started hiring a new chef right?”

“I have an email in my box from the employment agency.” She didn’t break eye contact. “It’s only a matter of time.”

“I think you should stay on, man. Who’s going to teach me how to cook?” Bryan slapped Josh on the back.

“I guess your new chef will have to train your sorry butt.” Now he broke eye contact with Maggie and turned to smile at Bryan. “Besides, you’re almost ready to take over the kitchen now. Maybe Maggie should just promote you?”

Cari looked at her watch. “Wow, time flies. I need to get up front.”

“And I’ve got orders to get out.” Bryan returned to the stove.

Maggie and Josh stood a few inches from each other. “Can I talk to you?” She motioned to the door leading to the hallway. “In private?”

“Bryan, I’ll be back. Don’t let that porterhouse burn on the grill. Remember we’re going for medium rare, not well done.” He held open the door for her. “After you.”

They didn’t talk until he’d closed her office door behind them. She leaned against her desk. “Look, I need to let you know. . .”

He interrupted her. “You’re not going with me.”

Shocked, her gaze lifted from the spot on the couch she had been staring at to his eyes. “I can’t. Not now, not with Mom in her situation.”

“I understand. Can I go back to work now?” He moved to leave but she stepped closer and grabbed his arm, turning him toward her.

“You know this is hard for me. I wanted to go.” She also
wanted
him to pull her into his arms, tell her it was okay, maybe even say he’d stay. Instead, he lifted her hand off his arm.

“Look, I get it. Family’s important. Just do me a favor and get my replacement here sooner than later. I don’t know what my sister’s up to, but I’ve stalled her about as long as I’m going to be able. I need to get out of here before she traps me in some time warp or something.” He smiled, but the grin didn’t reach his eyes. “You’d have to know my family. They have special powers.”

“No worries. I’ll reach out to the agency today. I should have a replacement by the end of the week.” She took a step back, feeling foolish. He hadn’t even touched her. Maybe he never even really wanted her to go with him.

She heard the door open and close behind him. Sitting down in her chair, she booted up the computer. While she waited, the tears started to fall and by the time her email program had opened, she was sobbing.

She wiped the tears off her face. She wouldn’t cry over Josh. Or at least not until she was home alone with a hot bath and a glass of wine. Right now, her main concern was keeping the restaurant open and profitable. A good chef made both of those things possible.

A great one made them easy. She pushed the though aside. He didn’t want to be here and she wouldn’t beg. Not now, not ever.

***

He slipped into the bench seat opposite of Angelina. His sister put away her phone and focused on him. “What? You called this meeting. In fact, you showed up here uninvited. So what’s going on, Angel Eyes?”

Smiling at the childhood nickname, she waved a waitress to their booth. “Do you want something to eat or drink?”

“Coffee.”

She held up her empty wine goblet as the waitress arrived. “Another one of these and a coffee.”

“And an order of cheese sticks,” Josh added. As the waitress left their table, he looked at his sister. “Second glass means you need something in your stomach besides the wine. Seriously, what’s got you this worked up. It can’t just be my leaving home. There are plenty of Reyes kids to pick up the slack at the restaurant. He doesn’t need me.”

“Don’t play the picked on little brother card, it doesn’t suit you.” His sister waited for the drinks to arrive, then took a small sip of the pink liquid that sparkled in the glass. “This isn’t bad for a house wine. Maybe we should find out who their supplier is and have some shipped down.”

“You’re always thinking of the business.” Josh sipped his coffee. “Which makes me wonder why you’d take off just to track me down.”

“I told you, Mama sent me.” She didn’t meet his gaze.

“If we’re just going over this again, I’m heading to the motel to get a power nap. Dinner service can be brutal.” He reached to his back pocket for his wallet.

“Okay, hold on a minute.” She pressed her lips together. “This is hard to say. Papa is in the hospital.”

He sat back, stunned. “Why?”

She ran a finger over the top of her glass. “They said he had a heart attack. He was so mad after you left. He stormed around for days, everyone just left him alone. You know how he can be when he’s in a mood. He was in the kitchen cooking when he just collapsed.”

“But he’s going to be okay?” The old man was stubborn. He’d smoked since he was a kid and Josh didn’t think there was a day he didn’t drink some sort of alcohol. Add on the fixation on red meat and fried foods and his papa had been a poster child for possible heart problems. Especially since he also had a flash temper.

“The doctors say he needs to change some of his habits, but you know Papa. He doesn’t want to change anything.” Angelina took a large sip of the wine.

“So if he’s going to be okay, why did Mama send you?” The question hung in the air.

She took a second sip of the wine, then moved the glass away. “She says you need to come home to settle things with Papa. That you might not have another chance.”

Mama thought she had a direct pipeline to the other world. She read tarot cards each week for each of the children, emailing them the results if they didn’t happen to be close by when she did the reading. Mama claimed to be a traditionalist, but she didn’t mind using modern technology when it suited her purpose. Most of the time, her predictions didn’t pan out. In fact, he couldn’t remember a time when they had. He pushed the thought that she might be right this time away.

He put his hand over his sister’s. “Look, you’ve delivered the message. Go home. I’ll call Mama myself and talk to her.”

Her face brightened. “So you’re coming home?”

He drained his coffee. “No. I’m not.” This time when he reached for his wallet, Angelina didn’t stop him. He put a twenty on the table, stood and kissed his sister on the cheek. “It was good to see you.”

He left the diner. He had two hours before he had to be at the restaurant. And he was going to at least shower. A nap was out of the question now that all he could think about was his papa in a hospital bed somewhere in California. Even that image didn’t sway his determination to stay away.

Dinner service was long and his temper was short. Bryan took over the grill after Josh burned two steaks in a row. “Man, you’re off your game. What’s going on?” He seasoned a New York strip and slapped it on the grill. “This doesn’t have anything to do with the boss coming back, does it?”

“You mean Maggie?” Josh shrugged. He wasn’t going to admit that his attention was on home and family or the beautiful woman who was his boss and who for a few nights, had shared his bed. “Nah. I’ve just got some things on my mind. That’s why I planned this road trip, to get out on the bike and think about where I’m going. Plan for the future, man.”

Bryan checked the tickets in the window and started another steak. “I don’t know. I’ve always thought you needed to be still for your mind to work best. I guess I’m more of an angler when I have a problem to fix. Can’t beat a good fishing trip. Long road trips make me miss home too much.”

Josh plated up the next ticket. “You’re too in tune with your softer side. Maybe you should consider a career change. You could be a marriage counselor or a wedding planner.”

“I like cooking. I’m going to sign up for culinary school next fall. Working with you has made me realize I want to make this my career.” Bryan turned one of the steaks. “Maybe you should be a counselor. A career counselor.”

“Not my bag, man.” He looked at the final few tickets. “Let’s focus and get these out so we can shut down the kitchen for the night. I’m beat.”

Maggie came in to the kitchen after service had ended. She started when she saw Josh cleaning the stove. “Sorry, I thought everyone was gone.”

“I sent Bryan home, and I’m almost out of here. One more thing to do.” He studied her. “When was the last time you ate?”

She sank onto the same stool where his sister had been a few days ago. “Yesterday? I know I made a sandwich when I got home.”

“Let me make you something. What do you want?” He smiled and held out his arms. “The kitchen is yours.”

“Something simple. I don’t want to keep you.” She yawned. “And I’m beat.”

“Let me stir up something then.” He disappeared into the walk-in and came out with an arm full of peppers, onions and chicken breasts. “Chicken Philly?”

“Sure.” She laid her head on the counter. “I can’t believe how much energy it takes just sitting around a hospital room. I’m so glad Mom’s finally home. I’ve been popping in to the big house several times the last few days. She kicked me out this mornng. Told me to go live my life and leave her alone to recuperate. I guess she’s tired of the mother hen routine.”