by Mia Carson
“It’s the food,” she informed him. “It’s always about the food.”
“You don’t have dogs of your own?”
“No, I’m not home enough to take care of one so never had one,” she explained, shutting off the water and drying her hands on a towel. Out of habit, she slung it over her shoulder and hopped up on the counter. Walker’s eyes narrowed for a moment then his face softened. Douglas glanced from Walker to her and back again, the gears in his mind turning so hard Jaylyn was surprised smoke didn’t pour out of the older man’s ears. Whatever he was thinking, her gut told her it was a bad idea. A very bad idea.
“You certainly act as though you’ve been around them your whole life.”
“Thanks, I think.”
“That was a compliment.”
She pulled the towel off her shoulder, twisting it around her hands. “I’m sure it was and I appreciate it, but I’m not sure why you keep them locked out at all.”
“My guests don’t particularly like dogs.”
“But this is your house, right?” she asked. “Your house, your rules.”
Walker set his fork down and glowered. “It’s not that simple.”
“Sure it is. The dogs would get used to these ‘guests,’” she said, holding up her fingers for air quotes, “if they were around them more. They need exposure, not being thrown in the backyard.”
He stood abruptly and took a step towards her. “You don’t understand why I have to do anything, so I would appreciate it if you kept your thoughts on the matter to yourself. It doesn’t concern you.”
“No, of course not, because I’m just the hired help.”
His neck strained and his fingers twitched at his sides as they stared each other down. Why had she said that? She wanted to be the hired help and nothing more.
“I’ll finish cleaning up and head home for the night,” she informed him casually.
“You don’t have to come in tomorrow.”
“Unless there’s a reason you don’t want me around, I’d prefer to be here working than at home.” She started drying off the pots and pans so she could put them away and not have to worry about them in the morning when she returned. Chair legs scraped across the floor and she caught sight of Douglas sneaking out of the kitchen, the rat. “Was there anything else?”
Walker seemed to flit from annoyance to guilt and back to annoyance as he shook his head. “No, but everyone needs a day off. You are free to take one when you need it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” She waited for him to leave, but he stayed. The tension in the room was thick and she shouldn’t have asked another question to make it worse, but curiosity got the better of her. “Why didn’t you let me go?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“When you found out my name—that I’m the daughter of Darien Wilson—why didn’t you fire me? Why would you want me cooking for you when you didn’t even want me in my own restaurant?”
The guilt came back tenfold for her own lying about her motives for having this job and she wanted to kick herself for asking.
“Business, I’m afraid.”
“Business, right.”
“And you are an impressive chef, the best I’ve seen in this kitchen since I moved out on my own. I’m not letting you go over a business matter.”
Jaylyn slammed the pot down on the counter she’d been drying. “Business to you, but that restaurant was my parents’ life. My life. My dream, and y’all…y’all trampled all over it like it was nothing. It might simply be business to you, but it was personal to a hell of a lot of people around here.”
Not sure if she could handle putting the dishes away without breaking them in the process, she lifted her keys and jacket from the hook by the back door.
“Wait,” he blurted.
“What for?”
“I just… I’m sorry for what happened,” he said lamely.
“You’re sorry. I’m glad to hear you’re sorry,” she said quietly. “But sorry doesn’t fix the problem and it doesn’t pay the bills. I’ll see you tomorrow, Walker.” She stepped outside before he could say anything else.
The nights were growing warmer as they moved into March, and she didn’t need her jacket. She climbed into her beat-up old truck parked around the back and started the engine. It sputtered and choked but wouldn’t turn over. She took a deep breath and tried again, but it barely made a sound.
“Damn it. Come on, you piece of shit,” she yelled, slamming her palms against the steering wheel. The truck died completely, and she rested her forehead on the wheel. “Please? I’m sorry, baby, but please start. A little longer, you only have to work a little longer…” She held her breath and turned the key and the engine roared to life. “Thank you.”
The drive home was longer than usual, her anger making it take forever. She pulled into the drive and considered going to see Hannah at the bar when she saw lights still on inside. Her parents knew she had a job, but she hadn’t told them who she worked for just yet. They really had no time to talk to her much. Mariah was exhausted from taking care of Darien, and he hardly left the bedroom anymore. One day, she’d tell them.
“How was your day?” Mariah asked as she stepped in the front door.
“Long, but not bad.” Her first check would be deposited tomorrow and she could help her parents pay some of their overdue bills. She needed a new truck, but that had to wait a little longer. “How’s Dad?”
“Sleeping, and I’m headed there, too. I wanted to see you, is all.”
“Mom? About yesterday,” Jaylyn started, but Mariah hugged her.
“No, I’m sorry. We should’ve told you sooner about everything, but your Dad wanted you to focus on the restaurant and yourself, not worry about bills.” She kissed her forehead, smoothing her hair back. “We’ll make it through, though, don’t you worry. We always find a way.”
Mariah had told her that all the time when she was a kid. Back then, she’d believed it wholeheartedly, but watching her mom walk tiredly upstairs to go to bed, she knew in her heart they wouldn’t make it out of this situation in one piece.
She walked to the kitchen and fixed herself a bag of popcorn. Stress gave her the munchies, and though she didn’t need to eat, she wanted to. She grabbed a can of pop from the fridge and walked down the short hall to her tiny bedroom on the first floor. She popped some cheesy movie into the DVD player and watched the actors move across the TV, not following the story at all. Two months ago, life had been close to perfect, and now…now they were taking a trip down a shitty path that left her questioning every decision she ever made. If she’d paid attention more, if she’d talked to her parents more, if she had taken a different path and found a job that wasn’t so risky…
Too many ifs, and they circled around and around as she sat on her bed and the negativity closed in.
Before she turned off the light to go to sleep, her cell dinged with a notification. “Hmm, looks like my money was—what the fuck?” She stared at the number deposited into her checking account, her mouth hanging open. It had to be a mistake. That was much more than the amount Douglas told her she would be paid on a weekly basis.
Two-thousand dollars. He’d paid her two-thousand dollars. For a week. It had to be an error. First thing in the morning, she’d track him down and show him the deposit.
Or you could not tell him and use it to pay bills, she told herself. But that didn’t sit well with her. If he did realize he paid her that much in error and asked for it back, she’d have to find a way to make it up to him. She wasn’t taking his money. That wasn’t who her parents raised her to be. She set her phone down and pulled the covers up over her head to drown out the world and get some sleep.
7
Sundays were usually date nights with Brittany, but she’d texted him that morning to cancel. She was sick and promised she’d make it up to him during the week. He smiled as he read the text and nearly let out a whoop of joy. Now he had the whole day to enjoy by himself. He walked the st
retch of his property, all three dogs running and chasing each other as they joined him. Douglas had today off, but when he circled back around and reached the house again, he saw Jaylyn’s truck parked out back.
“She drives that?” he wondered aloud.
He hadn’t seen her vehicle up close yet. Douglas simply told him she drove a truck so he wouldn’t be surprised to see one at the house. The red paint was faded and there was rust all over the frame. She desperately needed new tires, and it looked like the two back windows were either stuck down or she forgot to roll them up. The guilt at making her lose her restaurant increased even more and he cursed, kicking at a tuft of grass by the drive.
Every time he was with her, he wanted to explain the situation, but her anger made him feel worse, and for some reason, he fell into his business mode. He sounded like Leo and hated himself for it.
Gimli’s ears perked up as the back door opened and Jaylyn stepped out. The other two dogs bolted after Gimli, racing to get to their new favorite person. She smiled and held up her hand. All three sat and Walker saw the cookies in her hand. She held one out to each dog in turn, and they took them, tails wagging, and ran off to various spots in the yard to devour them.
“Spoiled,” he mused as he joined her on the patio.
She shrugged, still smiling as she watched the dogs. Her hair wasn’t pulled back in a bandanna, yet her chestnut waves fluttered lightly in the breeze. “All dogs should be spoiled.”
“I feel the same way.” He licked his lips, trying to decide how to tell her what really happened the day everyone was fired, but the words refused to come out. He sensed anger from this woman, but there was something more underneath it. She was attractive and he wished he could see her smile more. She had a ‘don’t take any shit’ attitude he liked very much. Too bad none of the women he dated were like her.
“I wanted to speak to you about something,” she said and pulled her phone from her butt pocket. “My check went in last night, but I think there was an error.”
“No, no error,” he assured her before she opened the app on her phone.
“What? No, it has to be. It’s way more than Douglas said.”
“Starting bonus,” he explained. “I do it for all my new cooks.”
Her cheeks reddened. “Thanks. It helps.”
“Why couldn’t you find a job at another restaurant? I heard about your reputation,” he said curiously.
“I’m not sure. I applied at a few places, sent resume out, but then your ad popped up in the paper. I didn’t have months to spend looking for a job.”
He knew all about her parents’ finances, but the look on her face said there was more to it than the loans for the restaurant and their house. She dug her thumbnail into her palm hard. Without thinking, he reached out to stop her. His hand closed around hers. Her brow crinkled as she glanced up at him. He expected her to yell or yank her hand back, but she did neither. They stood like that until the dogs finished their treats and surrounded her, nosing her pockets to see if she had more.
She shook her head and pulled her hands free, readjusting her bandana. “Well, I…uh, I guess I should get going on dinner. It’s Ms. Kraus tonight, right?”
“Actually, no, she left me a message saying she was sick.”
“Oh, well…wait, if you wanted me to have today off, who would have cooked for you tonight? Douglas isn’t here either.”
“No, it’s his anniversary,” he told her. “He spends the time with his daughter.”
“So you were going to cook for her?”
Walker shoved his hands in his pockets and motioned to the swinging bench for them to sit down on. “I was going to have something catered. It’s safer.”
“You can’t be that bad at cooking.”
They leaned back in the bench and it swung gently as the dogs romped around the yard. “I’ve been known to set things on fire. I’m sure Douglas would be more than happy to share the details with you if you asked.”
“Then I’m glad you’re not cooking—at all. Ever.”
“I’m sure the insurance company is thrilled, too,” he said with a cringe.
Jaylyn laughed quietly. They sat together on the bench, swinging lightly back and forth, listening to the quiet of the woods around them. Walker had tried living in a city once a long time ago, but too many people and cars, too much construction and traffic, had driven him insane. He couldn’t hear himself think trapped in an apartment overwhelmed by so much chaos. Out in the woods, far from the city, surrounded by nothing but trees, he could simply relax and let his mind wander.
“I saw the article in the paper the other day, about the lodge having an opening date set,” she said after a while. “Is that what you were pissed off about?”
He sighed. “Yes. My father seems to think things are moving along smoothly, so he set a date without asking me first. I still have a lodge to renovate, half the staff to hire, and as far as the restaurant goes, I have no kitchen staff. None. It’s a disaster in the making and he’s placing it all on my shoulders.”
“Must be tough,” she mused, but he heard the smile in her words.
“Yes, thank you for that, because I’m not dealing with enough ridicule for what happened.” He stalked away across the patio. She couldn’t possibly understand the pressure he was under to make this project a success. This lodge being successful was his way out from under his father’s thumb. He would have his own source of income and finally get away to do something he wanted for a change. His father taught him many things, but Walker didn’t want to take over a property. He wanted to build his own and run it how he saw fit and not piss off an entire small town.
“I’m sure you are. I hear you haven’t stepped foot in Woodstock.”
“Before I even bought the place I was chased out. Why would I go there now?”
“To show the people you’re not a dickhead like your dad,” she pointed out casually as she made it to her feet. “Or are you the same as him and you’re merely putting on an act?”
“I’m nothing like him,” he insisted.
Her pursed lips said she wasn’t sure she believed him. “Then prove it. Do something to help the town or the people you fired.”
“Like giving them all jobs? I shouldn’t even have you working for me. If my father finds out, he’ll blow a gasket.”
“Do you want me to leave?” she asked, her truck keys in hand.
“No, no, I don’t want that,” he said, hurrying to block her path. “I want you to work for me here, as you’ve been doing.”
She tucked her keys away again and he sagged in relief. “Fine, but you have to do something to help all the others you fired. Help them find jobs, help them move out of state if they have to, but don’t stand by and let them suffer so your family can profit.” She shook her head. “I still don’t understand the reasoning behind firing all of us.”
“He wanted the employees to be loyal to me, or him. Not your father.”
“They were loyal to the business,” she insisted. “A lot of those people had been there since my dad opened Jaybird’s. They only cared about keeping it going and making it successful. And you…you came in and swept all that away.”
“I didn’t do that,” he finally confessed. “Or at least I didn’t want to.”
“What are you talking about?”
He rubbed his forehead and needed a drink. “When my father decided it was time for me to run my own project, he purchased the property,” he explained. “He wanted me to take over the lodge and restaurant, but I didn’t want to fire anyone.”
“You didn’t,” she stated as if she still didn’t believe him.
“No. I argued with him for days over it. Darien Wilson had a fine staff. They worked hard, they brought in a profit, and you being in charge of the menu and kitchen made Jaybird’s special. You brought in the clientele that made the experiences there so incredible.” He thought about the morning when Leo told Walker he had to go and fire everyone. He’d put his foot down a
nd refused to budge. “I tried everything to convince him to let you keep your jobs—all of your jobs—but he wouldn’t listen. At the end of the day, he owns it all.”
“He doesn’t own you.”
He laughed bitterly as his gaze met hers. “Actually, he does.”
“You’re going to stand there and tell me you, a grown man of what—thirty—can’t tell his dear old dad off and strike out on his own? You can’t start over?”
“I would have nothing,” he argued. “No money, no home, no chance to start something.”
“Who owns this house?” she asked, waving her arms at it. “Or the expensive truck in your garage? Or your suits?”
“I do.”
“And you’re going to stand there and tell me you have nothing. Wow. Just…wow.” She crossed her arms, tapping her toe as her aggravation mounted. “You know what I think? I think you’re scared.”
Walker’s palms were sweating and he tried to look away from her piercing gaze, but her words hit him hard. Was he scared? “No, I’m not scared.”
“Bullshit. You are scared of being away from daddy dearest.”
“Don’t talk to me like I’m five,” he snapped.
“Then don’t act like you’re five!” she fired back. “You stand there and talk to me like I’ve never had to deal with any hardships in my life.” She paced away from him, and he saw her hands move together in front of her. When she turned back to face him, her thumbnail dug into her palm. “You and your father caused me to lose my job, my career…my entire future. And on top of that, I’m dealing with a sick father. We have no money, nothing to fall back on, and you…you stand there whining because you’re too scared to go out on your own. Don’t you dare act like the weight on your shoulders should make me feel sorry for you.”
Walker was at a loss for words. He didn’t want to admit she was right, but she was. If he really wanted to walk away from the business, he could. His father could keep the money because there were other ways to get money. He’d stolen her job and her future at running her dad’s restaurant. And he was sick.
