“Well, thank Shiva and our ancestors that you finally got smart at last. I was afraid you were too young to see what an amazing woman you had in your life.”
“Sometimes I think you like her more than me,” Brandon grumbled.
“Of course I like her. A lovely Hindu girl will fit so nicely into our crazy Chinese American family. And we’ll have even more holidays to celebrate. What are we up to? Three a month now, right? What’s a few dozen Hindu ones thrown in the mix?”
Brandon chuckled. “You don’t have to cook for every family holiday just because you’re a chef. And did you just make a ‘you people’ joke? Dad, I thought you were better than that.”
Snarling at his son’s teasing, Jack plated the last pancake and slid it onto the counter. “Eat this and stop harassing me. I’m glad you’re being smarter than I was. Jivika is awesome and she’s your age. You two can do things right. You can have a normal relationship.”
Brandon ignored the pancake and walked around to hug his father who opened his arms. His dad smelled like vanilla and eggs this morning. He’d always smelled like comfort and home and belonging. “I know I’ve said this before, but I’m going to say it again this morning. I’m so very glad Mom told me your name before she died.”
Jack hugged back, tightening his grip. He couldn't imagine not having Brandon in his life. “And I’m very glad you told Frank about me. I didn’t want to leave you here that first year, but I didn’t have any way to care for you that was better than this.”
“Dad, I was better off than any of the other kids. You came to visit every moment you could and to cook. We own this place now and your successful career has given many boys a second chance. There’s a reason you get over thirty-five father’s day cards every year.”
Jack nodded, hugging tighter. “Yours will always matter the most to me. I love you, Brandon.”
Brandon patted his father’s back and pulled away to look in his eyes. He was slightly taller than his father now. It still surprised him to be bigger than the man in his arms. “I love you too, Dad. Jivika and I are planning an engagement party in two months. That’s after her dissertation defense. Her father is catering and we’ll be having Indian food. Think you can get a date by then? And I mean a real date, not just a Chef Dozen groupie.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Jack said, rolling his eyes as he started cleaning up.
Chapter Four
“I didn’t know there were so many fans of Hitler in your database,” Trudy said snidely, swiping through the photos of five men allegedly interested in dating her.
“Fans of Hitler?” Mariah asked, chuckling as her eyebrows lifted. “There are no Nazis, neo-Nazis, or anyone of that sort in my database that I’m aware of. Why in the world would you say that?”
Trudy lifted her gaze from the computer tablet now gripped in her hands. “Uh… no reason?” She knew she sounded unsure, but was hesitating to spill her guts. Della had worked her magic obviously, but Mariah latched onto her doubt like a dog who’d found a meaty bone.
“Is there something you haven’t told me or Della?” Mariah asked. “You know anything you tell me is kept in the strictest of confidence. Lots of my clients are very specific in their requests for partners. I respect that even when it’s very challenging to find some of them dates.”
“No, no,” Trudy said, waving a hand breezily. Georgia’s daughter was really hard to fool. “I was just being silly. I made a random bad joke about my German heritage…” She looked back at the men—all good-looking men. “Wait, I get it now. These guys think they can change my mind about falling in love with them. They see me as a challenge.”
Mariah shrugged and then shook her head. “With that group, it wouldn’t be my first guess about their motivations. Two are CEOs. One is a doctor. The other two are entrepreneurs with not much time left in their schedules to work on dating strategies. I think your appeal to them is that you’re not looking for more than they’re willing to give at the moment. What I hear from those sorts of men is that they want a woman who understands that the demands of their life take most of their time. In fact, I would honestly say the concept of putting a relationship first eludes all five of the men in your folder.”
Trudy frowned. So all five of the guys who picked her to date didn’t want anything serious. She should have been relieved by the news. Why wasn’t she? “I don’t know why that bums me so much. That’s precisely the woman I’ve been for every man I was ever involved with. I’m comfortable with those parameters.”
“But that’s obviously not what you truly want,” Mariah concluded. When Trudy’s mouth dropped open in surprise, Mariah lifted her chin. “Your dissatisfaction is in your voice and your body language. Plus, you’ve said you’ve not been dating, which means you haven’t been getting your emotional needs met by that kind of connection. This isn’t rocket science, Trudy. I’m just connecting the dots.”
Trudy laughed dryly. “Well, you’re good,” she admitted. “I can see how you got your smart aleck mother dating.”
Mariah laughed at the compliment. “Oh no, Brent did that all on his own. However, I wouldn’t advocate blackmail as a dating strategy for anyone else. Mom went easy on him.”
Nodding, Trudy grinned. She put the tablet down on the desk. “I’m flattered these guys think I’m worth spending time with. I didn’t exactly put my best self out there in my dating video.”
Shrugging, Mariah’s mouth twisted into a smirk. “Have you seen my mother’s? She was yelling and swearing the whole time. The men still lined up for dates even though she wasn’t interested. Brent was always the only one for her. That happens sometimes.”
Trudy thought of Jack, sighed, and then laughed at herself. “I’m sorry I’m not more motivated. I think I’ve grown cynical about men in the last few years. Dating seems like something younger women ought to be doing and older women like me ought to know not to do.”
“You’re just cynical because you’ve been disappointed a lot,” Mariah said. “If you’re interested, I have a balloon operator who’s the exact opposite of cynical. He’s laid back and doesn’t seem too demanding. Lincoln could probably help you like dating again.”
“Hey, I heard about him. That’s the guy Ann went out with,” Trudy said, suddenly remembering her friend’s description of the man as tall, nice, and very handsome. Nope. She wouldn’t be breaking that one’s heart. She had enough guilt on her conscience already.
“I’m safer with someone cynical.” Trudy tapped the tablet now resting on the desk. “Who’s the most cynical of the five guys wanting to date me?”
Mariah picked up the tablet and thumbed through Trudy’s potentials. “All of these men are cynical to some degree. In your case, I’m defining cynical as a guy who isn’t going to be hurt if you don’t do the normal dating stuff.”
Trudy sighed and groaned as her head fell backwards. She stared at the ceiling. “I don’t want to date at all. It’s not that I want to be totally alone, but I’m feeling way too pressured by all this.”
“Trudy, you don’t have to date any of these men. You don’t have to date at all. Who do you think is making you date?”
Trudy shrugged. “Georgia, Ann, Jellica—just to name a few. Let me think about these guys. I’ll give Della a call when I make up my mind about what I want to do. I’m about to get really busy. If I don’t do this soon, it’s going to be three months before I can date again.”
“Mom said you were getting ready to do a segment on Chef Dozen’s show.”
“I am,” Trudy answered, nodding. “Well, if he doesn’t talk the producer out of it. Chef Dozen’s not too keen on it. We’re supposed to be baking.”
“Sounds great. I’ll even tell you a secret. I record his show.”
“So do I,” Trudy confessed. And as a producer, even a silent one, she received station copies without the commercials.
“He’s very good looking on TV. Is Chef Dozen as handsome in person?” Mariah asked.
“Yes.
Jack is handsome, charming, and a terrific cook,” Trudy admitted.
Mariah laughed. “Sorry—I promise I wasn’t laughing at your answer. I was just thinking how much Chef Jack Dozen seems like the perfect man you described in your video. He’s definitely a passable cook, right?”
“Except he’s thirteen years younger than me and hates my guts,” Trudy said, shaking her head. “I used to be his teacher. I made him mad and he left my class. That was my total involvement with him up until now.”
“Well, try to keep an open mind. I have a thirty-one year old male client who prefers dating older women. Want me to recruit Chef Dozen for my database? I could use the press he would bring to my business.”
“Please no.” Trudy’s anxiety rose just thinking about Jack’s photo being shown to Mariah’s many clients. She shouldn’t care, but it was like seeing him again had activated her crazy side.
Her face palm and groan made Mariah laugh that much harder. But when the too observant Dr. Bates kept asking her what was wrong, Trudy couldn’t think of any reasonable way to explain something she shouldn’t even be feeling.
For their appearance on the local evening news to announce the Baker’s Dozen segment, Trudy had pulled a teal suit from the later purchases of her red room. She’d always loved the suit because it made her green eyes look teal too. Luckily she could still fit her more mature figure into it. Her weight was pretty much the same as it had always been, but her curves had a mind of their own these days. Her body had shape shifted into something way more softer. Hating exercise as much as she did, diet and willpower were her only other recourse to staying trim.
After getting a blessing on her outfit from the wardrobe people, Trudy headed to hair and make-up. They layered on another two coats of foundation to make her face seem flawless. They also applied some blush strategically and used eyeliner to highlight her already heavily made up eyes. She held up a hand at the end to halt their lipstick reapplication and pulled her own from the pocket of her jacket. She had always preferred doing her own mouth.
She was outlining her lips and layering on another thick coat of red when Jack walked behind her, caught her gaze in the mirror, and froze both of them with his intense stare. Her face slowly heated when he didn’t look away. She refused to believe his stare alone had the power to make her blush. Maybe she was just having a hot flash wearing all these clothes when she was used to t-shirts and shorts.
“Hey Jack,” Trudy said casually, hoping to break the spell. It took all her focus to ignore him and finish.
“Chef Baker,” Jack answered, mesmerized by her artful lipstick application. She kept swiping the red over her lips—over and over. He couldn’t look away until she stopped swiping and put the lipstick in her pocket. Her lips carried a visceral memory for him that he simply wasn’t able to ignore. Their one kiss came flying back into his consciousness—unwanted yet also unavoidable.
“Okay, Trudy. You’re all set,” the make-up person said cheerily. “I’m ready for you now, Jack.”
Trudy slid from the seat and started to laugh when Jack glared defiantly at the empty chair. What in the world was running through his head? “It’s okay, Chef Sour Face. I didn’t fart in the seat.”
Jack huffed at her crude teasing, but didn’t otherwise respond. Trudy stared into the mirror at him as he reluctantly slid into the chair. “You and those high cheekbones. With those chocolate eyes of yours, I bet the camera loves you no matter what,” she said, staring at his hair as the stylist brushed it off his forehead to the side. She watched a few moments more and turned away, shaking her head.
“Trudy,” Jack called, her first name ripping out of his throat without permission. His heart began thumping madly when she turned back to him and lifted a brow in surprise. Why did the woman unnerve him so? He couldn’t make himself stop staring at her mouth, so his gaze didn’t quite meet her eyes. “Did Luke tell you what to say about us?”
Trudy shook her head. “No, but I figured on just nodding at whatever you say about the segment. It’s your show, Jack. I’m just a guest chef on it.”
“You know better,” Jack said gruffly, wincing at the mineral powder being brushed onto his face.
Trudy chuckled at Jack’s disgruntled expressions. Men hated face makeup. All of them. “No, you should know better, Chef Dozen. Never let anyone see you’re intimidated by a guest chef. Some of them will try to grandstand and upstage you. You’re better than that—I trained you to be better than that.”
“Still bossy as ever I see,” Jack said, letting the makeup person turn him to face the mirror.
“Only about important things,” Trudy quipped, chuckling softly as she wandered off.
“Only about important things,” Jack mocked, after she’d gone.
The stylist stopped brushing his hair. The makeup person stopped her powdering. They both stared at him, no doubt waiting for him to explain mocking a woman they obviously admired. How was he supposed to be nice to someone like Trudy Baker? He honestly had no clue.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Jack finally asked when he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Your ratings are going to skyrocket. Every female viewer is going to need a cold shower after watching the two of you,” the stylist said.
“If that caustic, know-it-all actually manages to improve my ratings, I’ll let her spank me on the show with a silicone spatula,” Jack vowed, trying not to grit his teeth.
He knew his reputation had slid to its lowest point when the two women working on him could barely finish for giggling.
Chapter Five
“Come in, Brandon McKenzie Wu. How are you doing today?”
Brandon took a deep breath as Della ushered him into the inner sanctum of The Perfect Date owner’s office. “I’m fine, Dr. Bates. Thanks for seeing me. I wanted to talk to you about something. It’s a special request of sorts.”
“How intriguing,” Mariah said with a smile, motioning to the chair. “Have a seat and tell me what I can do for you. Can I ask how Jivika’s doing first? Has she finished her doctorate yet?”
Brandon sat in the seat and adjusted his body until he was physically comfortable and able to look without guilt at the caring woman who’d helped him find true love. His urge was to tell Dr. Mariah Bates everything, but that would create an ethical dilemma for her which would not help his goal.
He took the time he needed to get good and grounded in his resolve before he answered. “Jivika is more wonderful than ever. We just got engaged. Her dissertation defense is scheduled for October. So far she thinks it will go fine. I don’t think life could get much better for us at the moment.”
“All wonderful news, especially about your engagement,” Mariah exclaimed, smiling widely. “If it’s okay with you, I’m going to add you and Jivika to my ‘most successful clients’ list. I like keeping track of the couples who end up in long term relationships.”
“Sure.” Brandon rubbed his nose, now more nervous about his request. “So I talked to Jivika, and well… I have one last date request for you. I’d like to go out with an older woman, just for a casual dinner. I’m not planning to conduct a last fling or anything sordid like that. I just don’t want to have any regrets about settling down. Does that sound like something you could help me with? I will happily pay the fee. I recently got another promotion at work so I’m quite solvent now.”
Mariah put both hands on her desk and steepled her fingers. “While it’s not my business to judge any client’s personal journey to finding the perfect person, I will say I’m very glad to hear you use the word casual after just announcing your engagement. Jivika is a wonderful person, Brandon—too special for you to have second thoughts about in my humble opinion.”
“Oh, I know, Dr. Bates. I love Jivika, truly I do. But the older woman…” Brandon drew in a breath. “Well, I have someone in mind actually—someone I’d very much like to spend some time with.”
“Really?” Mariah said, surprised at that news. “Been browsing
the database again, have you?”
“No, it was actually Jivika who found her for me. It’s someone new. You just added Chef Trudy Baker as a client, right?”
“Trudy Baker?” Mariah repeated. She was as dumbfounded as it was possible to be. It wasn’t often a client surprised her so thoroughly.
Brandon nodded. “Yes. I have a fondness for chefs.”
Mariah tilted her head. “Trudy’s over fifty, you know.”
“Actually, I do know. Given what she said in her video, and all the news articles about her, I concluded she’s probably around fifty-three. Did I calculate that right?”
Mariah nodded and frowned a little. Her ick factor alarm bells weren’t going off, but Brandon’s request was still plenty strange.
“Yes. Trudy is exactly fifty-three, but she wouldn’t like you knowing her age so precisely. Are you sure about this date, Brandon? She’s more than twice your age.”
Brandon smiled. “It’s just dinner and I’m positively good with her age. Do you think she’ll agree to go out with me?”
“Trudy’s not one for dating younger men, but I can ask. You might want to pick a second choice person, in case she says no.”
Brandon nodded politely. “Are you going to show her my picture in advance?”
Mariah nodded. “That’s how it typically works.”
“Will you use this one then?” Brandon pulled a photo from inside his jacket. It was a recent one and much closer up. It showed his eyes better than his dating profile picture. “The one you have is more than four years old. I think this one makes me look a little older which might help you think of me as a good candidate. I can send it electronically to Della if you think it will work.”
Mariah looked at the photo and nodded. “Sure. It’s a great shot. Of course, we can use it. Have Della update your online profile.”
“Wonderful,” Brandon said, rising to leave before he got tempted to blurt out his agenda. “I’ll be anxiously waiting to hear what she says.”
Never Ever Satisfied (The Perfect Date Book 4) Page 4
