“Or the sex would have to be really good.” Marjorie wasn’t sure if that was a point for or against Landon, but when she saw Kaitlyn blush a little, she decided it was the right move. She nudged her. “Care to find out and tell me about it?”
“Marjorie!” Kaitlyn pushed her away. “Does food photography always get you this hot?”
“No.” Marjorie began pulling out the ingredients and arranging them on the gorgeous counter. “It was the showerhead.”
Five hours later, Kaitlyn was exhausted from arranging, chopping, dicing, and sautéing. “Let’s head to the restaurant,” she said, cleaning the last knife. “Gray said something about chocolate eclairs.”
Marjorie packed up her equipment while Kait finished dishes, and then they loaded it into Kait’s car. “One more time?” Kait asked the engine when it threatened to not turn over.
“Please,” Marjorie added.
As it sputtered to life, they each patted their respective sides. “Good car,” Kait said.
They’d decided that it was best to stop calling it a piece of junk and treat it like a beloved old pet. “After all,” Kait had said. “It knows it’s not young and pretty anymore, but it probably still wants to be appreciated.”
“Doesn’t everyone?” Marjorie had agreed.
So far, it seemed to be working. The car got them to LeClarks just in time to smell freshly baked eclairs coming out of the oven.
“Good God,” Kait said, inhaling deeply. “I think we’re in heaven.”
She and Marjorie headed for the kitchen, but Gray stopped them. “There’s a line. Go sit over there and wait.”
Landon was in the corner booth—alone, Kait noted—working on his laptop. He looked up at the sound of Gray’s voice, and Kait’s breath caught. She’d forgotten how handsome he was. Not lithely muscled like Gray, or brawny like the paper towel man, but somewhere in between. She expected to see the heat that kindled in her belly reflected in his eyes, but instead, they were opaque. She was getting neither fire nor flint.
“You’re doing recipes,” she said in surprise when they reached him.
Before he could respond, Gray came over with a lovely blonde girl with blue-green eyes and full, pouty lips, a silver tray balanced on one slim arm. Conversation was no longer necessary.
“Finally,” Landon said, pushing his translation work aside. “I thought you might have gone all the way to France to get them.”
The girl made a face at him, and Kaitlyn’s stomach dropped. She didn’t detect a flirtatious note from either of them, but this was a very pretty girl, and from the scent wafting her way, she could bake.
“Okay,” the girl said setting the tray down carefully on the table. “Try them.”
To Kait’s relief, Gray slid into the booth next to Landon. The girl remained standing, hands on her hips.
One by one, each of the four at the booth selected a pastry and bit in.
“Well?” the girl demanded.
“Mind blowing,” Landon said around his second bite.
“Agreed,” Gray said when he’d swallowed. “You have a job, Ana.”
Even though Kait could have eaten the rest of the eclairs by herself, she found herself asking, “Shouldn’t we talk about this, business partner?”
“I agree,” Landon said.
“I’m his business partner, too.”
“What’s the problem?” Ana frowned at her. “You don’t like them?”
“I love them,” Kait admitted.
“Then what is it? I’m not old enough?”
“What?” Kait squinted at her, confused. Was she underage? No, she had to be in her late 20s, early 30s. “I don’t care how old you are.”
“Then what?” Ana waited expectantly.
“It’s just...” You’re too pretty! Your hair looks like butterscotch, your skin is vanilla ice cream, and you bake like an angel. “...nothing,” Kaitlyn conceded. “You’re hired.”
Ana felt like a missing piece that, once found, made everything fall into place. Before Kait knew it, the restaurant was ready, the menu was set, the staff was trained, and they had a date for their soft opening.
“Come outside,” Gray called to her two evenings before they were set to open. Kait came out to find him standing by the old wooden LeClarks sign. It had been in the storage unit all along.
Seeing him looking so much like their father, standing next to the sign their ancestors had hand carved, brought tears to her eyes.
“I know,” Gray said, pulling her against his side in a one-armed hug. “It’s perfect, isn’t it?”
“We did it,” Kait said, wiping her eyes. “What do you think Mom and Dad would think?”
“They’d love it. LeClarks belongs in New Canton.”
Kait wasn’t entirely sure she agreed, but seeing the old Baratellis completely become the new LeClarks did warm some part of her soul she didn’t know had gone cold. After admiring it for a few more minutes with Gray, she went inside to find Marjorie.
“Mar, come take a picture,” she said, finding her at a booth with Landon and Ana. All three trailed out.
“Nice,” Ana said, clearly not seeing what all the fuss was about. After giving Kait’s teary eyes one last curious look, she went back inside.
While Marjorie set up her camera, Kait eyed Landon. He had been remote for the last week and a half. She’d never seen him like that. As a teenager, he’d been entitled and rebellious until he became a fixture in their family. Then he’d been like a big brother, teasing and indifferent in turns. As an adult, she’d seen him as an enemy, an interloper, and then a combatant of another type. Now, he just seemed...distant. To her surprise, that was worse. She longed for him to give her another one of his sideways glances, to insist on driving her home, or better yet, to grab her by the waist in the kitchen.
Now, she went over to him where he was studying the sign. “What do you think?”
It was the first time she’d initiated conversation with him, but he didn’t look surprised to see her at his side.
“It finally looks like it should,” he said after a moment. “It’ll never be the same
