The Waterfront should do lunch, she thought. The location was good. With some minor modifications, a lot of their dinner menu could be cut down or translated into salads and sandwiches. They could…
“So not my problem,” she said aloud, to remind herself she wasn’t technically a Buchanan anymore. She didn’t give a damn if the restaurant made a profit or not, just as long as it stayed in business until Penny returned from maternity leave and Dani could find another job.
Or maybe she should do something more, she thought. Like go find her father.
Who was he? She had no idea how to begin the search. Gloria had long ago gotten rid of all Dani’s mother’s things. Could there be papers of some kind? A diary?
The only person who would know for sure was the one person Dani didn’t want to talk to—Gloria.
“What has you looking so serious?”
She turned and saw Ryan standing next to her.
“Hi,” she said, both surprised and delighted to see him. “What are you doing here?”
“Getting coffee. It’s my morning spot. And you?”
She held up her drink. “Getting a slow start on my day. Do you really come here every morning?”
He glanced at the front of the Daily Grind. “Sure. It’s on my way to the restaurant. Why?”
“My brother Cal owns the chain. When he started, he and his partners opened three places at once. This is one of them.”
Ryan chuckled. “So I spend my life in service to the Buchanan empire.”
“Four restaurants isn’t exactly an empire,” Dani said. “Although Cal’s business would qualify. They’re expanding back East.” She lowered her voice. “Apparently they’re going to have to offer more coffee choices that aren’t as strong. I guess we scare them with too much intensity.”
“Wimps,” he said.
She laughed. “One of the new East Coast reps said we all have our taste in our feet.”
Ryan grinned, then his humor faded. He put his hand on her arm. “I was sorry to hear about your grandmother. Are you all right? Is there anything I can do?”
“I’m all right,” she said, not seeing any point in getting into her current maelstrom of feelings. Gloria wasn’t her grandmother. The woman had made her life a living hell for years. And all that time, Dani had done her best to make the old woman happy. Until she’d learned the truth, she’d never been able to figure out why she kept failing. But even after all that, she couldn’t help feeling bad about what had happened and how Gloria was going to have to face her recovery pretty much on her own.
“How are you liking the restaurant?” she asked, not wanting to talk about Gloria anymore. “All settled in?”
He shook his head. “That’s going to take a while. The place is great. Talk about busy. When the orders get going, that kitchen is crazy. How do you keep it straight?”
“Sometimes I don’t,” she admitted. “If you think it’s insane now, wait until Penny gets back. Edouard is a good chef, but he doesn’t challenge himself the same way. Penny liked to test herself on the specials.”
“Everyone talks about how great she is,” Ryan told her. “I’m looking forward to working with her.”
His blond hair looked gold in the bright morning sun. It was perfectly cut, maybe a tiny bit too long, which only made her want to touch the layered strands more. He was good-looking without being pretty, funny, smart and possibly interested in her. Did life get any better?
Okay, her divorce wasn’t final, but wasn’t she entitled to a rebound guy? Someone who would take her mind off her lying, cheating bastard of a husband and show her a good time? Wasn’t it the law?
“Penny’s the best,” Dani said. “I’m glad she’s my sister-in-law again.”
“Again?”
“She and Cal were married before. Things didn’t work out between them for a lot of reasons. But when Cal hired Penny to bring The Waterfront back from the brink, they were thrown together a lot. One thing led to another and now they’re married again.”
“With a baby on the way,” he added.
Dani nodded, not bothering to explain Cal wasn’t the father. It was yet another Buchanan complication and she saw no point in scaring off her potential boy toy.
She giggled. Boy toy? What would Ryan think of the title?
“Okay, you’re always doing that,” he said. “You laugh at something and only you know the reason.”
“Sorry. I guess I find myself entertaining.”
“You make me laugh,” he said.
Was it her imagination or had he just moved a little closer?
Before she could decide, he glanced at his watch. “Tell you what—we have a good hour before we have to be at the restaurant. Let’s walk around the city some. You can show me your favorite sights and I’ll be impressed.”
A shiver of pleasure rippled through her. “Sounds like a plan.” She glanced around to get her bearings, then pointed. “Let’s go that way. I’ll take you to the big downtown Nordstrom store. I know what you’re thinking. It’s just another department store. But you’d be wrong. It’s an amazing place.”
She held her coffee in one hand while her other hung free. Without warning, Ryan captured it in his.
“You have no idea what I’m thinking, Dani. None at all.”
He laced his fingers with hers and squeezed slightly.
Okay then, she thought, barely able to breathe from the shock of a strange man holding her hand after a good ten years of being with Hugh.
He was right—she didn’t know what he was thinking. But she had to admit, she kind of liked it.
ELISSA WAITED until her shift was over to knock on Frank’s open office door. He looked up and waved her in.
“Hey, Elissa. How’s it going? How’s Zoe? She excited about starting school?” The man was in his fifties, overweight and genuinely nice. She knew she’d gotten lucky when she’d found this job.
“Very. Every night we discuss what she’s going to wear the first week and it constantly changes.” She smiled. “I met
