An Unexpected Family. Jenna Mindel
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of the day to plan.”
“Yes, you do.” Rose watched him return to the kitchen before settling on the stool near her cash register with her tablet.
She didn’t like the way he’d spoken her name like a caress. No wait, she did like it, and that was the problem. She refused to be putty in anyone’s hands. If he expected her to fawn over him, he was wasting all that charm.
Professional fisherman. Ha!
The lines around Cam’s eyes hinted that he had to be close to her age of just over thirty, but he seemed like a big kid at heart. What kind of career could someone really have fishing? The image of Huckleberry Finn came to mind and Rose nearly giggled.
Cam was a character, all right, but men like him and her ex-husband were all too common. They didn’t want to grow up and certainly wouldn’t live up to their responsibilities. Her ex had barely paid his child support and that had been the extent of his fatherly duty. The last time Kurt had seen his own son had been after Greg had turned six. Kurt had shown up with a sorry excuse for missing their child’s birthday.
She heard the rattle of the metal cart being pushed to the prep station once again and took in the items on top. The frozen whitefish, potatoes, cabbage, raisins, almonds, lemons and sweet pickle relish.
Curious, she got up and went toward him. “What do you have in mind for today’s special?”
Cam’s blue eyes gleamed. “I have that whitefish you mentioned. I’m thinking fish and chips with a side of kicked up coleslaw.”
“Kicked up?”
He winked. “You’ll see.”
Rose ignored the flutter in her belly. “I’ve some paperwork to do before we open. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Will do.”
Rose returned to her spot by the cash register. She had a bar stool and her tablet for inputting sales into a rudimentary spreadsheet. She’d never owned a business before but keeping track of income and expenses seemed like a good start.
She caught the sound of Cam’s humming as he worked getting the two fryers heated up. It sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place the tune. Cam had a deep tone to his voice that was definitely distracting. She’d get nothing done if she didn’t stop noticing every little thing about him.
“There’s a radio on the shelf, if you need music. I usually play the country station.” It’s the music she’d been around most of her adult life. The radio wouldn’t pull at her like Cam.
“Maybe later.” He continued to hum.
She couldn’t stand it. The familiarity of the song remained out of reach over the sounds of metal spoon scraping metal mixing bowl. “What’s that you’re humming?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know the name, but I heard it on the Christian radio station, about the Cross.”
“As in Calvary?”
He looked confused. “As in Crucifixion.”
Rose nodded. Her church lingo might be different than his, but he seemed to be a genuine believer. Concentrating on entering the previous day’s receipts, she didn’t notice Cam’s approach until she sensed him standing beside her.
“Try this.” He held out a forkful of creamy, golden-colored coleslaw toward her.
She went for the fork, but he pulled away slightly with a teasing look in his eye. “I’ve got it, just take a bite.”
Rose wished he’d back up a little. Standing this close, she could smell him, and Cam smelled nice. Over the tangy coleslaw, Rose detected a crisp, clean lemony scent that tempted her to inhale far deeper than she should. She looked at the forkful and then up into his eyes.
Big mistake. He had that flirty, good-time smile going again.
She tasted the slaw. Very creamy and sweet with a hint of something she couldn’t name—“Is that curry?”
He nodded. “Very good and yes, it is. I prefer dates, but raisins work well in a pinch.”
Rose smiled at him—a little stunned, a little thrown off guard and a whole lot grateful. Cam might be the best cook this diner had ever seen. “That’s really good.”
“I know. Want me to get the door?”
Rose checked her watch. Five minutes to seven. She slid off her stool, grabbed her checkered apron and headed for the front. “I got it. You do your thing.” Then she stopped and turned. “Cam?”
“Yeah?” Wearing that silly bandanna, he looked like a rescuing swashbuckler off the pages of one of her childhood books. No black patch, but his longish blond hair with ends that tended to curl and those piercing blue eyes nailed the descriptive. He might wield a spoon instead of a gleaming sword, but he’d saved her from a big headache. He’d saved the diner, too.
She needed to get those fairy-tale images out of her head and fast before they swept her away. “Thank you.”
He gave her a pleased smile. “You’re welcome, Rose.”
She grit her teeth at the sound of her name on his lips and headed for the front door. The man knew how to make her head spin. Heart pounding, Rose kicked herself as a fool.
Why did she do this? Why did she always cast a man who showed a speck of interest in helping her into the knight-in-shining armor role? She had learned the hard way that every one of her past knights had proven themselves tarnished and lacking in honor.
She’d inherited a diner and although she’d been in the foodservice business for years, ownership scared her. Cam’s charm scared her, too. Men like Cam couldn’t be trusted and Rose needed to keep that at the forefront of her mind. His employment was temporary. Everything about Cam screamed temporary and irresponsible.
A man better left alone.
By 2:05, the diner was empty save for her, Cam and Jess, the pretty new waitress who had started this morning, along with the new busboy named Chris.
Rose locked the front door and flipped over her sign. “Phew, busy day.”
“I’ve seen worse.” Jess grinned. She’d held her own today.
Rose smiled back. The girl was nice, cheeky but respectful, even toward Cam. Especially toward Cam. “You did well today. Thanks for your help.”
Jess lifted her wad of tip money. “Not bad for a Monday. I can’t wait to see what the weekend brings.”
“Not bad at all.” Rose had never seen so many receipts skewered onto the check spindle by the cash register.
The two of them had quickly turned over tables, keeping the busboy busy. Chris clanged around in the kitchen, loading dishes in racks that rolled through an industrial dishwasher. The kid had done a good job today, too. Rose had him only through the summer until he returned to high school in the fall.
Rose itched to get at those financials, but that would have to keep until after cleanup.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Jess waved and then yelled out to Cam, who was busy breaking down his prep station.
“See ya, kid.”
Rose chuckled as she headed for the kitchen. Cam didn’t flirt with Jess. He’d joked around, but that was it. No good-time smiles and a good thing, too. Jess wasn’t yet out of her teens.
Rose had been only eighteen when she’d met a twenty-five-year-old Kurt Dean. He’d swept her away with his artistic dreams and careless good looks. Kurt hadn’t been old by any means, but certainly old enough to know better than to fill a young girl’s head with promises he never intended