The Parent Trap

Jill nodded, roughly rolling the stem of her wineglass between her fingers. “Yes, competitors,” she snapped, then instantly regretted her rude tone.

“Is that a problem?” he asked, looking genuinely perplexed. “Granted, I didn’t know you owned a restaurant, but it shouldn’t be that big of a deal, should it?”

Jill looked at him, trying to figure him out. Was it possible he hadn’t known she’d wanted the space between their two businesses? Gene Hobart, the landlord, was a shrewd businessman, and not above being sleazy when it came to snagging the client who would up his profits the most. Had Gene even told Brandon that Jill was interested in the space, or that she’d specifically told Gene she wanted the space when it became available? Or that Gene had unofficially promised to come to her with a deal first?

Maybe Gene was the bad guy here, and not Brandon.

“Maybe,” she said, forcing herself to stay calm and rational.

“Why is that? Do you automatically hate other restaurant owners?” he asked, his mouth quirked into a teasing smile that would be so easy to return.

She resisted the urge, reminding herself that he could be a charmer who might like to charm her right into rolling over and going out of business, clearing the way for his business to flourish.

She let out a short, irritated breath. “For one, Mr. Clark, you chose a spot two doors from my restaurant, which certainly doesn’t bode well for my business. Secondly, I wanted to lease the vacant space between the two restaurants, and even though Gene promised me first crack, you got it instead.” She pressed her lips together and looked right at him, glaring. “Do you know how long I’d saved to be able to afford to lease that space when it became available?”

He didn’t respond right away. After a long moment of silence, he leaned forward. “Look,” he said, his eyes reflecting a serious light, “for the record, I chose the spot I did because it was the best retail location for my restaurant, which I’m sure you can confirm. You chose the same stretch of property, right on Main Street, where you’d be assured the best return on your investment. You can’t fault me for being a good businessman.

“Second, I had no idea you wanted the space next to yours. Gene offered it to me as one space, package deal, end of story.”

Jill remained silent, thinking. He’d made some good points, she’d give him that, but his presence in Elm Corners still threatened everything that was important to her careerwise. “How in the world am I supposed to do well with you right next door, literally stealing customers away?” she asked.

“No offense, Jill, but you’ve had it pretty easy as the only game in town in the way of fine dining.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, her pride forcing her to omit what a rough road she’d had building her business, how difficult it had been to convince the staid population of Elm Corners to try a new restaurant. Business was more stable now, but the first year had been very, very lean, and she’d almost had to close The Grill several times. Only through sheer determination, a very understanding, devoted staff and a lot of creative advertising and promotions had she been able to draw in enough customers to stay afloat. Even now, though she was in the black, she was just barely making ends meet. It wouldn’t take much of a downturn in business to shove her back in the red. “Which is one of the reasons, I’m sure, that you chose to start a restaurant here.”

He tilted his head to the side, then nodded. “Touché. I grew up in the restaurant business, so I knew enough to do some market research before coming here, and, of course, I knew that there was only one other fine-dining establishment in Elm Corners. But that’s irrelevant.”

“Not to me,” she said under her breath, knowing as she said the words that she was being unreasonable. She also knew, however, that anything that threatened her dream of business success would push her buttons and freak her out.

“I’m sorry this is a problem for you,” he said, sounding totally sincere. “For what it’s worth, I had no idea that you were the owner of the restaurant next door.”

She looked at him, wishing he was a jerk so she could really hate him. But he wasn’t a jerk. He was a seemingly good guy who just happened to be her only competition. Deal breaker, that. They could never be friends.

She stood. “I believe you, Brandon.” Her jaw tight, she began to clear the dinner dishes.

After a long moment, he reached out and grabbed her hand as she reached for a salad bowl. “You’re mad at me, aren’t you?”

She stilled, liking the feel of his big, warm hand on hers just a little too much. Forcing herself to pull her hand away, she replied, “I’m not mad, really, just…surprised to discover that you’re the person I’ve been cursing up and down for the last week.”

He rose and began gathering dishes. “That doesn’t sound very good.”

“It isn’t,” Jill replied truthfully. She wasn’t going to sugarcoat how worried and frustrated and irritated she was that he’d leased a space for a restaurant in Elm Corners, never mind right next door.

When they reached the kitchen, he set the dishes on the counter. “So, I guess you’re not interested in showing me around The Health Hut.” He drilled her with those beautiful dark eyes, sending a hot, thrilling chill skating up her spine.

She set her jaw, chasing off the way he could just look at her and make her want to grab him and kiss him silly. “You know, I don’t think I’d be much help. Cindy Jones runs the place. She can show you around.” The last thing Jill needed to do was actually spend time with the man who could spell disaster for her business goals.

Brandon nodded, his jaw noticeably tight. “Okay, thanks.”

Jill began to rinse and load the dinner dishes, and Brandon helped out, even going so far as to gather up the tablecloth and shake it out outside. Darn it, anyway, why did he have to be so nice, so attractive, such an all-around considerate guy?

Big deal. So he was nice. The important thing was that he wasn’t her friend or even an acquaintance, just a man her daughter had thrown Jill together with for a ridiculous reason. Now that she’d discovered who he was, she needed him gone, right now. She’d be a masochistic idiot to hang around with the owner of The Steak Place.

“You know,” she said, loading the last of the dishes into the dishwasher, “I think I feel a headache coming on.”

Brandon paused, a sponge in his hand. “You want me to get you some pain reliever?” He moved closer, his dark eyes full of concern. “Why don’t you sit down and I’ll finish up here.”

Jill bit her lip, wishing he wasn’t so solicitous. It would be much easier to dislike him that way, and she really needed to dislike him. “Uh, no, that’s okay.” She shut the dishwasher. “But I do think we should cut the evening short.”

After a long, almost disbelieving silence, he said, “Of course. I’ll go call Kristy.” He headed out of the kitchen, leaving Jill alone, feeling like a total fool for allowing the girls to set up this dinner in the first place, although in her defense, she’d had no idea that her dinner guest was the owner of The Steak Place.

Kristy and Zoe came downstairs and whined about the evening ending so soon, especially since they hadn’t gone out to Zoe’s grandpa’s lab yet. But Jill stood firm, needing to regain the equilibrium Brandon had pushed off balance. It was enough she had to deal with him in her business life, a constant worry she could never get rid of. She sure didn’t want to have him stirring up her personal life, either, nor did she want to have to deal with her disturbing physical attraction to him.

“Thank you for dinner,” Brandon said at the front door, giving her a small, rueful smile. “I enjoyed meeting you.”

“You’re welcome,” Jill said, deliberately ignoring his smile. “Good luck with your…business.” She forced herself to be polite.

Brandon raised his eyebrows, then his expression turned speculative. “You know, this isn’t all doom and gloom. Maybe there’s room in Elm Corners for two successful restaurants.”

“I hope so,” Jill replied sincerely, even though she doubted it. She’d struggled when she was the only restaurant game in town. Now that Brandon had arrived, who knew how she was going to survive.

They said goodbye, and Jill watched father and daughter climb into their SUV at the curb and drive away. She turned and went back into the house, rubbing her eyes, her mood darkening when Zoe was nowhere to be found on the main floor. Jill rolled her eyes, her patience wearing thin. Zoe was undoubtedly pouting in her room because the evening hadn’t gone as she’d planned.

Jill laughed under her breath without humor. Honestly. What did the girls expect? That she and Brandon would lay eyes on each other one minute and elope the next? Fat chance. Real life just didn’t work that way.

Especially since Zoe was manipulating her, shoving her into unwanted situations, hooking her up with a man on the sly. Worse yet, that man had turned out be Jill’s archrival, a man who could spell disaster for her restaurant.

No doubt about it. Too many things about this evening had gone all wrong.

Unfortunately, the day was going to get worse. It was time to talk to her stubborn, determined daughter and tell her that things had gone too far and to cool her eager little matchmaking jets.

For good.

“So what did you think of Mrs. Lindstrom?” Kristy asked Brandon the second he pulled away from the curb.

“I thought she was very nice,” Brandon replied, leaving out that he also thought she was downright beautiful, smart and attractive in every way and that in another life he’d love to date her. Another life being the key phrase there.

In this life she was his competition, the owner of the business he planned on leaving in the dust. Not exactly dating material.

“Just nice?” Kristy asked, her voice full of eager hope. “I think she’s really cool, and pretty, too. And she’s a really good cook, don’t you think?”

The raw, undisguised hope in his daughter’s voice broke Brandon’s heart. He knew how much Kristy missed having a mother and how appealing it must be to her to fantasize about having Zoe for a sister. But this wasn’t a game, this was real life, and feelings and emotions were at stake. He wasn’t going to let himself get sucked into Jill’s life, and vice versa, just to make his daughter’s far-fetched dreams of a perfect family come true.

Obviously it was time to set the record straight with Kristy. He hated to burst her bubble, but he had to let her know that her matchmaking was futile. “Listen, Kris,” he said, stopping at a red light, “I appreciate what you and Zoe are trying to do, but I have to ask you to stop.”

“What do you mean?” Kristy asked, her voice monotone. “We’re not trying to do anything, Dad.”

He smiled, put the car into motion again, then took a quick right turn. Kristy was a terrible liar, which he considered a good thing. “Oh, come on. I might be a little rusty in the dating department, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that you and Zoe set up the whole evening to get me and Jill together.”