Starting Over On Blackberry Lane

A few minutes later, a cute little gal was setting an icy cold one in front of him. “On the house, Mr. Masters,” she said with a grin. “I’m Melody and I’m new here.”

“Thanks, Melody,” he said. “And it’s Grant. May as well get on a first-name basis, since I plan on being a regular.”

“Grant,” she repeated, smiling, and hurried off to deliver some kind of fancy drinks to two women seated at a table in the middle of the room. One of them, he noticed, was a real looker, with beautiful green eyes and chestnut curls. She glanced his way, blinked, blushed, then turned her head.

No, I’m not him. Thank God no one had come up to ask for his autograph so far. It often took a while to convince people that he wasn’t George Clooney. Once he did, they were embarrassed, and so was he. He wouldn’t mind if the redhead came over, though.

Charley was back now and saw him watching. “That’s Muriel Sterling-Wittman, and yes, she’s single.”

He smiled and shook his head. “Just lookin’. Not in the market.”

“You never know,” Charley said. “I sure wasn’t in the market when I met your son, who, by the way, is the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Speaking of his son, there he was, obviously just out of the shower with his hair still damp, and wearing clean jeans and a shirt. “Dad, you made it,” he said and hugged Grant. Then he slid into the booth, and Charley sat down and joined him. “How was Seattle?”

“Crowded.”

“Matt’s pissed you don’t want to live there.”

“Matt needs to move up here.”

“That’s what I keep telling him,” Dan said. “He could come work for Charley.” Charley seemed a little uncomfortable at that, so he added, “Well, if her chef ever quits.”

“He’s a good one,” she told Grant. “And he’s been with me for several years.”

“Loyalty’s important,” Grant said diplomatically.

“But so is family,” Dan said.

Grant shrugged. “Then why don’t you guys open a second restaurant and let Matt run it?”

“Not a bad idea,” Dan said, “but we’re gonna be busy for a while.”

“Oh?” The minute he saw Dan and his wife exchange smiles he knew, but he played dumb. “With what?”

“With a baby,” Charley said, beaming.

“Well, now, that’s terrific news,” Grant said. “Congratulations, you two. When’s the stork coming?”

“November,” Charley replied.

That explained why his daughter-in-law looked so happy. There was something about a pregnant woman. She glowed like a candle in the dark.

As for his son, Grant sure recognized that goofy grin. If there was anything as exciting as learning you were going to have a kid, Grant didn’t know what it was. “You got names picked out?”

“We’re thinking Amanda Louise if it’s a girl.”

To honor both Charley’s mom and Lou. Lou would have been out of her mind over all this. Damned heart attack. That should have happened to him, not her.

“And Ethan Grant if it’s a boy,” said Dan.

“A nod to Dan’s neglected first name,” Charley teased, nudging him.

“Sorry you get second billing, Dad.”

“At least I’m on the bill. That’s real nice of you. You two will be great parents.”

“I hope so,” Charley said. “I never thought I’d end up being a mom.”

“It’s happening, babe.” Dan slipped an arm around his wife. “So, Dad, you’re gonna be a grandpa.”

“Works for me,” Grant said.

And now he was really glad he’d decided to come back stateside. A new kid in the family and a new business. What else could a man want?

He caught a glimpse of the pretty woman at the other table and suddenly remembered what else.

* * *

Stef normally had Tuesdays and Thursdays off. Once upon a time, BD (Before Destruction), she’d enjoyed staying home on her days off, watching HGTV or puttering in the garden, doing craft projects or playing with Petey. These days, home wasn’t exactly where the heart was, so on Thursday she was more than happy to take a latte break with Griffin at Gingerbread Haus.

“I’m going to poison Brad now and be done with it,” she informed Griffin as they entered the bakery. “Then I’ll replace him with a real carpenter.”

“From what I hear, they aren’t always very fast at getting work done, either,” Griffin said. “Anyway, he’ll get the living room finished eventually,” she added, obviously trying to be encouraging.

Stef did not feel encouraged. “Eventually? Maybe. Right now, it’s looking more like never.” Stef shook her head. “I thought we were so perfectly compatible when we first got married, but I didn’t know about...this.” She sighed. “I do love the guy. What I don’t love is the way he keeps starting projects and never finishing them. It’s making me nuts. I just want to find someone to finish this so we can be done with it, but Brad keeps insisting he’ll get to it.”

Cass, who was ringing up some swan-shaped cream puffs for Muriel Sterling-Wittman, greeted them. “Still nowhere near done, huh?”

“He’ll never be done.”

Muriel took her purchase and smiled the all-knowing Mona Lisa smile she was famous for. “When we’re in the middle of something challenging, it always seems like it’ll last forever, but trust me, even the hard times come to a close.”

“Thanks,” Stef murmured, feeling like the queen of the wicked witches. Here Muriel Sterling had been widowed twice—talk about hard times—and she never complained. Stef’s chaotic reno project, which had been feeling like a mountain, shrank to a molehill. Muriel gave her a reassuring pat on the arm and Stef sighed as the older woman left the shop. “I’m a bitch.”

“No, you’re not,” Cass assured her. “I’d feel the same way if I was in your house. I feel the same way in my leaky house, only I don’t have a husband to blame.”

Another woman with no husband. Now Stef really felt guilty for complaining. Sometimes Brad did not bring out the best in her.

Oh, yeah. Blame it all on Brad. She needed therapy. “Give me two gingerbread boys and a large caramel latte,” she said to Cass. “I’m going to smother my sorrows in sugar.”

“Good idea.” Cass looked at Griffin. “Are you going to walk on the wild side today and have a gingerbread boy?”

“I’ll just have a cup of gingerbread tea. Beth’s been stuffing me full of goodies the last three days.”

Cass smiled. “Next to me, she’s the best baker in town. Well, except for Janice Lind. I’m sure she’ll win the Raise the Roof bake-off again this year.”

“That was before you moved here,” Stef told Griffin. “It was really fun, kind of like a county fair, but without the cows and pigs. At the end they auction everything off. They also have a silent auction. Last year I won a dinner for two at Der Spaniard and a huge basket of Sweet Dreams chocolates. You should come. I bet you’d get some great food pictures.”