She snorted. Okay, Sean wasn’t really a womanizer. But he did go through women like a fish through water. Men. Did any of them want to settle down into married bliss with one woman? Time to think about something else. “Speaking of your love life... how’s it going with Haley?”
“Haden.” Sean made quick work of the green onions. “It’s going fine, I guess.”
Haden delivered their fresh produce from a local organic farm. “It’s about that time, isn’t it? It’s been five, six weeks now. What’s wrong with her?”
Sean scowled. “Nothing’s wrong with her. She’s great.”
“But...”
He scraped the onions into the bowl. “But nothing. She’s smart and attractive and we have a lot of fun together.”
She nudged his shoulder. “Does she bruise your apples? Root for the Mets? Dislike your Mexican street corn? What is it?”
Sean winced. “Stop it.”
But she knew her brother all too well. Whatever Haden’s “fatal flaw,” he’d discovered it even if he wouldn’t share. “I told you not to date someone we do business with. Where will we get our fresh produce now?”
“Iknow. I’ve already been beating myself up—you don’t have to pile it on. The last delivery service was awful.”
“Looks like someone’s headed back to the farmer’s market.”
“Don’t remind me.”
She thought of Meghan’s mention of her sand run with Sean a few months ago and that secret grin that had formed on her friend’s face. Fortunately, Sean hadn’t come up in conversation since. Anyway, Meghan knew all too well about Sean’s pathetic dating history. Besides, her BFF probably wasn’t ready for another relationship. She was still making Kyle’s home, by turns, into a sauna or a frozen tundra.
“So are we adding sriracha eggs to the menu?” she asked. “It’s going to the printers next week.” The deviled eggs, as predicted, were delicious—spicy and tangy-sweet with just a hint of garlic. Her brother was a culinary genius.
“Let’s do it. I’ll have Mom write up the description.”
“She’s so good at it.”
Years ago Mom had bought a two-story shanty at the end of a dock shortly after she discovered her husband had a secret family in Connecticut—andnota job as a traveling salesman as they’d believed. The Hartford family had come first, so just like that Mom’s marriage was null and void. And apparently their father’s parenting obligations were too, as he seemed to drop off the face of the earth shortly after he’d been caught in his epic lie.
A civil lawsuit, however, had been very kind to their mom—hence her dream restaurant. She now filled in at the restaurant as needed and seemed content to let Chloe and Sean run Docksiders. It worked well since Sean had the kitchen covered, and Chloe excelled in front-of-house matters like staffing, customer care, and general management issues. If it wasn’t her dream job... well, it was a decent living and she loved working with her family.
Sean began slicing and dicing a green pepper. “So what areyou gonna do about Liam Hamilton now that you’ve burned that bridge?”
“Hey, you weren’t there. I was being really nice.”
“After you cut him down to a nub over the phone? A guy’s got his pride, you know.”
“I didn’t know I was on speaker! I didn’t even know he was there.” Then she muttered, “Darn that Simone.”
“But if I know you, you haven’t given up yet.”
“He’s in town a week early—that must be a sign. I have to get through to him somehow.”
“How are you gonna track him down? I get the feeling you two didn’t swap numbers.”
She sent her brother a withering look. “I’ll get his info from Simone and explain I’d like to make peace with him. I’m sure she’ll be in favor—harmony on the set and all that.”
“But then what? You can’t exactly force-feed him your novel.”
She thought of Liam’s smug little grin and brought the knife down with extra force. “I don’t know. But I’d better think of something, and fast.”
Chapter4
The repetitive buzzing of incoming texts woke Liam from a deep sleep. He opened his eyes to filmy sunlight flooding the room of his beach rental. It was a newer house, sporting wood floors, cozy area rugs, and a fireplace he wouldn’t be using this time of year. A nice change from his contemporary home in Santa Monica.
