“You’re not supposed to be here,” he told his grandmother.
Gloria swept into the small space and claimed the only other chair. “I don’t know why you think I spend my life micromanaging. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’m just here because I want to see my grandson. Is there anything wrong with that?”
There wouldn’t be, if he believed her. But he didn’t. Gloria always had a purpose and a motive.
“Fine,” he said. “If this is strictly a social visit, then you won’t have anything to say about the restaurant.”
She pressed her lips together. “I did notice a few things.”
He stared at her. She exhaled slowly.
“I won’t mention them. Although why you don’t want constructive criticism is beyond me. I would think you would
want
the restaurant to be the best it can be.”
“Nice try, but I’m not biting.”
“Oh, all right.” She shrugged out of her coat. “I just wanted to let you know that Daniel quit.”
He stared at her. “Who’s Daniel?”
“Daniel Langstrom. The president of the company. Honestly, Callister, can’t you even pretend interest? He wouldn’t say why he left. It’s very inconvenient. He’s the third one to leave in fifteen months. The executive searches are very expensive. Not to mention time-consuming. One would think the search firms could bring better candidates.”
“The search firms aren’t the problem, Gloria,” Cal said. “You are. You’re hell to work for.”
Gloria stiffened. “I beg your pardon. You can’t talk to me like that. It’s rude and vulgar.”
“Maybe, but it’s true. You add new intensity to the term
micromanage.
You’ve never met an order you didn’t want to tweak or change or countermand. You get in the way, you change your mind fifteen times a day and you make everyone around you wish they were dead.”
She paled. “That’s not true.”
“Haven’t you noticed how difficult it is for you to keep an executive assistant, let alone a company president? You drove me away years ago. Reid and Walker never even bothered to try. You need to back off or there won’t be anyone left at the company.”
“That’s ridiculous. You’re exaggerating. Regardless, I want you to take over the job as president.”
He would rather be shark bait. “No, thanks. I have a job.”
“At that coffeehouse.” She made it sound as if he sold acid milkshakes to children.
“You got it. I like it there, Gloria. I’m proud of what I do.” He stopped, reminding himself he was never going to convince her.
“This is your heritage,” she said. “You’re a Buchanan.”
“Not interested. No one is, except Dani. God knows why you haven’t been able to scare her off, but she’s still hanging on. Give her a shot.”
Gloria sniffed. “That’s impossible. She’s not one of us. Not a Buchanan. She is her mother’s daughter and I will never forgive her for that.”
“My mother had an affair nearly thirty years ago. You need to let it go.”
“Never.” Gloria’s eyes blazed with anger. “She betrayed my son. Don’t you care that she made a fool of your father?”
He wasn’t happy about it, but he found it hard to get worked up about it after all this time. “Move on,” he said. “Mom and Dad are dead.”
“But the proof of your mother’s affair lives on.”
“You might want to enter this century,” he said. “Dani is your granddaughter.”
“Never. She’s nothing. I allow her to believe she’s a Buchanan as a kindness.”
“Is that what you call it?”
When he’d graduated from college, Gloria had told him the truth—a twisted sort of present. She’d used the information to blackmail him into going into the family business.
He hadn’t wanted to be part of the empire, but she’d threatened to tell Dani she wasn’t really one of them. He’d taken that first job at Burger Heaven to make sure his sister didn’t know the truth.
Gloria glared at him. “I have been a part of this family since I was eighteen years old. I have sweated blood so that you could have this legacy. I’m the reason this family has wealth.”
“We would have been a whole lot better off if you’d simply let it go.”
She stood. “You may not care about family, but I do. Your mother destroyed my son with her lies and her deceit.”
“None of which is Dani’s fault. She’s the only one who gives a damn about the company. She’s paid her dues. She’s good at her job. So cut her a break. Move her up the food chain. Let her prove herself at Buchanan’s, or here.”
“Never.”
Cal felt like punching something, but he’d put his fist through a wall once and it hadn’t been a smart idea. “I should tell her myself,” he said, more to himself than Gloria.
“But you won’t.” His grandmother resumed her seat. “You would never hurt your sister like that.”
She was right. He wouldn’t knowingly hurt Dani. Although he was starting to wonder if not telling her was causing a different kind of pain.
“On a different subject, did you know your executive chef is pregnant?”
He swore. How had she found that out? Less surprising was her need to make trouble.
“Of course,” he said, not mentioning he’d only been told that day.
“Oh.” Gloria sounded disappointed. “Do you know who the father is?”
“Why does that matter?”
“She’s not right for you, Callister. I always thought so. I thought you’d seen it, as well.”
“My personal life isn’t your business.”
Her small eyes zeroed in on his. He knew she was wondering if he was telling her to back off because there was something between him and Penny or just on general principle.
“You never liked her,” he said. “Was it something specific about Penny or the fact that you didn’t get to handpick my wife?”
“I’m sure I would have done a better job than you did.”
That was it. Old lady or not, he’d had enough of her. He stood.
“It’s time for you to go.”
She collected her coat and rose. “Think about the president’s job,” she said. “It’s an excellent opportunity.”
“Not going to happen.”
“But, Callister…”
He walked her to the hallway, then firmly closed the door in her face.
P
ENNY SET OUT HER MEAL
in a corner table of the dining room. The kitchen cleanup was nearly finished and while she was tired and ready to head home to bed, she was starving.
At first she’d been so angry at Cal for walking out at the start of dinner, she hadn’t been able to think about eating. Then she’d gotten busy and then the evening had been over. So she planned to make up for lost time.
She had a large plate of the batter-fried fish from her infamous fish and chips, a second plate with garlic smashed potatoes and a huge bowl of salad made with every vegetable she’d been able to dig up. There was enough to serve six or eight people, but sometimes she forgot how to cook for one.
She’d kind of thought Naomi would join her, but her friend had rushed off to warm Reid’s bed. Penny had always known they would eventually hook up and when they did, she would feel the temporary loss as her two closest friends entered a world of their own. She just hadn’t been expecting it now.
Cal walked into the dining room. She ignored him and began to fill her plate. He walked toward her.
“We had a good night,” he said.
She nodded.
“Numbers are still above projections.”
“You sound surprised,” she said.
“I am. I hope we can sustain the momentum.”
“No reason we can’t. The location is good, the food better. What’s not to like?”
He grinned. “You always did look on the bright side.”
“Beats the alternative.”
“Want company?”
She looked at him then, at the handsome lines of his face and faint curve of his mouth. He wasn’t mad anymore and neither was she. Oh, she could pretend. Given a few minutes, she could work herself into a temper, but to what end?
“Only if you’re hungry,” she said. “I made a little extra.”
“So I see.”
He sat next to her and took one of the empty plates. After filling it, he picked up a fork and took a bite of potatoes.
“Still the best,” he said.
She shrugged. “Potatoes, garlic, butter, a few spices. You’re too easy, Cal.”
“I know what I like.”
That statement had danger written all over it, so she decided to change the subject. “I saw Gloria was here earlier. Mercifully, she stayed out of my kitchen. What did she want with you?”
“She’s trying to badger me into accepting the job of president of the corporation. The third guy in fifteen months just quit.”
“If he reports directly to her, I can see why.”
“That’s what I told her. I said she had to loosen up or she was going to lose everything.”
“You’d never do it,” Penny said confidently. “You’d hate working for her and you wouldn’t want to give up your work with The Daily Grind.”
He stared at her. “How do you know that?”
“Am I wrong?”
“No.”
She smiled. “Cal, you’re a guy. Most of the time, you’re not very complex. Although there were a few times you confused the hell out of me.” She didn’t want to talk about them now. “So what’s the big deal? She should offer the job to Dani. She’d jump at the chance to run things and I think she’d do a good job.”
“That’s what I said, but Gloria won’t have any part of it.”
Typical, Penny thought. “Gloria’s always been horrible where Dani’s concerned. What’s the problem? What does she have against your sister?”
She expected Cal to brush off the question or say he didn’t know. He surprised her by putting down his fork and leaning toward her, then lowering his voice.
“She’s not a Buchanan.”
Penny couldn’t have been more surprised if Cal had morphed into a dancing squid. “Excuse me? She’s your sister.”
“Half sister. Same mother, different father. My dad was always really distant. He drank—I think having Gloria as his mother drove him to it. I don’t remember all that much about their marriage, but they never seemed happy or like other couples. At some point, she met someone else and had an affair. Dani was the result. I first found out about it when I graduated from college. I’d never guessed. None of us had.”
Penny instinctively reached for his hand and took it in her own. “That’s not possible. Of course Dani is one of you.”
“No. She’s completely different. Her looks, her personality. Also, look at how Gloria treats her. Dani thinks it’s because she’s a girl, but it’s more than that.”
Penny thought about the years she and Cal were married and interacting with the rest of the Buchanan family. Gloria was rude and difficult with everyone, but there was a special level of awfulness in her contact with Dani. It was almost…contempt.
“No,” Penny said, more to herself than Cal. “Family is everything to Dani. Being a Buchanan defines her world. The only thing she wants outside of her marriage is to run the corporation.”
“Gloria’s not going to let that happen.”
Penny squeezed his fingers. “Do Reid and Walker know?”
He nodded. “Gloria told them, then used the information to threaten them. Do what I say or I’ll tell your sister she’s not really part of this family.”
Penny’s chest tightened. “That’s awful. I never liked Gloria, but I never thought she was evil. Poor Dani. You have to tell her.”
Cal pulled his hand free and shook his head. “No way. I’m not screwing up her life.”
“Her life is already screwed. You’re keeping secrets from her, Cal. It’s not a good idea. I speak from personal experience.”
His gaze dropped to her belly. Without her white coat, her condition was fairly visible. While she doubted he’d noticed her breasts were larger than usual, there was no way he could miss the distinct roundness of her belly.
“I can’t tell her. It would hurt too much,” he said.
“It’s going to hurt more when she finds out another way.”
He bit into a piece of fish. She recognized the stubborn set of his mouth and sighed. Fine. She couldn’t make him tell Dani, but she could keep on him until he caved.
“I will say this,” she told him. “Talking about your family always makes me appreciate my own a lot more.”
“How are your folks?” he asked.
“Good. My dad is still busy with the dealership and making both his sons-in-law sweat about who is going to be left in charge.”
“Do they know?” he asked, glancing at her midsection.
She touched her stomach. “Yes. I told them about the baby. Actually I told them when I started thinking about getting pregnant. Mom wanted me to wait to get married, but it wasn’t a big argument. They’ve stopped expecting me to be conventional.”
“Because you didn’t decide to be a stay-at-home mom like Emily and Julie?”
She nodded. Both her sisters had married within two years of finishing high school. Penny had never seen the point of hooking up with a guy, then locking herself in a house and popping out babies. Of course she’d never planned on being a single mom, either.
“I’ve made my way in a man’s world,” she said brightly. “As soon as word gets out about the baby, everyone will be really nice to me and if they’re not, I’ll have Naomi to protect me.”
He glanced around the empty restaurant. “She’s with Reid tonight?”
“That’s my guess. I’m sure they’re off having hot monkey sex even as we speak.”
Cal grimaced. “Don’t go there. It’s not an image either of us want in our brains.”
She grinned. “You have a point. Naomi is far more sexual than anyone I’ve ever known.”
“Tell me about it. That time she walked in on us, I was sure she was going to offer to join in.”
Penny laughed. “If we hadn’t been married, I think she might have. Later she told me you were much more impressive naked than she’d ever suspected.”
“Great. Not something I needed to know.”
“But Naomi is practically a legend,” she teased. “Don’t you want to know what all the fuss is about?”
“No.”
“But, Cal…”
He glared at her. “I’m not interested in having sex with your best friend. Okay?”
“Fine. It’s your loss.”
“If you want details, ask Reid. I’m sure he’ll share.”
“No, thanks.” Penny enjoyed teasing Cal about Naomi, but she didn’t actually want to know what her friend was like in bed. That would just be too weird.
“So if you’re not interested in Naomi,” she said, “who are you interested in?”
“Asking about my love life?”
“Uh-huh.” She suspected there wasn’t anyone right now. Cal wasn’t the type to have kissed her if he’d been involved.
“I’m between women. And you?”
“You talked to Reid,” she said, knowing it was the only place he could have disappeared to so he could get answers. “You know there isn’t anyone.”
“That’s why you chose in vitro?”
“Sure. I got tired of waiting for Mr. Right to show up. Apparently his flight was delayed or he married someone else by mistake.”
Cal didn’t like the sound of that. Once he’d been her Mr. Right. Of course, that had changed when their marriage had ended.
“Is that what you want?” he asked. “A traditional marriage?”
“Sure. Being a single mom was never part of my master plan. I’m not afraid to do it on my own, but I would have preferred to be part of something more. Still, I can do this.”
Penny had always been stubborn about achieving her goals. He didn’t doubt her for a second.
“You said September. When?”
“The twelfth. I have the advantage of knowing the actual day I got pregnant.”
“Are you okay in the kitchen?”
“Sure. I’ll need to sit a little more after my seventh month, but I can still handle things. The pregnancy is one of the reasons I wanted Naomi with me. She’ll help pick up the slack. I’m going to take a short maternity leave, then come back after three weeks.”
That surprised him. “Don’t you want to stay home longer with the baby?”
“I’m bringing the baby to work with me. Why do you think I took the larger office?”
A baby? Here? “You can’t.”
“Really? Why not?”
He stared at her and couldn’t think of a single reason.
“That’s my point,” she said. “Why can’t I bring in the baby? At least for the first few months. I’m going to be breastfeeding, so I’ll need the baby around. I’ve already lined up a fabulous nanny. She looks like Mrs. Claus. By the time my son or daughter is ready for preschool, I’ll have my own restaurant.”
She’d always been a planner. “The kid’s going to know what a sauté pan is before he or she can walk.”
“I hope so.”
He ate a forkful of potatoes. Four months along. No wonder her breasts were larger. He held in a grin. Penny would accuse him of being a typical guy for noticing that first.
There would be other changes, he thought, remembering the first time she’d been pregnant. They’d both been so excited. Scared, but happy. Then the guilt had set in and he hadn’t known how to handle it.
Telling her about Lindsey made the most sense, but he’d never found the right time or the right words. He’d distanced himself from Penny and the baby growing inside of her. He’d done his best to ignore her increasing size until one day she’d called in tears, her voice thick with terror.
“You were about four months along before,” he said, not sure if he should mention the past.
She put more salad on her plate. “I know. I’ve been thinking about that. My doctor says what happened then was just one of those things. There was probably something wrong with the baby, which was why I lost it. She swears I’m perfectly healthy and there’s no reason to think I’ll lose this one.”
“Are you past the date…?”
“In two weeks.”
He didn’t have to ask if she was worried. He could see it in her eyes.
Before, she’d been devastated. He remembered holding her as she sobbed for the tiny life lost. He’d felt both stricken and relieved. He wasn’t going to have to choose who he would love more—Lindsey or the new baby. But Penny’s pain had been too big for her to contain and she’d been inconsolable.
Time had healed, as it always did. Eight months later she’d said they should try again and he’d told her he didn’t want children. It had been easier than telling her the truth. That he couldn’t deal with one more loss—not with Lindsey battling leukemia.
“We used to do this all the time,” Penny said. “Stay up late and talk while the rest of the world went to bed.”
“Restaurant hours,” he said. “The world is a different place at night.”
“I always used to feel sorry for those poor people who had to get up early. I liked staying awake until two or three in the morning. Of course, back then I didn’t have to be here to check on deliveries and plan my specials for the day.”
He glanced at the still-full serving dishes. “Want to take that home with you?”
“Of course. I’ll have it for breakfast.”
“Fish? That’s disgusting.”
“My fish, big guy. And it’s delicious.”
“Have it.”
He stood and walked into the kitchen to collect togo containers. After she’d scooped everything off the various plates and bowls, they carried the dirty dishes back into the kitchen, then grabbed their coats.
“You need anything?” he asked as he locked the back door and escorted her to her car.
She looked at him. “Oh, great. I told you I was pregnant and you’re going to get all mental, aren’t you?”
“If mental means worrying about you, then yes.”
She paused by her Volvo and leaned against the driver’s door. “Not your responsibility.”
“You’re on my staff.”
“You wouldn’t be this concerned if your hostess turned up pregnant.”
“I didn’t used to be married to my hostess.”
“As she’s barely eighteen, that would have caused talk.”
He knew what Penny meant. She was all grown up and didn’t need anyone to take care of her. Funny how her independence was so appealing. Before she’d needed so much—and now she didn’t.
The lights from the parking lot brought out the red in her hair. Her blue eyes looked black and mysterious. Her skin seemed lit from within.
“Pregnancy agrees with you,” he murmured.
“Don’t you dare sweet-talk me. I’m immune.”
The challenge made him smile. “Really?”
“Oh, yeah.”
After that, he didn’t have much choice. He bent down and brushed his mouth against hers.
He half expected her to pull back. Instead she slipped her hands inside his open coat and rested them on his waist. He leaned closer and put the bag of leftovers on the roof of her car, then cupped her face in his hands.