Blame It on Your Heart (3 page)

"He's a brilliant chef," Adele said.

"With a horrible attitude," Molly broke in.

"When are you going to forgive him for criticizing your Denver omelet?" Adele sighed.

"When he stops acting like a surly you know what. Honestly, I don't know how his food tastes so good when bitterness practically oozes from his pores."

"Okay, what did Brady do to piss you off this time?" a low male voice rumbled from the direction of the restaurant's small back office.

At the sound, every nerve in Ellie's body went on high alert. She hadn't heard it in over a decade, but it could have been a hundred years and she still would have recognized it.

She turned slowly, preparing herself for the gut punch of seeing his face again after all these years.

"Damon." Her voice caught in her throat at the first sight of him. Even in the dim light of the restaurant, there was no mistaking the lines of his tall, rangy body. In the years since she'd seen him, he'd gained a couple inches in height and at least thirty pounds. And from the way his T-shirt stretched across his broad chest and shoulders it was all muscle.

Her gaze drifted up to his face, to that square jaw she used to trace with her fingers to feel the rasp of thick stubble. The high cheek bones, sharper now than they'd been, giving his face a leaner more chiseled look.

Finally she met his gaze, those dark blue eyes that had been stormy with anger and hurt the last time she'd seen him. Now they didn't show anything. Not anger, not surprise.

Unlike her, he'd known she was coming.

And while she'd known that the odds were they’d run into each other sooner or later given that his mother and hers had been best friends since childhood, she'd been determined to push it back to as "later" as possible.

She would have assumed he would be on the same program.

So what the hell was Damon Decker, who had made it plain as day that he never wanted to see her again, doing here in her family's restaurant?

Chapter 2

Ellie didn't even realize she'd asked the question out loud until Molly answered, her voice falsely bright, "Damon is our new partner!"

"Since when?" she burst out desperately trying to maintain her composure.

"They brought me on a little over six months ago. I've been looking to branch out, and this was a great opportunity," he said calmly as though there was nothing strange about this situation.

She was speechless, struggling to process it all. Of all people, she would have never expected Damon to align himself closely and invest in her family's business.

Not that he wasn't capable—Adele had been only too happy over the years to keep Ellie updated on every detail of Damon's life, learned from her at least once a week lunches with Damon's mother Vivian. So it was no surprise to her to learn that Damon, who had successfully invested in a chain of gas stations and convenience stores since he got out of the army four years ago, had the means to invest in a project like this.

"Of course, it's not anything like what Troy made," Adele had mused. "But it's good, honest work and he's really made something of himself."

The subtle dig hadn't gone unnoticed. Adele had never thought much of Troy, and the only thing that kept her from badmouthing him outright was her unconditional love of her only grandchild.

Too bad Ellie hadn't been able to see what was so obvious to her mother.

She felt Damon's stare give her a full body sweep and desperately wished she could have staved off Anthony's hunger to change out of her grubby tank top, threadbare cutoffs, and flip flops. Surely if she'd been wearing her New York armor of full makeup, hair tamed into a perfect silk fall across her shoulders, dressed head to toe in designer labels, she wouldn't have felt so vulnerable.

Vulnerable. There was a time when it would have been impossible for her to imagine feeling that way with Damon. Practically from the moment they'd met he was a strong, steady presence in her life, making her feel safe, assuring her she'd never be alone.

Now she felt stripped bare, the sting of her ruined life and failed marriage made more acute under his assessing gaze.

Of course he knew the truth. Even if their mothers didn't share every little detail, he'd have to have lived under a rock for the past year to not know what a shambles her world had become.

But if he was gloating inside, it didn't show on his face. It was disconcerting. Once upon a time, she could read his every emotion as though she was feeling it herself.

"And that surly guy in the kitchen?" Ellie asked, trying to stay on track even as she tried to regain her equilibrium.

"Brady McManus. He was in the Rangers with me."

She nodded. By Rangers she knew he meant the army rangers—Adele had told her all about it. Just as she'd told her when Damon had moved back to Big Timber as soon as he finished up his last tour in the army.

Ever since then she'd been bracing herself for the day Adele would pass on the news that Damon was settling down with some nice local girl and having a couple kids.

And as unfair as it was, considering she was for the most part happily married and a mother to boot, the thought of Damon having that life in Big Timber—without her—made her stomach clench and her eyes burn with tears.

But that day hadn't yet come. Even if her mother hadn't kept her up on the latest doings of the Decker family, Ellie would have known what Damon was up to. Ever since Damon's older brother, Deck, had married actress Jane Bowden, the press had been all aflutter over his younger, single brothers. One recent issue of
People
Magazine
had even featured them as two of the country's most eligible bachelors.

In the article that had accompanied the picture, both younger Deckers had asserted they were currently very single.

She wondered how much longer that would last. Then it hit her. If she didn't figure her life out soon, when and if Damon fell in love and married someone else, she'd be here to witness it firsthand.

Her stomach rolled and she thanked God she hadn't had the appetite to eat anything today.

"Are you alright, honey? You look a little peaked."

"I'm okay," she said, moving on unsteady legs to sit next to Anthony who was busy wolfing down his burger. She reached out and rubbed her hand across his back, driven as much by the need to touch her child as by the physical reminder of what her life was about now. Why she had no reason whatsoever to be concerned about Damon Decker's love life.

She'd made her choice a long time ago and there was no going back.

"You should have something to eat," Adele said. "Look at you, so skinny you hardly cast a shadow."

"I'm not hungry," Ellie said, rolling her eyes as her mother ignored her and called, "Brady, why don't you fix up one of those fancy panzinis for Ellie."

"It's Panini, mom," she replied, unable to hold back her smile. Inadvertently her gaze strayed back to Damon. For split second when his eyes met hers she saw a flash of warmth, shared humor, before his gaze shuttered again.

"This must be Anthony," Damon said, walking over to stand by the table. His tone was neutral, but she could see the subtle tightness in his full lips. "I'm Damon."

"Remember your manners," she whispered in her son's ears. Anthony reluctantly pushed away from his meal and stood. "Pleased to meet you, sir. I'm Anthony, and I'm five years old," he said and offered his ketchup-smeared hand to Damon.

He took the grubby hand with a little half smile that made Ellie's heart stutter. "Pleased to meet you, too, Anthony. Glad you're enjoying your cheeseburger."

"It's really good," Anthony said around another bite.

"Brady's a really good at his job, even if he is a little surly," he said to Ellie. Then his gaze strayed back over to Anthony, and there was a subtle furrowing of his brows.

What was going through his mind? Was he looking at her son and wondering, as she often did, what the child they'd once talked about having would look like?

Whatever he was thinking, she would never know. "I need to run something by you," he said, directing his attention to Molly and Adele. "Brady, get out here," he called. "This affects you too."

And apparently my opinion counts for nothing,
she thought sullenly as she sat back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest.

"I just got a call from Jane—"

"You mean award winning actress Jane Bowden?" Molly broke in eagerly, unable to keep the giddy tone from her voice. She and Ellie had been huge fans of
Singles
, the sitcom that launched Jane to stardom, and it delighted both of them to no end that she'd ended up married to someone who grew up in their hometown.

"Just think," Molly had said when the news first broke about Jane’s marriage to Deck a year ago, "if things had worked out differently, you and Jane would be practically related."

Instead at that time Ellie was busy being interrogated by the FBI as they sought to discover whether she knew anything about Troy's illegal activities.

"I remember who my sister in law is," Damon said, deadpan, but Ellie didn't miss the quirk of his lips as he gave Molly a sidelong look. "And she wants to surprise Deck with a surprise birthday party in Big Timber. And she wants to have the party here."

Molly's eyes went wide, and she gave a little shake of her head.

Meanwhile, Adele's eyebrows went up to her hairline, mirroring Molly's skeptical look. "That's just a month away," Adele said carefully. "And we've never had an event like that—"

"What are you talking about? We host the Rotary Club holiday lunch every winter," Damon pointed out.

"The people from the Rotary Club aren't used to staying at the Ritz and eating at Spato's every night—“

"Spago's, Mom," Molly said with a roll of her eyes. "Look, I know Jane likes it here, but I just don't know, hosting that sort of crowd..."

"Jane said she wanted to keep it small, no more than one hundred guests," Damon said. "And since the store can pretty much manage itself I can put in most of my time here and help out however I can."

"And it would be great publicity for the restaurant," Ellie pointed out.

"Jane won't want the press to know," Molly said.

"Not the day of, of course," Ellie said, "but I'm sure she won't mind after the fact. If she's as nice as she seems, I'm sure she wouldn't mind letting us use some pictures from the event to help market the café."

"I don't like that word, event," Molly said with a grimace. She turned her attention to Deck. "You know I don't want to say no to Jane, but with everything I'm dealing with trying to plan the wedding, I'm not sure I can pull it off."

Damon opened his mouth to protest when Molly gave a quick shake of her head. "Wait, what am I thinking?"

She turned to Ellie, and uneasiness surged at the gleam in Molly's eye.

"Mom and I might not be able to pull off a party like this, but you totally can!"

Ellie's head snapped around. "Me?"

"Yes," Molly said firmly. "Talk about great timing - you are the perfect person to do this."

What the? Of course she'd planned to help out at the restaurant as much as possible. Well she had until Molly had dropped the bombshell that Damon was now part owner. "I don't think it's a good idea to work—"

"You're not planning to work?" Molly cut her off in an uncharacteristically sharp tone. "No offense, El, but if you're going to crash with Mom, don't you think you should pull some weight?"

The words hit Ellie like a punch in the gut.

Her hurt must have shown on her face. "I'm sorry," Molly said quickly, "that didn't come out the way I meant."

"Really? How did you mean it?"

"I just meant we need your help. You're used to throwing parties for these high society types."

"It was nothing like this—"

"Come on, Ellie, I saw the pictures in
Town & Country
of the fundraiser you threw for that congressman. This should be a piece of cake."

Ellie didn't bother explaining that it was different planning an event like that when you had full staff available to delegate to. "I don't know. It's not just the party itself. What about the menu? It doesn't matter that we're a small town restaurant," she said, grasping at any excuse she could think of, "they're going to expect a certain level of quality."

"I'd put Brady's cooking up against any chef in Hollywood," Molly retorted.

Brady let out a rough sound that Ellie wasn't entirely sure was a laugh. "Holy shit, did she just give me a compliment? The devil must be growing icicles on his sac right about now."

Molly's blue eyes narrowed in a glare. "Don't get used to it." She turned back to Ellie. "You said yourself it's a great marketing opportunity for us. Can't you help us take advantage of that?"

Ellie was backed into a corner, and she knew it. She turned to Damon. "What do you think?" She said, a challenge in her voice. He may have been willing to saddle himself with her family, but surely he could see that it was a bad idea for them to work closely together, even for a short period of time.

He was silent a few moments, a cool, calculating look in his eyes that she knew instinctively didn't bode well for her. "I think it's a great idea. Like Molly said, you're the one used to entertaining the big wigs, not the local hicks like us."

Ellie cursed her fair complexion as she felt her cheeks flame. But she saw the challenge in his eyes and she'd never been one to back down. "Fine," she snapped. "I'll do my best to throw Jane and Deck the party of their dreams."

Damon nodded curtly. "I gotta run over to the store to help set up a new display but I'll be around tomorrow. In the mean time I'll have Jane call you to tell you exactly what she's got in mind. Sound good?"

"Sounds great," she replied tightly.

The door had no sooner closed behind him than she wheeled around on Molly. "Are you insane?"

"What?" Molly said, widening her eyes. With her smooth peaches and cream complexion, b
ig blue eyes, pale blonde hair and delicate features, Molly could do the wide eyed innocent thing like nobody's business.

Ellie hadn't fallen for it in decades. "Don't give me that look," she snapped. "It's bad enough you and mom took him on as a partner without telling me—"

"We needed help, and it wasn't like we could ask you for money." Molly shot back.

"We didn't tell you because we didn't want to add to your stress," Adele interjected.

"Oh, so much better, then, to spring it on me cold the first day I'm back in town."

Molly and Adele both lowered their gazes guiltily.

"And then to throw me into this event where I'm going to have to work with Damon every day?"

"Mommy, can I have some more fries?" Anthony said, oblivious to the tension radiating from her.

"Sure, sweetie, let's go ask Brady." Glad for the excuse to escape, Ellie took him by the hand and led him back to the kitchen.

Unfortunately Molly wasn't finished yet.

"You were the one who left, Ellie," she said, slamming into the kitchen after her. "You dumped him. If anyone should have a problem with it, it's Damon."