Blame It on Your Heart (9 page)

But when he pulled up to the restaurant, Ellie paused before she got out. She turned to him with a smile that didn't quite chase away the shadows in her eyes, and damned if he didn't feel a tugging sensation in his chest.

"Thanks for the ride."

"It's nothing," he said a little too harshly.

"Right," she said, the smile wilting as she reached for the door handle. "I guess I'll be seeing you around."

As he pulled away and headed to Gas N Go, he told himself he would be able to handle that just fine. Just because her apology had brought a whole torrent of old memories bubbling to the surface didn't mean they had the power to hurt him anymore. They didn't matter.

She didn't matter, no more than anyone else he worked with. Ellie had no more importance than Janelle at the store or Rudy the mechanic who helped out his Dad a few days a week.

Sure chief. Because Rudy always has you rushing off to take a cold shower. And every time you touch Janelle's hand you feel like you're about to spontaneously combust.

He shoved the thoughts aside. Muscle memory, he reminded himself. The more he was around Ellie, the sooner it would fade.

Even as he seized that conviction and held on tight, he couldn't quite stifle the little voice in the back of his head that whispered that where Ellie Tanner—no, wait, she was Ellie Franklin now—was concerned he was well and truly fucked.

Chapter 5

"What do you think? Will we be able to get all of this?" Ellie was in the kitchen of Sweetgrass with Brady, their heads close as they bent to look over the proposed menu she had printed out.

She had to admit, though she didn't want to jinx it, so far the party planning had gone smoothly. Well, as smoothly as it could, considering she was dealing with such a high profile client and interacting regularly with Damon.

Despite her apology—his reaction to which still stung when she was weak enough to let herself dwell on it, which was only about half a dozen times a day—the tension between them was still so thick she felt it like a physical force every time he walked in the room. Still, they managed to be civil, and she got the impression he was relieved that she'd taken over most of the communications with Jane and her team back in L.A.

So far, Jane had proven herself to be as friendly and down to earth as her reputation promised. From , from the first conversation when Ellie had laid out exactly who she was, who her husband had been, and who she was trusting to work on this very important event, Jane had gone out of her way to put Ellie at ease.

"Deck told me all about you," Jane said before Ellie barely got the words out. She gave a soft chuckle. "Believe me, of all people, I understand how the media can seize onto things and twist them however they want. I mean, nothing like having every major tabloid plaster your face with the word Nympho on the cover, right?"

Ellie laughed, feeling some of the tension ease from her shoulders. "But if the press should get wind that I'm involved..."

"We're keeping this on the super downlow," Jane replied. "The press has nothing on Deck when it comes to sniffing out secrets, and so far he's in the dark. Besides, I like that you've seen both sides of the coin. You're from Big Timber, but I imagine you've dealt with enough enormous pain in the ass egos you'll be able to handle this crowd. Because I have to say, we love our friends, but some of them are assholes."

Over the last few weeks, Ellie had talked to Jane or her assistant, Jenna, several times, discussing party themes, decorations, and the all important menu. "Deck would be fine with burgers and a keg of his favorite microbrew," Jane said during a recent conversation, "but I'd like it to be a little more ... elevated."

After several rounds of back and forth with Jane, Damon, and Brady over what was feasible, Ellie was cautiously optimistic that they'd settled on the theme—upscale backyard barbecue—and the food.

"None of this should be a problem," Brady said as he scanned the menu which included Bison steaks and wild salmon.

"Even the fish?" Ellie said. Though grocery options had definitely expanded since she'd lived in Big Timber, Montana was still a landlocked state.

"I got a friend in Seattle who can overnight ship it. Not as fresh as I'd prefer, but the best we can do."

Ellie waited while he perused the rest of the menu. "Some of the passed hors d'oeuvres might pose a challenge," he said pensively.

"Are they too difficult for you to make?"

This was met with a sidelong glare, and Ellie immediately apologized for doubting his skill.

"It's the service that will be a challenge," he said. "We'll just need some extra help is all."

"We already have me, Mom, and Molly. And I'm sure we can get Sadie to help out," she said, referring to Molly's best friend from high school who'd recently moved back from San Francisco. "And I bet Janelle has a friend or two she could recruit."

Brady made a strained sound at the suggestion. "I don't know about Janelle."

"What do you mean? I think she's doing an excellent job here. All the customers love her."

Janelle and Ellie had gotten over their rocky start, which was a good thing since in addition to working at the Gas N Go, Janelle had helped pick up the slack for Molly who was still trying to plan a wedding despite Josh's reluctance to commit to a date.

In the past few weeks Ellie had come to appreciate the younger woman's attention to detail and unparalleled work ethic.

She also appreciated that Janelle had a younger sister, Cindy who only charged seven dollars an hour to look after Anthony.

"She's great, but you really think she'll be able to handle herself? Did you see what happened last week when that guy from
Lost
walked in?"

Ellie grimaced at the memory. Big Timber was nothing like Jackson, Wyoming, or even Missoula, which had their fair share of celebrities who liked to escape the hustle and bustle at their multimillion dollar ranches. But a few notables had invested in local real estate, and every once in a whil
e there was a Hollywood production nearby. A celebrity sighting, while rare, wasn't unheard of.

"She didn't exactly keep her cool, did she?"

"That's putting it mildly. When she came over to drop off his order, she was shaking like a leaf and babbling incoherently. Can you imagine what she'll be like in front of Jane Bowden and her friends? She'll probably go catatonic and shit her pants."

Surprised laughter burst from her lips at the crudity. Then once she started, she couldn't stop. Brady's laughter joined hers. "We shouldn't laugh at her, she works so hard," Ellie gasped, grasping his shoulder to steady herself. "But I can just picture her—"

"Sounds like you're having a blast back here."

Ellie turned at the sound of Molly's voice. "Sorry we were just, going over the menu," she said. She made the mistake of making eye contact with Brady and dissolved into another fit of giggles.

"Nice to see you taking it all so seriously," Damon said as he came into the kitchen to stand behind Molly. He fixed Brady with a hard stare.

To his credit, Brady didn't so much as flutter an eyelash, meeting his friend's stare with a stony look of his own.

Damon's gaze then locked onto her hand, still gripping Brady's shoulder. She pulled it away with an inexplicable pang of guilt.

"What do you think?" Ellie said, and handed them each a copy of the menu.

"Where are you going to get enough fresh wild salmon for this many people?" Molly asked.

"Brady has a connection in Seattle," Ellie interjected.

"Great," Molly said, with a smile that was just a hair too bright. "Maybe you can hook me up for my wedding."

"Only for the right price," Brady said in a way that made Molly's cheeks flush and her blue eyes narrow.

"In your dreams," she huffed. Then she turned back to Ellie. "I'll leave you to your menu planning. I just came by to grab some sandwiches for Sadie and me before we head down to Billings for my fitting."

She grabbed a loaf of white bread and started for the walk in refrigerator. Brady stood silent for several seconds, then, as though against his will, he held out a staying hand. "Let me."

Molly shot him a sidelong glare. "I know you don't put much stock in my cooking ability, but I can handle making a couple of sandwiches."

"I can't let you leave this kitchen with a couple of flabby turkey on whites with mayonnaise," he said, taking her by the elbow and steering her towards the dining room, ignoring her protests. "They'll be ready in five."

Bemused, Ellie followed her out and beckoned Damon to do the same. "This works out well, actually, having you both here. In addition to the menu, there's something else I want to show you." She ushered them back to the restaurant's tiny office.

The office computer was a comparatively ancient model hooked up to a large, equally ancient monitor, which Ellie did her best to turn around so everyone could have a view of her latest project.

She clicked on the browser and waited for the graphics and text to load on the screen. "What do you think?"

"What is this?" Molly asked.

"It's our new web site," Ellie said proudly. "Well, at least a prototype for it."

"We just redid the web site last summer," Molly said tightly.

"You did?"

"Yeah. Remember, I asked for your feedback since you're clearly the artist in the family, but you never said anything."

Last summer the scandal surrounding Toby was reaching its climax, but Ellie didn't bother pointing it out to her sister. "Well, I was talking to Jane, and she and I thought maybe with the party coming up, and with the publicity for the restaurant thought it would be a good idea to give the web site a cleaner, more sophisticated look."

She clicked around to give them a tour. "I designed it to be much easier to navigate, and the new graphics really highlight the beauty of our location and the amazing food Brady is cooking."

She straightened up and reached for a pile of papers on the corner of her desk. "We can also create new menus, brochures and business cards from the same template," she said, handing it over to Molly.

Her sister gave it a glance, shrugged, and passed it over to Damon. "It's nice, I suppose, if that's the look you're going for. It does seem a waste to just ditch the menus we already have printed."

"I was talking to Brady, and he said it would be great if he had the ability to update the menus more often, base the food on more seasonal ingredients. This would allow us to have that flexibility."

"Seasonal ingredients?" Molly said, rolling her eyes. "I'm glad you and Brady have all of these great ideas about completely changing the restaurant, but you have to get buy in from the rest of us first."

"Nobody's talking about completely changing anything," Ellie said, taken aback by her sister's accusatory tone. "I just think a party that will get us a lot of attention is great incentive for us to think about some improvements we can make. It thought this is what you wanted me to do, take care of all of this stuff so you could focus on your wedding."

At that moment, Brady walked in and unceremoniously shoved a bag of sandwiches in Molly's hand. "You're welcome," he said and left before she could reply.

Molly rolled her eyes, then shot Ellie another too bright smile. "You know what, you're right. It's silly for me to get upset about something as silly as a web site when I have my wedding to plan. I'm sure whatever you come up with will be great."

With that she left, leaving Ellie feeling equal parts stung and confused.

###

Damon didn't miss the way Ellie's mouth tightened in disappointment. Her shoulders slumped in defeat, and he curled his fingers against the urge to reach out and massage away the tension. Since that simple handshake in his kitchen three weeks ago, he'd done his damnedest to give her the as wide a berth as possible.

"Don't tell, me, you hate it too?" she said, snatching the samples back as he stacked the papers in short, angry movements.

"No, I think it looks really great."

She shot him a doubtful look over her shoulder. "You don't have to say that just to make me feel better."

"I'm well past the point of saying things just to make you feel better."

She rolled her eyes. "At least I can take comfort in knowing you're sincere," she said with a little smile.

That slight curve of her lips sent a curl of warmth down his spine, easing the tension that had locked his shoulders when he came in and saw her looking so cozy with Brady. For a moment there, her laughter, the sight of her hand resting so comfortably on the other man's shoulder had made his vision haze over with red.

He hated to admit it, but if Molly hadn't spoken up he wasn't positive he wouldn't have punched his best friend square in the face.
Idiot. There's no reason you should give a rat's ass who she smiles and laughs with. Hell, if she wants to hook up with Brady—

"Are you okay?" Ellie's voice interrupted his inner rant. He followed her gaze to his hand, which was now clenched in a fist.

"Fine," he said, uncurling his fingers as if he wasn't thinking about wrapping them around his best friend's throat. He had to get a handle on himself. "This all looks good. I think we should go with it."

"Thanks. I don't know what's up with Molly these days. It's like I can't do anything right," she said, her mouth pulling down at the corners. "Did she say anything to you?"

Before he could even answer, she continued, "If she has a problem with me, I wish she'd just tell me. We were always so close, but I feel like the past year, with everything that happened—" she stopped short. "Sorry. I know the last thing you want to hear is me babbling on about all this."

No, he didn't want to get the nitty gritty about her asshole husband and how he'd screwed her over. But as he watched the weary look settle over her features he couldn't deny the urge to offer some comfort. "I'm sure Molly is just stressed, trying to plan the wedding and dealing with everything going on here. We all are."

"I suppose," she said but didn't seem convinced.

"We could all stand to blow off some steam," he said. "Tell you what, next Monday I'll host a barbecue at my place."

She froze in the act of stacking some papers. "You sure you want me to come?"

"Of course." Not. "The whole staff is invited, families too. You'll have a chance to meet some new people in town and catch up with the old crowd."

"I don't know," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I'm not sure I'm ready to dive back into the old crowd."

"Too good for us, Miss New York City?" He'd tried for teasing, but it came out sharper than he'd meant.

"Of course not," she said, offended. "I'm just not sure I'm ready to hear what they think of me after everything that happened."