She’d stayed there too long, hoping her grandmother would notice the great job she’d been doing and move her to this place or Buchanan’s, the family steak house. But Gloria never had. A combination of family loyalty and the need for the great insurance had kept Dani in place until a few months ago, when she’d discovered nothing was as it seemed.
The insurance for her husband had become unnecessary when the lowlife cheater had asked her for a divorce. As for family loyalty, that was no longer an issue, either. When Dani had pushed to find out why she wasn’t getting promoted, her supposed grandmother had gleefully informed her that she, Dani, wasn’t actually a Buchanan. Dani had quit that instant.
The momentary act of thumbing her nose at a woman who had obviously always hated her had sustained her for all of forty-five minutes. Then Dani had been left with no job, no home and no idea what to do with her future.
A job offer from Penny to be her assistant had solved all of Dani’s problems and had given her time to figure out what she wanted to do while getting fabulous experience for her resume. In addition, Penny’s marriage to Cal meant Dani could take over the lease on Penny’s house. Plus there was the added bonus of knowing her presence at The Waterfront made Gloria furious. As Penny’s employment contract stated she was allowed to hire whomever she liked for her assistant, the old cow couldn’t touch Dani.
That was the upside of her life. The downside was finding out she wasn’t who she thought. And then there was the small mystery of her father.
Apparently her mother had had an affair that resulted in a pregnancy—Dani. But who was the guy? Did he know he had a daughter? Did he care? If Gloria knew, she wasn’t telling. But Dani was going to have to decide what to do.
Someone knocked on the open door, interrupting her musings. She turned and nearly passed out as all the air flew out of her lungs.
A man stood in the doorway. But not just any man. This one was tall, blond and oh so good-looking. Greek-god-like, even. His dark blue eyes and square jaw were male perfection and exactly Dani’s personal fantasy. Was it her birthday? Had someone wonderful sent her a present?
“Hi. I’m Ryan Jennings. I’m looking for Dani or Edouard?”
“I’m Dani.” She stood and brushed the front of her tailored blouse, wishing there was a way to subtly unbutton it a little more. She might be on the short side, but she had curves and she was suddenly in the mood to flaunt them.
He smiled. “Hey. Good to meet you. I’m really happy to be here. This is a great store and I’m looking forward to being on the team.”
Team? So he would be working here. Hmm, maybe her luck was changing. After the past few months, she was due for something wonderful to happen.
“Gloria Buchanan doesn’t exactly keep me in the loop on new hires,” Dani said easily, able to forgive the oversight when Ryan was so yummy. “And I haven’t talked to Penny yet today. You are going to be…?”
“The new general manager. Gloria didn’t tell you?”
“Don’t take it personally. She likes to spring things on people.”
“Interesting management style.”
“You don’t know the half of it.” She walked around her desk until she was next to Ryan. “Welcome aboard.”
They shook hands. She felt definite heat. Until that moment, she hadn’t given a thought to her love life. She was in the middle of a lot of personal upheaval and getting involved hadn’t seemed important. But suddenly, she saw possibilities.
“I’m a little overwhelmed by all of this,” he said. “I only interviewed a couple of days ago. I wasn’t sure I’d done that good a job, but she called this morning and made me a great offer.”
“Which you took.”
His eyes locked with hers. “Lucky me.”
Her thoughts exactly.
There were actual sparks, which she hadn’t felt in a really long time. Sparks, heat and a lot of potential. She suddenly felt like bursting into song.
“Okay then,” she said, telling herself it was important not to act like an idiot in front of Ryan. “Let me show you around the place. Are you from the Seattle area?”
“No. San Diego. I moved up here to help a buddy open a restaurant. Unfortunately the funding fell through and I found myself looking for a job in a strange city.”
“Seattle is great,” she said.
“I like what I’ve seen so far.”
He smiled at her as he spoke, as if implying he wasn’t just talking about Seattle.
She wondered how inappropriate it was to drag him back to her desk and have her way with him. Or not, she thought. Maybe she should take things more slowly. Show him the restaurant, let him meet the staff and drag him to her desk in the morning.
She smiled. It was always nice to have a plan.
“ELISSA, PHONE CALL.” Mindy held out the phone and smiled. “It’s a guy,” she mouthed.
Elissa put down the sugar container she’d been refilling in the lull between breakfast and lunch and told herself there was no reason to panic. Only she couldn’t seem to stop her heart from thumping wildly or her breath from disappearing.
She almost never got calls at work. The only one she could remember in the past year had been to tell her that Zoe had woken up with a fever and wouldn’t be going to preschool that day.
Could Neil have found her again? He always seemed to. It was the Internet. With fifty bucks, you could find anyone. Or maybe someone he knew had come in and recognized her. Or was it worse? A doctor at an emergency room, phoning about a horrible accident that had hurt her daughter?
“Hello?” she said into the phone.
“Elissa, it’s Walker. I’m sorry to bother you at work.”
Walker? She hadn’t talked to him in nearly a week. Not since their predawn coffee moment. “Is everything all right? Did something happen to Zoe?”
“What? No. As far as I know, she’s fine. This is about something else. Do you have a minute?”
“Sure. But let me call you back from the employee phone in the break room.” She scribbled down his number, then hung up and announced she was taking a break.
Mindy smiled knowingly as Elissa walked past her. She was going to have some explaining to do later.
She settled in one of the plastic chairs and picked up the phone. Seconds later she heard Walker’s low voice.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“I need to come by the restaurant and I wanted to explain why.”
There was an explanation? “It’s a public place,” she said. “Anyone is allowed.”
“I know, but this is different.” He paused, then said, “Before I left the Marines, a buddy of mine died. His name was Ben. He was a good kid. Determined. We were friends. He took a bullet and I wrote a letter for his family.”
“I’m sorry,” she murmured, wishing there were other words, more meaningful words, she could speak.
“He lost his folks when he was pretty young and grew up in foster care. He didn’t have any family, so there’s no one to send the letter to. But he told me about this girl. Ashley. He was crazy about her and wanted to marry her when he got out. All I know is that they went to high school together and her first name.”
“You want her to have the letter,” Elissa said, knowing moments like this put her life in perspective. Honestly, what did she have to complain about?
“Yeah. Ben went to four high schools in four years. I’ve made a list of all the Ashleys and I’m visiting them one by one.”
Suddenly the call made sense. “Ashley Bledsoe works here.”
“She’s on the list. I want to come by and talk to her, but I didn’t want to freak you out.”
She smiled. “I wouldn’t have thought of you as a guy who said words like freak.”
“I have many sides.”
She liked the ones she’d seen.
“Ashley works until two. If you come about one-thirty, we’re pretty slow. You can ask your questions and have lunch.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
She tightened her grip on the phone. “I won’t say anything to her,” she told him. She sensed it was important for him to have the conversation himself.
“I appreciate that. I’ll see you at one-thirty.”
She hung up, then stared out the window at the parking lot. Ben must have meant a lot to Walker for him to go to all this trouble. It made sense that living through dangerous situations together would forge strong bonds of friendship. Whoever Ben’s Ashley was, she was going to be getting some sad news.
Elissa tried to remember if her friend had ever mentioned a guy named Ben, but the way Ashley dated, it was tough to keep track of all the guys.
She stood and walked out of the break room. Both Mindy and Ashley were waiting for her in the short hallway.
“What?” she asked, knowing they were about to start grilling her.
“It was a man,” Mindy said with a grin. “A guy called you. And don’t try to pretend it was your dentist or something. He didn’t sound like a dentist.”
“It was Walker, my neighbor. He had a question.”
Ashley and Mindy exchanged glances.
“Uh-huh,” Ashley said. “A question that couldn’t wait until tonight? I can’t believe you’re involved and you didn’t tell us.”
“I’m not,” Elissa said firmly. “I swear. Walker is my new neighbor. We’ve talked a few times, but that’s it. There’s nothing going on.”
Neither of her friends looked convinced. She almost told them he would be stopping by later, but then decided to keep that tidbit to herself. One way or the other, they were going to jump to conclusions. She might as well enjoy their reactions to Walker first, as a small payment for what they would put her through.
WALKER ARRIVED right on time. Elissa didn’t see him walk in, but Mindy breathed a quiet, “Oh my,” which made Elissa look up.
She had to admit the man was a show all by himself. Even in worn jeans and a polo shirt, he looked both powerful and incredibly sexy.
Mindy glanced at her. “If that’s your lunch date, I’m going to be very, very bitter.”
Elissa grinned, passed over a package of sugar and went to seat him.
“Hi,” she said as she approached. “Are you going to be having lunch with us?”
“Sure. Can you seat me in your section and send Ashley over?”
“Of course.”
She gave him a booth by the window. Most of their lunch customers had left. There were only a half-dozen tables still in use.
“The burgers are great,” she said. “So are the salads, but you don’t strike me as a salad guy. All the omelets are amazing and you can either get hash browns or fries with them. Oh, and don’t tip me. You can apply the money to the tire.”
“I’ll take a bacon burger, fries and a Coke, and I will tip you. You can pay me back with it or not.”
“You’re a stubborn man.”
He grinned as he passed over the menu. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
“I work at it. Okay, I’ll put in your order and send over Ashley.”
She walked to the computer terminal and typed in his lunch, then told her friend that the hunk at table fifteen would very much like a word with her.
Ashley’s eyes widened. “Elissa, no. He’s yours.”
“He’s not and this isn’t about asking you out.”
Ashley pouted. “Then why do I want to bother talking to him?”
“Just go.”
Mindy watched the exchange. “That’s interesting. Want to tell me what it’s all about?”
Elissa quickly filled her in. Mindy sighed.
“So he’s really not here for you. Bummer.”
“I’m okay with it,” Elissa said.
“You shouldn’t be,” her friend told her. “Dammit, Elissa, he’s good-looking, nice and someone doing the right thing. Why aren’t you interested?”
“I have my plan.”
Mindy rolled her eyes. “Going another thirteen years without sex isn’t a plan, it’s a death sentence. I know you love your daughter and we all admire that, but you’re taking yourself a little too seriously.”
Elissa appreciated the concern. “You don’t understand. I have really, really lousy taste in men. If I’m attracted to Walker—and I’m not saying I am—but if I were, there would be something hugely wrong with him.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Not for me.”
Elissa watched as Walker held out a picture. Ashley took it, then shook her head.
Elissa poured his drink and carried it to his table.
“She’s not the one,” he said.
“How many Ashleys have you talked to?”
“Fifteen so far. I found the easy ones first. I had to travel to Oregon and Montana for two of them.”
“You’re not going to give up, are you?”
“Ben was a good kid. He had a lot of heart. Someone out there has to have cared about him, missed him. I’m going to find her.”
“I know you will.” Walker wasn’t the kind to give up. He had a lot of heart, too, although she would guess he wouldn’t want to admit it.
“Your friends are watching us.”
She didn’t have to turn around to know who he meant. “They’re intrigued by you.”
“Sorry to bring this into your work.”
“It’s okay. We haven’t had that many things to talk about in the past few days. Now we have you.”