Page 40 of You Had Me at Chocolate

He’d never really felt that about Hey Jude—he’d been guided by what others thought was a good look and a good location and a good vibe and he had been proud of it, but it had never given him that warm and fuzzy feeling he’d gotten as a kid. Of course, a hip New York restaurant and a tiny Texan inn couldn’t be compared but, deep down, Jude had always craved the latter.

“But… isn’t that what you create?” Her question was earnest her eyebrows beetling together. “Isn’t that about people? People make a house and home. People make an inn a home away from home. That’s what you bring to the table, right? You set the tone, you create the vibe. Like that woman who ran the inn and taught you how to cook apple cobbler?”

“Mrs. Ledbetter,” he supplied, smiling once again at her memory. “Yeah… she’d have probably made any place welcoming especially with the aromas that always emanated from her kitchen. She used to say to me, ‘Food is home, Jude. Food is love,’ and she poured her heart and soul into everything she cooked.”

“Right.” Clementine nodded. “You’re the X factor.”

“Yeah, but she also told me that she’d fallen in love with the house at first sight and it had broken the bank—they were her exact words—but she had to have it anyway.”

“And that’s what you’re after?”

“Yup.” And he was not lacking in funds.

She glanced out the window again giving the view a disparaging once-over. “And this isn’t it, is it?”

“Nope.” He shook his head emphatically. “It’s not the one.”

Regarding him for a beat or two, she pursed her lips. “Might it be possible,” she asked quietly, tentatively, “that you’re stalling? ’Cause you’re scared it’ll all come tumbling down again and you want this too much?”

Jude grimaced as he recognized elements of truth in Clementine’s amateur analysis. He grunted. “You charge by the hour for this?”

“Should I?” She quirked an eyebrow. “How’d I do?”

“Not bad for an amateur. You forgot about my yearning for roots that stems from the long-term psychological impact of parental discord and divorce.”

Her lips twitched. “That’ll all be in my report.”

“Along with your bill, I suppose?”

“First session is free.”

He chuckled. “Come on, Clementine Jones.” Jude pushed away from the depressing view. “Let’s go get us some pumpkins.”

Chapter Seven

Jude slowed the car as he approached a farm gate with a display of pumpkins and pots of vibrant mums artfully arranged on either side.

“I’ve been thinking,” Clementine said as he indicated to turn into Donnelly’s farm.

Jude glanced across at her as he waited for the line of oncoming traffic to pass. Her brow was scrunched in concentration below the band of the kitten-eared cap. He laughed, he couldn’t help himself.

“What?” she demanded.

He shook his head, his attention now on the road. “You look adorable in that hat.”

“I know,” she said batting her eyelashes.

He laughed again and wished he wanted to ruffle her hair or tweak her nose like a little sister instead of lean over and kiss the hell out of her mouth. As much as he tried to friend zone her, he couldn’t deny his physical attraction to Clementine.

“I could do some research for you, if you like?”

“What kind of research?” he asked as he turned into the property and drove slowly through the gate.

“You were saying you wanted to cook traditional food and it got me thinking. I could do a search on recipes that they used a long time ago. At inns or saloons, particularly in this area. Ones that might have fallen out of popularity. We also have such a rich indigenous history, I could search for Native American recipes. I know you won’t be thinking about menu items for ages but it might be kinda cool to feature a couple of dishes with traditional roots both European and indigenous? It could be a real selling point?”

A warm glow flared to life in the center of Jude’s chest as he followed the slow-moving car in front down the tree-lined drive, absently noting the bare branches poking toward the leaden sky. He glanced across at her. “Really?”

“Sure.” She smiled. “I’m a librarian—that’s what we do. It’s not all standing behind a desk checking out books and scolding people to be quiet.”

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