Page 48 of Cornered

Cassie glanced in his general direction at his words. “Oh, it is. There’s something sacred about a delicious meal that provides nourishment in a way that speaks to all the senses. And Chef Louis is one of the best.”

“So why does he think he isn’t doing what he’s supposed to do?”

“It has more to do with having time for family. He never married or had children. He told me once that he fell in love in his early twenties, but the lady didn’t return his affections. He said he left his heart with her and transferred his passion to his food.” Cassie slid her thumbs into the belt loops of her jeans. “He regrets that now. Not that he could do anything about her. You can’t make someone love you back. But he poured so much of himself into his art that he never gave anyone else the chance to touch his heart.”

“You can’t make someone love you back.”Cassie’s tone had hardened when she said that, and Donovan knew that little speech had been for him. But she kept going, her voice light and airy as she said, “He told me he knows he’s too old andgrumpy for romance, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a good uncle and brother. He’s trying to talk his family into going on a cruise next summer.”

Cassie met his eyes and there was a spark of mischief in them. “We were in his kitchen at home, and he was teaching me how to make his secret chocolate sauce for the cream puffs when he shared that. I risked ruining my already tarnished résumé by joking that he should go on a singles’ cruise and see what happens.”

The thought of Chef Louis on a singles’ cruise made Donovan laugh despite the seriousness of the current situation. He’d missed Cassie more than he’d even admitted to himself.

THREE

WHY HAD SHE COMMENTEDon her tarnished career? She never spoke about that day or what had happened after. But today, amidst this new chaos, she felt like she was back there again. It wasn’t an exact replica of what had happened, but the overtones were eerily similar.

The arrival of Cal and Mo pulled Cassie solidly back to the present.

Many people who didn’t fully grasp the complexity of the Quinn family tree assumed her cousins were brothers. Both Cal and Mo were tall, currently clean shaven, with dark hair cut military short, matching sets of the Quinn blue eyes that came from Granny Quinn, and strong chins that mirrored Papa Quinn’s.

At the moment, those eyes were hard, the chins were set, and their mouths bore similar expressions of disdain. And she knew why.

She and Donovan had dated. They weren’t dating now. End of story. No need for drama. Especially not the big-brother-ready-to-beat-you-up vibes these two were sending toward Donovan.

“Thanks for coming.” Cassie gave Mo a hug. Mo’s eyes flicked over her shoulder and then back to her. “Y’all okay?”

“Yeah.”

Cal pulled her away from Mo, threw an arm around her shoulder, and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Do you have any idea who did it?”

Donovan cleared his throat. “A little too soon for speculation, Cal.”

Cassie stepped away from Cal and was relieved to see that he didn’t glare at Donovan, which was good because Mo was giving him a death stare.

All three men stood ramrod straight, but that was where the similarity ended. Mo and Cal could pass for brothers, especially with the blue eyes that Cassie had also inherited from the Quinn side of the family.

And then there was Donovan. He was close to the same height as her cousins, but with his uniform, vest, and the muscle she knew was underneath, he was just ... more. Bigger body, darker skin, deep brown eyes that could be warm and inviting but at the moment were focused and intent.

He looked from Cal to Mo and clearly wasn’t cowed by either man. “I appreciate you coming by to help out.”

That earned him two barely there nods. “Of course.” Mo pointed to the restaurant. “How do you want us to do this? How many entrances are there?”

Cassie answered his last question. “This is the employee entrance. There are several customer entrances, and there’s a loading entrance.”

“I trust you both to handle it however you see fit. We need to prevent anyone from entering until we give the all clear.” Donovan’s voice was so stiff and professional that Cassie almost didn’t recognize it. Then he turned to her. “Cassie, ba—” His eyes held hers, and she thought there was an apology in them as he swallowed what he’d been about to say. She didn’t know if Mo or Cal caught it, but she knew. She knew because she’d heard the words “Cassie, baby” come from him so oftenwhile they’d dated that she’d thought he would always call her that.

He pinched his lips together for a second before he continued. “How much trouble will this cause you? Even if you brought in your entire staff, I’m not sure you’d be able to get the kitchen back up in time for the dinner service.”

Cassie hadn’t expected Donovan to be concerned about that. She’d just reached the point where she could think of him without tearing up. This reminder of how thoughtful and gentle he’d been with her was not what she needed now. “I need to talk to Bronwyn. But I think there’s a way to make it work. We’re fully booked this weekend, but fortunately we only have a handful of guests.”

All three men gave her quizzical looks, but it was Mo who spoke up. “How can you be full but not have a lot of guests?”

“It happens. As exclusive as things are here, sometimes we have guests who require, or think they require, total privacy. They’ll book the whole place and then bring a handful of friends or family.”

“How many do you have to feed tonight?”

“Twelve. They’re coming in this afternoon and they requested to dine in their rooms tonight. Everything is being served around eight. Tomorrow they have reservations for dinner at eight, and while I’m sure they were planning to be inside, if the weather cooperates we might be able to convince them to dine outside so we can use the breakfast kitchen.” If the guests were nice, it might be okay. But if they weren’t? Ugh. She didn’t want to think about it. “We could set up a tent. We’ve done it before. If we pitch it to them as a special thing we’re doing exclusively for them, it might fly.”

She tried not to let the chaos and ugliness in the kitchen mess with her mind. “If the food I need for tonight and tomorrow night’s meals hasn’t been ruined, I can prepare the meals from the breakfast kitchen. But after that, things get dicey.”

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