Page 40 of Bad Seed

Randolph frowned. “You take over the grill. I need to see this for myself!” he said, and stormed off.

It didn’t take long for him to see that his sous-chef was correct. The delivery was clearly marked, but the meat inside was not what they’d ordered. The cut was similar, but it was from a lesser quality of meat.

He began looking through the rest of what they had on hand, and then stormed out. This wasn’t the first time this had happened, and he was fed up. He went back to work, but when this shift was over, he was going over the manager’s head and straight to the boss’s daughter about the poor quality of meat being ordered. It wasn’t what he requested, and this wasn’t up to Randolph’s standards.

While Brendan was working, he got a text from Liz.

Dad’s auditor, Harley Banks, is on-site. She’s been given free rein through the hotel. Oh…just a heads-up. She’s stunning.

Maybe that’s why the woman was staring at me. She already knows who I am and what I look like. I misread the whole thing. Or did I?

Now he was anxiously awaiting the signal from Lee to deliver her dessert, and when it came, he dropped what he was doing, took the plated dessert from the cooler, and placed it on a tray.

“Anthony, watch the timer on the breads,” he said, and walked into the dining room with the woman’s dessert.

***

Harley was reading a text from Ray Caldwell when she sensed someone standing beside her. It was BrendanPope, and she hadn’t even heard him coming. Yet here he was, and it appeared she’d underestimated him. He didn’t just choose a dessert; he was delivering it. He’d not only read her play, but he’d also called her bluff. Maybe she’d unleashed something she didn’t know how to handle.

“Your dessert, ma’am. A strawberry napoleon. Enjoy.”

Harley smiled, and then stood and held out her hand. As tall as she was, she was still looking up when she spoke.

“I’m Harley Banks, and you surprised me, Chef Pope. I didn’t hear you approach.”

“Brendan,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Ray told me you were coming. He also asked me to watch out for you if the need arose.”

“Really?” Harley said.

“Yes, ma’am.” He pulled a card from his pocket and laid it on the table. “My personal cell number, just in case.”

“Nobody calls me ‘ma’am.’ Just Harley, okay? When you get time, would you mind coming to my suite after you clock out? I need to pick your brain a bit. I promise it won’t take long.”

“Yes, ma’am. Happy to help,” he said, and left her standing.

Harley watched him walk away, thinking how remarkable that a man that big could move with such grace.Why do I feel like I’ve just been sideswiped?Sheplopped back into her chair, eyed her dessert, and then picked up her fork.

“Taste test,” she muttered, and poked the fork into the light-as-air puff-pastry sheets, down through the vanilla pastry cream and thinly sliced strawberries, all the way to the plate, then scooped up the bite and popped it in her mouth. “Oh my God,” she muttered, and rolled her eyes, savoring the crisp and smooth and fruity all on her tongue.

Lee the waiter appeared with a coffee, smiled as he set it down, and disappeared.

“I could get used to this,” Harley said, and didn’t look up until she’d eaten every bite.

While she was downing dessert, Brendan was sliding fresh bread onto cooling racks, and pretended meeting her was no bigger a deal than meeting any dinner guest, but that would have been a lie. And, he was going to have to face her again tonight after work.

Harley Banks might just be the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, but he was so used to dodging Justine that he was still in stealth mode.

He hadn’t forgotten Amalie’s warning. If he was to believe it, then he had to accept that sometime during her stay, Harley Banks was going to need him, and that she would matter in his life, and not to push her away.

***

Alex Fallin, the young man Brendan had pulled from the roof of the overturned bus, was healing nicely, and his sister, Josie, had finally quit crying every time she looked at him, thank God. At first, she’d scared him, making him think she knew something about his injury that he did not, and he had begun to wonder if he was going to die.

He’d traded the hospital bed for a bed in her touring bus and spent his time watching TV and sleeping and eating when Josie popped in to check on him throughout the day. Every time she came back to the bus, she would talk about the man who’d saved his life. Then this morning, Josie walked in with a cinnamon roll and plopped it down on his table and started talking.

“I brought you something good. It’s a cinnamon roll from a place downtown called Granny Annie’s Bakery. They are so good. And the coolest thing! I found out that the woman who runs the bakery is Brendan Pope’s aunt. I told her how he saved you.”

“Nice,” Alex said, and took a bite, chewed, and swallowed. “Oh man, you were right! This is amazing!”

---