Page 2 of Windward Hearts

Love remains in the air in Magnolia Shore, Miriam wrote, which of course pleases my little matchmaker’s heart.

Hope grinned. Her grandmother did love love, and was always trying to make matches for her friends, whom she all wanted to be just as happy as Miriam had been with Grandpa Harry.

Something is in the air, Miriam went on, and I think that we shall see another happy couple around here soon… though we’re running out of single members in the book club!

Hope chuckled to herself and put the letter aside, after sparing one more fond glance for the photograph, which she planned to frame and hang. She loved these little missives from her grandmother, even if they did make her feel a pang for a life that was a little calmer and more peaceful than her fast-paced city life.

But that was a problem for another day, she reminded herself as she tipped back the last sip of her wine. It was late; restaurant hours went long into the night. Tomorrow would come all too soon, and her troubles would remain.

As she tucked herself into bed, however, Hope couldn’t help looking around this home she had built for herself almost by accident. She hadn’t really planned to stay at Sharp’s for so long, although she had no regrets. She also thought that she would live in this apartment for only a short period of time, but those years had just kept coming.

She hadn’t thought that it was time for a change, but change had come for her anyway.

Now all she had to do was figure out what she planned to do with… with everything in her life.

CHAPTER TWO

Jared Novak had trained at a culinary school in Paris. He’d worked in restaurants in France, in New York, in Chicago, in Boston. He had a Michelin star, for goodness’ sake.

He loved a lot about now cooking in his hometown, but if there was one thing that he appreciated on a daily basis, it was that he got to go home early.

In New York, he’d often worked until two in the morning. In Paris, he’d often found himself walking home as the sun came up.

In Magnolia Shore, nobody got mad at him if he closed around eight o’clock on a weeknight. It. Was. The. Best.

And, in return, he didn’t mind when, as tonight, customers came in at the last moment, begging for some food.

“Hi, sorry! Sorry, hi!” June Caldwell babbled as she rushed through the front doors with her new beau, Levi Hawkins, about ten minutes before closing. “Are we too late? Tell me we aren’t too late, Jared!”

Conventional wisdom from Jared’s past experiences in kitchens had told him that it was unwise to make a window between his kitchen and the dining area, let alone one that faces the front door of his restaurant. This wisdom was backed by about a thousand incidents he could cite with irate diners who had been determined to argue what counted as “medium rare” versus “rare” with Jared. But when he’d seen the building that was to become Riverstone Kitchen, he’d known at once that this was his place. He’d known at once that connecting directly with the community, his community, was the right move.

So far, he’d never been given reason to regret this decision.

“Hey, guys,” he greeted through the window, grinning at the two. Jared remembered June from all the way back in high school, and he was so happy for her that she’d found love after losing her husband, Keith, a few years prior. Levi had come to town, needing a break from his fast-paced lifestyle as a country music star, and he and June had hit it off immediately. These past few months, they were a popular sight around town, as was June’s beaming smile.

“If you want a risotto or roasted duck, you’re a little too late,” he said. “But I can definitely throw something together for you if you’re okay with something that isn’t too time-intensive.”

“French dip?” June said hopefully. “We were talking about your famous French dip and then realized that we would probably actually die if we didn’t eat one immediately.”

“But,” Levi added pointedly, “we will definitely find it in us to survive if you don’t have time.”

“Oh… yeah, totally,” June agreed, sparing her boyfriend a glance.

Jared grinned. Levi was still relatively new to town, so he was still more polite about these things. June, who had known him for years, had no such compunctions. While Levi tried to look understanding, June gave him puppy dog eyes.

Jared laughed. “I can make you guys some French Dips, no problem,” he said. “Everything for that is quick to prep. Give me a few minutes.”

“You’re my hero,” June said.

“Hey!” Levi objected playfully. June pressed up on her toes to pop a kiss on his cheek, which seemed to more than satisfy him.

Jared quickly toasted some slices of baguette, then carefully sliced the roast beef to go on the sandwich. He melted a little Swiss cheese on top of the meat, and ladled the prepared au jus into to-go containers. While he worked, he set a batch of his French fries to fry, then dashed over to sprinkle some of his proprietary seasoning on the steaming-hot potatoes.

When he returned to Levi and June with two to-go containers in his hands, he found the two gazing at one another with dopey, lovesick expressions on their faces.

“Here you go, lovebirds,” he said, causing them both to jump. They hadn’t heard him coming back, too lost in their own emotions to notice the world around them.

He was happy for them both, of course, but he did feel a slight flicker of jealousy to accompany his altruistic pleasure. He’d spent so long working the weird hours that came with being a chef that he hadn’t paid as much attention to his dating life as other people his age had done. Usually, it didn’t bother him too much, but more and more recently, he was getting these little what if flickers.