Chapter Nine

Pepper

A few days after the rodeo, I’ve settled back into my normal life. It feels good to be busy in the kitchen of Sakana, rushing around in my non-slip shoes and making sure everyone gets exactly what they ordered. Anticipating their every need.

“Pepper, table six loved the tuna crudités,” Basil says, swooping in and wiping sweat from his handsome forehead. “They told me they’d never seen anything like it before! I’ve never seen such excitement. It was…like…like a foodgasm.”

“Are they from Kansas?” I joke, snickering under my breath.

Basil snorts at my sarcasm but keeps right on working. “Speaking of Kansas, your brother’s hanging around outside,” he says. “Want me to flag him down?”

My stomach sinks, and I groan, leaning against the wall and covering my eyes with one hand. “What is he doing here?” I mumble under my breath. “Why isn’t he already back home?”

What if he wants help with his new sauce venture? I just don’t have the time or energy.

Basil shrugs. “No clue, girlfriend,” he says, wagging a finger. “But I’ve got to rush this out to table four, so you’d better go check before he wanders into the kitchen. Next thing you know, he’ll rope the chiller.”

“Keep things running while I’m gone,” I say, washing my hands and wiping them on my apron. Dealing with Cody is the last thing I need right now – I can’t believe how much my brother stresses me out. I love him more than anything, but really?”

When I walk into the restaurant, I see Cody hanging out by the hostess stand. He’s leaning over the stand and gesticulating with his big hands. To my annoyance, the hostess doubles over in a fit of girlish giggles.

I cross my arms over my chest and stride forward, narrowing my eyes at the hostess.

“Kelsey, please get back to work,” I say, glaring at her.

“I’m sorry, Ms. St. Claire,” Kelsey says, dipping her head. Her cheeks flame bright red as she scurries off and vanishes out of sight.

“Cody, you can’t keep doing this,” I say, putting my hand on my brother’s massive bicep. “This is a really busy night for me, and you distracting my hostess doesn’t exactly make things easier. There are diners that still need to be seated. Diners who have reservations.”

“Aw, I’m real sorry, sis,” Cody drawls. “You know how it is with my fans.”

“But you’re not sorry,” I snap. “You’re grinning.”

“What can I say?” Cody shrugs. “She’s a real looker. She gave me her number too. Says she gets off after the last reservation is seated at around ten.”

“Well, don’t call her until eleven,” I say, angry enough to spit tacks. Why does everything always have to be so damn difficult? I just can’t catch a break. Between my farmer’s market run-in with hot mystery guy and now Cody, this day is rapidly climbing the suck meter.

“Hey, calm down,” Cody says, narrowing his eyes. “Why you always gotta be so worked up, huh? Who put a honey bee in your bonnet?”

I take a deep breath, trying to summon calming energy. It doesn’t work, and I feel like an idiot standing in front of Cody. Yoga breathing doesn’t help at all. Something snaps inside me.

“Come with me,” I say through clenched teeth, grabbing Cody’s sleeve and tugging him into the coat room. “We have to talk.”

“Darn right we do,” Cody says. He flashes me a big grin. “I got some real good news for you, sis.”

“You’re going home?” I ask before I can bite my tongue.

Cody’s not offended though. He throws his head back and guffaws like I just made the world’s funniest joke.

“Aw, sis, when the heck are you gonna learn to relax?” Cody asks, still grinning. Emotion slides off him like water off a duck’s back. I don’t know whether to admire him or slap his smug face.

I hate how he always makes me feel like an uptight little fool. It’s something that’s never failed to frustrate me. Back in Kansas, I was the lone introvert in a family of extroverts. My father even used to joke that I was probably the milkman’s baby, just because I never, ever fit in.

“It’s hard to relax when you’re hanging around and causing trouble,” I say, hating myself for sounding like such a prig.

Cody whistles then looks genuinely hurt. For a moment, I feel bad. Then he bursts out laughing. “Gotcha!” Cody yelps, rubbing his hands together. “And heck, I wasn’t causin’ no trouble. I only came to give you my bit of good news. Thought it might help unwind that stick you have shoved up your ass.”

Somehow, Cody’s words make me feel even worse.

“Oh?” I force a tight smile. “And just what is your good news, Cody?”

“’Member I told you about goin’ into business?”

“Yes.” I rub at the headache wanting to start in my temples. “Sauces, if I remember.”

Cody nods and gives me a big thumbs up. “Well, I met this fella – he had a real good idea, he said we’d make us a killin’ if we went into sellin’ sauces and rubs and all kindsa barbecue stuff! Vegas meets the old west. It’s barbecue glam!”

My heart sinks. “Oh, yeah?” I sigh. “Cody, look, I’m not trying to rain on your parade. But this guy – whoever he is – is probably trying to fuck with you. We’re in Vegas, there are con men by the dozen. Most of them are homeless and make their money panhandling.”

“You really think he was pullin’ my leg?”

“Probably,” I say, relieved that I don’t have to worry about anything, after all. “But don’t take it personally, Cody. Lots of people get scammed here, for much worse. It’s a way of life here in Vegas.”

Cody’s face breaks into a wide grin. “Well, then I wonder why he sent me over this contract thing,” he says, pulling out his phone and showing me a picture. Sure enough, it’s a legal document with Cody’s name at the bottom.

“Um, you should probably have a lawyer look at that,” I say, reaching for Cody’s phone and narrowing my eyes. Maybe I could borrow one of Dante’s for a quick review. The picture is a little blurry, and I have to squint to make out the small font of the agreeing parties. God, I think as I zoom in on the picture with two fingers. I need reading glasses or something.

“Aw, sis, don’t you worry about me,” Cody says. He claps me on the back with one of his giant paws. “This guy – his name’s Carter – he’s even got a real hotshot lawyer brother, who lives right here in Vegas!”

I narrow my eyes. The name is vaguely familiar, but I can’t figure out where I’ve heard it before. It’s just pretentious enough to make me really worried about Cody’s financial security. My brother’s a millionaire multiple times over. He’s won major awards for his bull riding, and like most conservative Midwesterners, he’s invested well.

“Cody, you can’t use his lawyer,” I say in exasperation. “You’re going to have to find your own – someone who will really represent you faithfully, not one of those goons on the television.”

Cody’s eyes widen. “I love how you think I’m so stupid,” he says, shaking his head. “Damn, sis! It’s like everyone with an accent is a real hayseed, huh? Money doesn’t grow on trees. I know I have to make hay while the sun shines.”

“I don’t think you’re stupid,” I lie. “You just don’t live here. Tell me more about this guy. Do you have a picture?”

I figure anyone with a Google profile has to be somewhat legit.

“Aw, yeah. He’s a real solid dude. Heck, he’s even a fan of mine.” Cody takes his phone from my fingers, fumbling with it for a moment before handing it back. “And he owns this real hotshot restaurant, Steakhouse, right down the road from you.”

When I glance down at the picture, my heart jumps into my throat. There, in full color, is my brother with his arm around an incredibly handsome man with bright white teeth and dark brown hair.

The man I made out with at the benefit for Helping Hearts & Hands.

The man who made fun of Sakana, when he thought I couldn’t hear him.

And the man who harassed me at the farmer’s market, when I made it clear I wasn’t interested in having anything to do with him.

“Cody,” I say, locking gazes with my trusting brother. “You can’t go into business with this guy. He’s a real prick.”

Cody narrows his eyes, reaching for his phone. He plucks it from my fingers and slides it into his pockets. “Now you’re just gettin’ ornery,” Cody says, shaking his head. “Don’t be jealous, sis. You found your success here, now let the rest of us have a darn chance. What could go wrong with makin’ sauces with a famous chef.”

Famous, my fucking ass. Maybe in his own mind.

“It’s not that,” I say. “Remember I told you about the guy I met at the benefit?”

Cody shrugs. “Yeah, what about him?”

“This is the mystery guy I made out with…and then I heard him making fun of me, behind my back. He said all kinds of horrible things about my restaurant.”

A lazy grin appears on Cody’s face. “Well, then you ain’t got nothin’ to worry about,” he says with a wicked wink like he’s giving me a present. “‘Cause we ain’t gonna be doin’ nothin’ with fish. This venture’s red meat all the way.”

“You can’t go into business with him,” I say, narrowing my eyes in anger. “He’s a pig! He’ll take advantage of you, and probably try to steal all the profits from you!”

“Not if I get me a big fancy lawyer like yer suggested,” Cody says, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

Hot anger rises in me, and for a moment, I have to fight the urge to punch my brother right in his square jaw. The feeling is horrible – it’s a scorching mixture of jealousy and anger and betrayal and nausea, all at once, like I’m on some rollercoaster straight to the center of hell.

“You really shouldn’t do anything big with someone you barely know,” I say, grasping desperately at every straw in the box. “I mean, you know nothing about this guy…he could totally fuck you over.”

“He ain’t gonna do that.” Cody’s friendliness fades after my last verbal vomit of harshness. “Sis, what the heck? I thought yer’d be real happy for me.”

“I’m happy you’ve decided to do something other than risk your life,” I say, gritting my teeth. “But I don’t think this is a good idea. Besides, the market is saturated with things like sauces and rubs. Tons of celebrities have done the same thing. What makes you think you’re going to succeed where other, more famous people, have failed?”

Cody looks genuinely offended, and for a moment I wonder if I shouldn’t backtrack. But what he says next is enough to make my stomach drop out of my butt.

“That may be,” Cody drawls, leaning against the wall and smirking at me. Suddenly, he seems like he’s twice my size. “But none of them got Nana Higginbottom’s recipe. I do.”

My jaw drops. “You wouldn’t dare,” I snarl. “She guarded that until the day she died.”

“I know,” Cody says, a smug expression lighting his face. “She gave it to me the day she died. Left it to me in her will and everythin’.”

“Then you should know better than to release it to the world!” I snap. My voice escalates in volume and tone on every word, and I’m having a hard time managing my temper. “Nana would roll over in her grave if she knew you were set on selling her out.”

“She left it to me,” Cody repeats, still smug as ever. “Because we were the real meat lovers, sis. Nana knew it, I know it, and you darn well know it, even if you won’t admit it.”

“That’s not fair,” I cry. “You can’t do this. I’ll stop you.”

Cody shakes his head and crosses his arms over his rock-solid chest. Somehow, seeing him so casual just makes me even angrier. I’m literally quaking with rage.

“I can do whatever I darn well want,” Cody says. “You stick with fish, honey. Leave the red meat to the big dogs, me and Mr. Carter Caldwell.”

Whirling on my heel, I stalk away from my brother. I’m hopping mad – I can’t believe my brother would betray me like this. Not to mention Nana.

But deep down, I know I shouldn’t be surprised.