CHAPTER 12

Seb was going to kill someone. He just couldn’t decide who. The possibilities were endless. Should he kill Eleanor for wearing that ridiculous scarf? Should he kill the cameramen for standing around doing nothing while his agent practically went up in flames? Should he kill Buster for looking at him with that smug expression, as if he knew exactly what Seb was thinking? Should he kill Ivana for booking him an eight A.M. appointment with the Realtor in Boston?

He looked sullenly over at his assistant, who was standing next to him in the third space they’d visited that morning, all of them equally unsuitable. She was closest. Maybe he’d start with her.

“Don’t even think about it,” she said in her cool, well-modulated voice.

Seb pouted and looked to the Realtor.

“Leave her out of it, poor woman,” Ivana said, sotto voce. Seb rolled his eyes. Was Ivana psychic? “I’ll get you a latte after we’re done here.”

She could read his mind, no doubt about it. “Double shot, and you have a deal,” he growled.

“Good. Now pay attention and behave yourself.” She didn’t even crack a smile.

Mercifully, the showing lasted only another fifteen minutes, at which time Ivana smoothly, but politely, excused Sebastian from attending a debriefing back at the Realtor’s office. Instead, they adjourned to a nearby coffee shop, where Ivana immediately procured him a double-shot latte and herself an herbal tea.

She handed his latte down to him in the lounge chair where he was sprawled and watched him take a big sip. Then she carefully arranged her thousand-dollar purse and matching coat on a nearby chair and sat down, crossing one leg over the other. She watched Seb for a few moments before speaking. “You should just sleep with her and be done with it,” she said bluntly, before taking a sip of her tea.

Sebastian nearly choked on the hot beverage in his mouth. “What?” he exclaimed, sitting more fully upright.

“You heard me,” Ivana said, almost in a bored tone, taking another sip of tea. “Sleep with her. Get her out of your system. Then you can start focusing on your work again.” She eyed him over the rim of her cup.

“I don’t pay you to tell me who I should sleep with,” he said harshly, once again leaning back in his seat.

Ivana didn’t even blink at his hard tone. “No. You pay me to run your business affairs. And you pay me to fix them when they’re not running smoothly. Right now, they’re not. You’re getting complacent.”

“I’m not getting complacent. Why do you think I called in the camera crew for the throw-down last night? You think I’m just sitting around in Star Harbor watching the ships roll in?”

“I’m saying that you need to be on top of your game if you want to make this new restaurant a reality. And once you start the bulk of the taping for your new show, you’re not going to have the time.”

Seb acknowledged her point with a tip of his head. “I agree. Still, my personal life is none of your business.”

Ivana pursed her lips together. “You’re right. I’m sorry if I was out of line.”

“Look, Ivana, I hired you because you’re smart and you’re savvy and I knew you wouldn’t put up with any of my usual crap. I appreciate that about you. But please stick to managing my work life and I’ll handle the rest.”

“I see.”

“You’re very, very good at what you do, you know.”

A smile broke onto her elegant face, causing her cheekbones to bloom. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. So let’s steer clear of my personal life.”

“Okay,” she said firmly, whipping out her notepad, once again all business. “Now, let’s talk about the properties we saw today.” Seb sighed.

* * *

For Lexie, the six days after the cooking competition passed in a blur. She spent almost every waking moment at the LMK cooking, serving customers, or completing the final wedding preparations. Not only did she not have a moment to breathe, but she also didn’t have any time to think about Sebastian Grayson.

The throw-down did have one unforeseen benefit. It had inspired Lexie to step up the preparations for the launch of her catering business, and she’d spent hours creating new recipes and tweaking her existing recipes for bulk preparation. She’d test run some of the new ones at the restaurant. A few of her trusted regular customers had given her positive feedback on both the tarragon crab cakes she’d used in the competition and another new recipe—pumpkin soup with crème fraîche.

She’d even finalized the new company logo with the freelance artist she’d hired. It was a straightforward, no-frills affair: a monogram of LMK in red on a white background with a few artfully embellished squiggles. At least, that’s how it looked to Lexie. She was no artist; the only things she could draw were cakes. That was why she’d paid someone else to do the job.

But Lexie was pleased. She had gotten so much accomplished in such a short period of time that she believed she’d be ready for the “hard” launch of her catering business sometime in the middle of October. She intended to use the Harvest Festival as a launch platform. The whole town would be there, and she’d need the support of both the full-time locals and the summer crowd if she wanted her business to succeed.

Lexie jotted something in the notebook she’d taken to carrying, which was filled with her plans for the catering business. She was still on track to make the “soft” launch the evening of Emma and Jimmy’s wedding. Lexie and her staff were actually starting the initial preparations for the wedding that night after-hours.

“Lexie!” Isis said. “Sorry to bother you, but some guy’s on the phone for you.”

“It’s okay. I was just finishing up.” Lexie capped her pen and tucked her notebook away. “Thanks for letting me know.” She crossed the kitchen to the old-fashioned wall phone and picked up the receiver that Isis had laid across the top of the phone.

“LMK, Lexie speaking. How can I help you?” There was silence on the other end. “Hello? Hello?” Lexie clicked the receiver hook a few times. “Hello?” She hung up the phone in frustration. “Damned ancient phone. I really need to replace it with a digital one.” She sighed and turned around. “Isis, did the caller say what he wanted?”

“No, he just asked to speak to you. But his voice was weird.”

“Weird?”

“Yeah. Low and gravelly. Like he’d been smoking.”

Lexie stiffened. She knew at least one person with a voice like that. Frank Doherty. She steeled her nerves before she spoke. She didn’t want to get everyone riled up, least of all herself. Still, she’d have to tell Cole about it—in the morning. “Let me know if he calls again, please.”

“Will do, boss.”

Buster, ever perceptive, raised an eyebrow at her. Lexie brushed him off. “Not now,” she said in a low voice. “We have too much to do.” Then she turned to her small staff, all of whom were gathered in the kitchen. “Team, it’s Wednesday, and the wedding is on Saturday night. That gives us three and a half days to get these wedding cake tiers baked and assembled, and the mains and sides prepped. It’s going to be a lot of extra work for us in the short term, but I’ll pay all of you overtime. As things move forward with LMK Catering, I’ll negotiate pay with each of you for both your restaurant work and your catering work. We’ll talk more as our hard launch gets closer, okay?”

Everyone nodded.

“We have a long night ahead of us. Are we ready?”

There were murmurs of agreement.

Lexie nodded in approval. “Great. Let’s get moving on these cake tiers, then.” There was a bustle of activity as everyone got to work.

* * *

Three hours later, Lexie needed a break. When she stepped outside, her skin—warm and damp from working in the hot kitchen—quickly cooled in the night air. The door clicked shut and she sagged against the cool brick of her building, grateful for a moment to rest. The focus that was required to get everything just right was exhausting. Absently, she rubbed her eyes, causing the bright spots she was seeing to glow, then slowly disappear. She wiped her brow and pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

She’d gotten some troubling news earlier in the week. Luke Bedwin had come out to take a look at the gas line again and he’d confirmed Buster’s suspicions—it had most definitely been tampered with. More specifically, it had been sliced. “Not the work of mice,” Luke had said, understating the seriousness of the situation. Unfortunately, there was nothing any of them could do about it beyond repairing it. Since the line fed in through the root cellar, anyone—at any time—could have snuck in there and snipped it.

Lexie had no idea how to even process that information. Just then, the door clicked open and Jenny Arthur stepped out, her blue eyes widening as they adjusted to the dim light. Lexie wasn’t really in the mood to chat, but it was clear that the young woman must have sought her out for a reason.

“Hi, Jenny,” Lexie said wearily. “What’s up?”

“Lexie, I’m really sorry to tell you this, and on such short notice, but I won’t be able to help on the wedding day.”

“Oh, Jenny,” Lexie sighed. “I was really counting on your help.”

“I know, but something’s come up.”

“Things have been coming up a lot lately. You’ve called in sick at least once a week for the past three months,” she said. Despite her best efforts, a hint of frustration crept into her voice. “You want to tell me what’s going on?”

“It’s nothing. Just … it’s my family,” Jenny said quickly. “My sister isn’t doing well,” she swirled her hand in the general vicinity of her head in the universal sign for emotional issues, “and I really need to be there for everyone.”

“I understand that you have family obligations and I’m sorry that your sister is ill. But it’s starting to get in the way of your work.” Lexie cocked her head slightly. “You’d tell me if you weren’t happy at the LMK, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course I would, Lexie,” she said in a rush. “I’ve just been a bit overwhelmed lately, what with this family stuff and all.”

“All right. Well, I’m disappointed that you won’t be working our first official catering gig, but we’ll manage. I’ll call someone in to sub for you.”

“Thanks, Lexie. And I’m really sorry to leave you in the lurch.”

Lexie nodded. “I appreciate that. Just try to get things sorted out—I want to know that everyone on this staff is fully invested.”

“I will. Thanks again.” Then she opened the door and ducked back inside.

As soon as Jenny was gone, Lexie groaned loudly. This day was getting worse and worse. She’d been counting on her core staff to help out on the wedding day. Lexie sighed. She’d just have to make do. At least she’d have Jenny over the next few days. Much of the actual preparation would be done beforehand.

The added stress of worrying about staffing made the nagging ache behind her eyes bloom into a full-blown headache. Massaging her temples with her forefingers, she focused on pushing the pain away and on what else she needed to accomplish that night. But what she really wanted was to crawl into bed and forget it all.