“It’s a little late for my mom and him to start being parents, don’t you think?” Gentry stuffed the report in her bag. Before Colby could reply, her sister declared, “Jake’s great. He’s sexy, fun, independent, and he doesn’t treat me like an afterthought.”
Alec arrived before Colby could further explore Gentry’s motives.
“Good morning,” he said, gaze falling on Colby.
Such a handsome face. The stray thought rattled Colby. Thankfully, he hadn’t noticed because he’d become distracted by her sister.
“Gentry.” His eyes widened. “It’s been a while. I can’t believe how you’ve changed.”
Colby’s body tensed when her sister gave him an appreciative once-over.
“So have you.” Gentry’s saucy smile returned. She stood and hugged Alec, subtly thrusting her ample cleavage forward, as if he might somehow miss it on his own. “The idea of working here just got a whole lot more interesting.”
“You’ll be working here?” Alec’s brows rose.
“You didn’t get my text?” Colby asked.
He grimaced and shook his head.
“Alec, charge and carry your phone!” Colby heaved a sigh.
“I’ll do better.” He turned back to Gentry. “Will you be waitressing?”
Colby knew Alec well enough to recognize the concern in his expression.
“Hell, no. Would this manicure survive carrying all those trays around?” Gentry held up a hand and wiggled her bejeweled fingers. At least she was honest.
“In the kitchen?” Alec spoke with the level of caution required to navigate a minefield.
“Ha! You do remember who my mother is, right? The only thing I can do back there is reheat leftovers.” Gentry proudly embraced her spoiled life. Then again, she didn’t know anything different. The shopping, the frequent dining out, the weekly mani-pedi—all of that was her norm.
“Gentry’s going to help me in the office and with our social media.” Colby exchanged a knowing glance with Alec.
“Ah. Sounds like a plan.” He nodded, clearly relieved not to have to train her. “I’ll leave you two to talk. I’ll be testing new menu items with the staff today.”
“Good luck.” Gentry flirtatiously touched his arm before he made off to the kitchen. Once he was out of sight, she shot a wide-eyed gaze Colby’s way. “He looks good.”
“I think he’s finally coping with Joe’s death and losing Une Bouchée.” Colby hoped so, anyhow.
“No, I mean he looks good.” The purr in Gentry’s voice grated on Colby’s nerves. “Hot!”
“What about Jake?”
Gentry shrugged. “Dad always says it’s important to keep your options open.”
“Alec is off-limits.” Her staccato delivery caught Gentry off guard. In truth, it caught Colby off guard, too. “We can’t have coworkers getting together. That’s bad for business. Got it?”
Her sister raised her hands in surrender. “Okay. But you’d better have an all-male staff if you expect that rule to be followed.”
“I’ve hired mature, career-oriented waiters, and the two women cooks on staff are married.”
“Phfft.” Gentry rolled her eyes. “As if that ever stopped anyone.”
“When did you become so jaded?”
“Not jaded. Realistic. Look around. Your parents divorced. Mine work more than they have any fun. You may have had a good marriage until everything with Mark and Joe happened, but not everyone is that lucky.”
Good marriage. Lucky. The front she and Mark had put up in order to hide his diagnosis. Neither term applied, though, no matter how great of a snow job she’d pulled off.
She’d tried to make it true. Given every part of her heart and soul to her marriage. Patiently cleaned up after he’d do things like spray down the entire condo with fire extinguishers in order to “reveal” the ghosts he believed haunted him. Clung to the shining moments of Mark’s generous spirit and surprising bursts of romance. Voraciously read about his illness and tried to implement different coping strategies, hoping he would be like many other bipolar sufferers and learn to manage his illness and his life.
But in the murky places of her heart, she’d blamed Mark for not committing to treatment. Worse, she’d blamed herself for being unable to motivate him to stick with therapy and medication like other spouses in her shoes could.
In that light, loneliness seemed safer than entrusting her future happiness to any man.
Colby swatted the depressing memories away like flies even as they deepened her concern for her sister. “Promise me you won’t rush into anything.”