Branded for You (20 page)

Ryan wanted to confront Meyer, but he needed to process what he’d heard and talk with Megan.

Her parents hadn’t been exaggerating when they’d told Megan that Meyer had it in for them.

Now what could they do about it?

Chapter 22

Over the next week, Megan helped Margaret and Tess prepare to reopen the Hummingbird Café. Margaret and Tess interviewed a couple of cooks to replace Paul and hired Julian Taylor who had been the cook at the Prancing Pony before it had gone out of business several months earlier, thanks to the economy.

Early on re-opening day, a Friday, Megan accompanied her mother and sister to the restaurant. Normally, the restaurant was open for lunch and dinner, but for re-opening day they would be opening at five for dinner.

Megan had designed a quarter-page advertisement for the Hummingbird Café with a “buy one dinner get one free” coupon, which they had put in the paper as a grand re-opening special. Megan had suggested it as a way for people to know the restaurant was open again and to draw people in. They hoped for a good-sized dinner crowd.

They drove in two separate cars to the restaurant, and reached it at the same time. Their parking lot was next to the convenience store and they had a view of the side of the store. Megan didn’t really like the restaurant being located so close to a gas station, but from what her parents had said, the rent was good and they did get some lunch traffic from customers of the gas station.

Margaret frowned when they went to the back door. “Someone broke in,” Margaret said as she looked at Tess and Megan.

“What?” Tess’s voice raised an octave as her eyes widened.

Margaret stepped back to show Tess and Megan that the doorknob was loose and the door itself was opened a crack.

Tess moved in front of her mother and pushed the door open. The door creaked as sunlight spilled across the immaculate kitchen. “Nothing looks disturbed,” Tess said, her mouth turned down into a frown.

“Did you leave cash in the register?” Megan asked as she followed the other two into the restaurant.

Tess shook her head. “I always clean it out at night and put the money into the safe. When I closed up the restaurant two weeks ago, I left a minimal amount of cash in the safe and took the rest to the bank.”

“We’d better check the safe,” Megan said.

Tess led the way to the wall safe that was in the office behind a file cabinet. They pulled the cabinet away from the wall. “It doesn’t look touched.” She knelt in front of it and put in the code. The safe made a thunking sound and then the door swung open. Tess drew out the moneybag and flipped through the cash in it. “Everything is here,” she said before locking the safe again. She left out the bag in order to put the cash into the register when they opened for dinner.

The three of them switched on the lights and searched the restaurant for anything out of place or missing, but came across nothing.

“Not worth calling the police since nothing seems touched or missing,” Tess said.

“Maybe it was kids,” Megan said. “They could have been scared off before they had a chance to come in and wreak any havoc.”

Tess nodded. “That could be it.”

Margaret didn’t say anything. She looked sad and as if she was having a hard time being there. It was the first time she’d been in the restaurant since her husband had passed away.

Megan swallowed. It wasn’t easy for her to be here, either. She remembered the last time she’d seen her father in the kitchen and how he had been hard at work at the stove. He’d been stirring chili and she could almost smell it now. The memory caused an ache behind Megan’s eyes. It was difficult enough for her to be here right now and she couldn’t imagine how her mother was feeling.

They opened up the doors and windows, allowing the cool breeze to freshen everything up. The café had been closed for two weeks and it was stuffy inside. The restaurant needed to be open and ready for dinnertime, with a good crowd to serve, hopefully. After being closed for more than a week, they weren’t anticipating much of a crowd until people got used to the place being open again, but hopefully the ad would make a difference.

The new cook, who was to replace Paul, showed up around noon to prep for dinner. Julian seemed nice enough as he got to work, although he was on the quiet side. He gave Megan an odd feeling—probably due to the fact that he kept to himself. But then again, her father had been quiet and focused when he worked in the kitchen, too.

Fortunately, the young man Tucker, who served as both busboy and dishwasher, hadn’t gone on to find other employment during the past two weeks and was still with them.

Megan worked on things that didn’t involve running the café itself—Tess and Margaret took care of all of that. Megan went to the flower shop on the other side of the convenience store and bought red carnations while she arranged for the morning flower delivery to start once again. She returned to the restaurant and cleaned the clear glass vases, filled them with water, and put fresh cut carnations in each one before setting a vase on each table. She cleaned the front window and it sparkled as sunlight came in through the window, casting a dazzling radiance on the place.

She helped Tess make sure the bathrooms were cleaned, sprayed air freshener to freshen the atmosphere and then dusted and cleaned off every surface in the café, including mopping the floor.

They filled the condiment containers to be ready for guests, and cleaned and refilled the glass salt and pepper shakers, and put them on the tables. Silverware wrapped in cloth napkins was put on each table. Tess and Megan went over everything twice just to make sure it was all done.

Tucker showed up in the afternoon and they put him to work, too. He was a nice kid, about eighteen, and a hard worker who finished his jobs quickly and efficiently then asked what else he could do to help.

Megan had designed new menus during the week using her talents as a graphic designer and they made sure the specials were with each menu. Today the special was chicken pasta parmesan, something that Julian had said was a specialty of his, and he prepped the ingredients for the dish.

The dessert of the day was Margaret’s peach pie. They had a couple of other desserts, but she was already known for her pies. As far as duties, Margaret would go wherever she was needed. She would cook, serve, or do anything else that needed to be done.

The sun was setting as the time rolled around for the café to open for dinner. The lights had been dimmed slightly and the clear bud vases and drinking glasses on the tables sparkled.

Megan played hostess—waitressing skills were beyond her talents. She’d worn a simple black dress that complemented her figure and fairly sensible but pretty low heels that went well with the dress. She’d pulled her hair back into an elegant knot.

She greeted the first guests, showed them to a table, and gave them each a menu after they sat down. She told them the specials before returning to the hostess station.

The restaurant filled with the rich smells of food as people ordered dinner. The chicken pasta parmesan was a big hit and a goodly number of patrons chose the dish as their entrée.

Ryan showed up and gave Megan a kiss as he reached the hostess station.

Her face warmed. “There are people around.”

He grinned. “And now they’ll know you belong to me.”

His words sent heat through her. He was staking a claim on her and she loved it.

She escorted him to a table and their eyes lingered on each other. He brushed her hand with his fingertips as he took the menu from her.

Pretty soon it became apparent that Ryan had something to do with the crowd now in the café. His brothers and cousins and a good many of his friends and their spouses or dates showed up. The town was apparently filled with McBrides.

The night flew by, people complimenting the food and the service. The place was much busier than expected and Megan did what she could in between manning the hostess station. She refilled glasses with water and iced tea.

“If this keeps up, we’re going to need to hire another server,” Tess said with a sparkle in her eyes. “I’ve never seen this place so busy.”

“I think Ryan had something to do with that.” Megan gave a nod in the direction of his table where several of his friends were now sitting. “His relatives and friends are packing the place.”

“From what I’ve seen of him and from what you’ve told me, he really is a good guy.” Tess smiled. “I’d say he’s a keeper.”

“Yeah, he is.” Megan returned her sister’s smile. “How’s Mom doing?”

“She’s been as happy as can be expected without Dad. She thinks Julian is a fairly good cook, but is keeping an eye on him. You know how Mom is. He could be fabulous and she would say he was competent.”

“Yes, I certainly do know how she is.” Megan nodded. “People seemed happy enough with the food.”

By the time closing rolled around, Megan was dead on her feet. She locked the door after the final customer left and turned over the “Closed” sign.

She turned to Tess. “If this keeps up, you may have to hire two more servers for the weekends while you hostess.” Megan rolled her shoulders and stretched. “I can’t take much more time from my graphic design business. I have work piling high.”

“Thank you for being here for us to get this place going again.” Tess hugged her. “The idea for the advertisement and coupon was genius. Dad would have been so happy to see the café full like it was tonight.”

“It was fantastic.” Megan held back a yawn. “How were tips?”

Tess put her hands in her apron pocket and took out a thick wad of cash. “Tips were great. I’ll be sharing them with you and Tucker.”

Megan shook her head. “Set my cut aside for Jenny.” She narrowed her eyes at Tess when it looked like her sister was going to protest. “One way or another it goes to my adorable niece. Put it into her college fund.”

Megan looked over her shoulder at Ryan who approached her. She glanced back at Tess. “Does Mom know we have Ryan to thank for a lot of our full house?”

“I made sure she does,” Tess said with a nod.

When Ryan reached them, Tess surprised all of them by hugging him. “Thank you,” she said as she stepped back. “You really made a difference tonight.”

“The great service and food are what sold people on the place,” he said. “You deserved it.”

“Come on.” Tess gave a nod toward the kitchen. “I think Mom wants to talk to you, Ryan.”

Megan cut a look at Tess but her sister was smiling. If Tess wasn’t worried about her mother’s reaction, then Megan figured she shouldn’t be, either.

“What started out with a break-in has turned out to be a fantastic day,” Tess said to Megan.

Ryan frowned. “There was a break-in?”

Megan nodded. “We couldn’t find anything missing or disturbed. I almost forgot about it.”

Ryan followed Tess and Megan to the kitchen where Tucker was washing pots and pans and Julian was cleaning up the stove. Ryan went up to the cook who seemed surprised to see him.

“We met at the poker game last week.” Ryan held out his hand. “Julian Taylor, am I right?”

The man took Ryan’s hand but didn’t smile. “You’re McBride,” he said before releasing Ryan’s hand and turning back to his work.

“That was odd,” Megan said quietly to Tess. “He sure wasn’t very friendly to Ryan.”

When Margaret saw Ryan she paused. It was difficult to read her expression. She walked toward them and studied him for a moment.

“I’m sorry I misjudged you,” she said. “And I want to thank you for tonight.”

“Anything I can do to help, let me know.” He started rolling up his sleeves. “Including anything that needs to be cleaned up and readied for tomorrow.”

Margaret smiled and looked at Megan. “Where did you find him?”

Megan laughed.

When the place was cleaned and everything was done in preparation for the following day, everyone headed home. After Tess locked up and they’d walked her to her car, Ryan and Megan stood by his truck.

They stood outside in the quiet, cool night. Stars glittered in the sky and the breeze caused goose bumps to rise on her skin.

“Why don’t you come to my house tonight?” he asked as he settled his hands at her waist.

“I’m not sure I’d be much fun.” She moved her hands up his chest and gripped his collar. “I’m so tired that all I’m good for is a long hot bath and some nice clean sheets.”

“I’d be happy to wash your back.” He lowered his mouth to hers. “I’d love to wash you anywhere you want.”

When his lips met hers fire burned through her. She felt a renewed energy that came out of nowhere.

When he drew away, she smiled up at him, looking into his gorgeous eyes. “I think I just got my second wind.”

Chapter 23

Ryan and Megan drove to her parents’ home so that she could drop off her car and get a few things. He waited outside for her in the cool night, watching the stars. Before she walked into the house, a shooting star blazed across the sky.

“A good omen,” she said as she smiled up at him and he gave her a light kiss before she went inside the house.

While she was in the house, she grabbed a bottle of bubble bath and stuck it in her duffel. Who knew if cowboys had bubble bath?

“Goodnight, Mom.” She hugged her mom when she emerged back into the living room.

“Thank you for everything, Megan.” Margaret looked at her daughter. “Your father would have been so proud of you both tonight.”

“He would have been proud of all of us.” Megan kissed her mother’s cheek before going to the front door. She gave her mother a little wave before heading out the door.

Outside, Ryan leaned up against his truck, his hands in his pockets as he waited for her. He looked so good standing there, his body large and muscular, moonlight and his western hat shading his face.

He kissed her and took her duffel before helping her into his truck. Once they were in his vehicle and he was driving, she relaxed against the seat, her body hurting everywhere possible. Even her hair and her teeth seemed to ache.

“I haven’t been this tired in longer than I can remember.” She looked at Ryan as she melted into the seat. “I’m going to land face first in your bed after I take a bath.”