Page 19 of Finding Yesterday
Unfortunately, after Mama and Hannah were killed in the accident, Max and Daddy lost touch, as Max became a hermit. Jack’s parents left for California with Jack when he was seven, so I thought he’d never really known my mother. Any interactions he’d had with her would’ve been when he was young.
Jack’s gaze locks with mine, and it gives me goose bumps. Something happened to him just now when he heard about Mama’s cooking, and I’d do anything to ask him what he knows about her, and what he thinks might’ve happened that day.
I’m sure he doesn’t know, at least that’s what I’ve always thought. Because no one really knows anything about the day Mama and his grandmother died. But the way he’s acting right now, I can’t help but think maybe Jack knowssomething.
“Claire would be a great addition to any restaurant,” Daddy continues, his voice booming.
I break the spell with Jack to shoot Daddy a glare, which Daddy doesn’t see because he’s feigning fascination with something on the countertop.
“Are you hiring at The Fine Bone?” Daddy scrubs at an imaginary spot on the counter with a washrag. He’s about as subtle as a train wreck.
“Daddy!” I snap, done trying to throw him looks. “We don’t need to drag Jack into mytemporarygap in employment now.” I really wish I hadn’t told Daddy I was looking for a job just yet.
Jack turns to me, the corner of his mouth tipped up. “So, Hudson didn’t let you return to the restaurant, huh.” His light tone is back, and whatever that was between us is gone.
I groan. “Yeah, shockingly.”
“Thatisshocking,” he deadpans. I meet his playful gaze, and we both bust up. I haven’t laughed much since my world shifted off its axis, and I’m amazed at how Jack seems to lighten every moment, even my worst ones.
Giving up on fetching Emma’s wines, I let Daddy pour me a taste of the zinfandel. Then I explain to Jack how I need a job to save money to start my own business, which is true even more now that I secretly gave Nate a chunk of my money to buy vines. But the real truth of the matter is something I’m not telling anyone—I’m too terrified to go at it by myself.
Daddy must think his job here is done because he disappears into the storeroom of the cellar. Doing what, I have no idea. I’m sure he’s leaving me alone with Jack to secure a job interview.
I continue, telling Jack that I want to stay in Blue Vine, but I leave the part off about how a vegetarian restaurant wouldn’t fly here.
“Weareactually hiring, and I need a good chef.” Jack sets his glass down. “I’m going back to San Francisco when The Fine Bone is up and running, and the sooner the better. I need to get out of this deadbeat town.”
“Deadbeat?” My brows furrow. “Watch it. I love this town and the people in it.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just…” He sighs, rubbing his temple. “It’s hard—you know, after what happened.”
“I understand,” I say, although I don’t, not really. I love it here, but never thought about it from his perspective. I might feel the same way if I’d left town right after the accident. And it’s sad that being here is too painful for him—I kinda like the idea of Jack here.
“I’m just anxious to get back to San Fran.” Jack clears his throat. “Anyway, I need to train all hires before I go.”
I’d be excited if Jack considered me someone worthy of being a chef at his restaurant. However, given the circumstances and Daddy’s clear shove, I’m sure this has to be a pity offer. Jack can’t possibly want me, a vegetarian chef, to help run a steakhouse. At the same time, I can’t say no to his kind offer. “That’d be great.”
“Can you come in tomorrow?”
Tomorrow. I was going to head back to Atlanta to bring Emma her wines, but she did say she didn’t need them for a couple of days.
I exhale, smiling. “Tomorrow sounds great.”
Daddy’s voice echoes from the back. “Oh, Claire, the Baker Brothers tried to charge me for a two-hundred-dollar bottle of wine they said was used during your non-wedding, which is horse-patuki. Anyway, I made ‘em take it off. I just wanted you to know.”
I gasp. That wine bottle I grabbed in the Bakers’ cellar that wasreallygood. Oh, crap. I do owe them for that. I open my mouth to respond, but I feel Jack’s breath on my ear. “Shhh,” he whispers, then leans back.
Jack’s sudden movement, the warmth against my ear, the way his lips are still pursed from when he said, “Shhh” release a feeling I haven’t had in a long time. Not even with Hudson, I’m ashamed to admit.
And when Jack gazes down at me, my face flushes. Maybe I’m imagining the look I see in his eyes, or maybe it’s an echo of the way I wish Hudson had looked at me—even once—during all the years we were together. Whatever that look is, I realize I want more of it. Lots more.
“I covered it,” Jack continues. “It was me who opened it. My fault.”
I blink, fighting to process his words. He bought that bottle of wine for me, and it was outlandishly expensive.
My tongue feels thick in my mouth, but I manage to croak out, “Jack, thank you.”
CHAPTER NINE
