Page 30 of Cupcake of the Month (Just Add Peaches #2)

Jordan was home in time as promised, showering off the sweat of the day and eating a light dinner with her family before attending Kol Nidre .

The next morning passed in prayer at the temple while she asked for forgiveness for her sins of the past year and promised to do better.

The afternoon was spent catching up with her parents and Nate while ignoring her growling stomach until it was sunset and time to break the fast.

After dinner, Jordan raced Nate to the game room like they used to do every night when they all had lived at home. Usually it was for control of the TV. This time it was just for fun.

She won, but tossed him the remote anyway.

“Why aren’t you staying at your apartment?” Nate brushed his too-long hair out of his eyes and plunked his butt on the frieze carpet.

“Sublet for the next couple of months.” Jordan plopped herself on the comfortable sofa and tucked her feet under her.

“Mom had a whole list of single men to invite over, but I managed to talk her out of it.” He picked up his game controller and turned on the TV.

“Only single men?”

He grinned at her over his shoulder. “Maybe my motives weren’t entirely altruistic.”

Jordan’s phone vibrated and she took it out, hoping for a text from Josh. Instead, it was another notification that Micah had added a photo to an online album. “I should turn this off,” she muttered.

“Not what you expected?”

“Micah’s going scrapbook crazy,” Jordan told him.

Nate’s elbows flailed around as if the maneuver would help his game.

“Yeah, we were asked to be in the Hartford Social Scene’s forty-under-forty edition.

You know, that old hey, he’s got a million dollars, let’s put his face in a magazine thing.

He’s going through our old pictures from when we created our first app. ”

“Well, that sounds exciting.” Jordan fought down the tiny nag of jealousy. Her twin brothers had worked hard to get where they were and she was proud of them.

“Personally, I think they asked both of us to save column space. Two for the price of one.” His fingers worked overtime on the controllers.

“The downfall of being a twin.”

Loud, dismal music filled the room, indicated something bad with the game. “Well, crap.”

“One of yours?” Jordan pointed her chin to the TV.

“No, I’m beta testing for a friend. You want to try it?” He held up the controller.

“Not even in my best nightmare.”

Nathan tossed it onto the sofa. “How did your afternoon go? I mean, not the abridged ‘everything’s fine’ version you gave Mom and Dad.”

Jordan scooched next to him on the floor, her back against the sofa, and relayed more details about what had brought her back home. “So now the box is off to Bippen and Howe, and I wait.”

“With all the stress in your life, make sure you’re taking care of you. If you need a break, come with me and Micah on our trip.”

Their idea of a fun vacation probably involved video games and fantasy movies. “Where are you going?”

“New Zealand.” Nathan took out his phone. “We’re doing a Lord of the Rings tour. I mean, this scenery alone. How can you not want to go?” He showed her the web page of the guide company.

Called it. “I’ll pass, thanks.”

He put his phone down. “You know, we can pay for you if money is an issue.”

She grit her teeth. He meant well, she knew, but she didn’t need to be taken care of. “Life is the issue.”

“Okay. You haven’t asked us for anything, but you know we’re here if you need us.”

“I know. You and your million-dollar forty-under-forty magazine spot.” She gave him a smile. He was only trying to help. “If I need anything, I’ll call you.”

He nudged her with his shoulder. “Text.”

“Whatever.” Her phone gave another ding, and she held it up. “It’s a picture of you and Micah, drinking champagne and surrounded by a bunch of people I don’t know.”

Jordan held the phone out to him and he took it, grinning. “This is when we finished the prototype for our app. We’re celebrating.”

“Didn’t someone sue you or something?” Her world at the time had revolved around her high school grades and softball, not her brothers’ lives.

“Hey, it must run in our family!” He snorted. “Yeah, my girlfriend at the time claimed she helped create our game. She did not. She lost.” Jordan’s phone beeped again and Nate frowned. “Who’s Josh?”

She wrested the phone from her brother. “No one.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Do I need to get all big brotherly?”

“About what?”

“Some southern gent sweep you off your feet?” He tapped her phone. “You got a new man.”

Not even close. “I’ve got something.” She checked the clock. “Is Micah planning on coming to see me at all? I texted, but he hasn’t answered.”

Nathan drew down his eyebrows. “How do you know I’m not Micah?”

“He’s much better looking. And smarter.”

“Mooooooooom!” he called out, even though there was no chance their parents would hear. “Jordan called me stupid.”

“And ugly. Don’t forget ugly.”

Her brother threw a pillow at her. It flew over her head and landed on the floor.

“You can’t throw worth shit,” she said.

Nate grunted and started playing another game.

She watched him, but her mind wasn’t in it. Her phone vibrated again.

I don’t have you to look forward to tomorrow.

The words caused a flutter in her belly.

“Mr. Wonderful?” Nate asked.

Jordan stuck out her tongue at him.

It’s been the same routine since I began working at FH. Wake up. Brush teeth. See Jordan.

I recently varied the routine by adding Kiss Jordan to that list.

Her lips tingled in memory. I’d say that’s an excellent addition.

Good, because I plan on doing a lot more of it when you get back.

She let out a slow breath, nerves gathering in her belly. I’ll be home after your shift is over.

***

First thing Josh did after he woke up was steal across the living room and quietly open Zach’s door.

The tension in the house the past couple of days had been the worst Josh could ever remember.

The sight of Zach’s sleeping form on his bed calmed Josh’s racing heart and gave him a small measure of peace.

How long would that last? How long until another letter slipped by him?

The second thing he did was access the parental controls of Zach’s electronics and check his email account and social media. It had become part of his daily ritual. Nothing there. Josh exhaled in relief and dove into his morning routine.

His phone buzzed as he dried off from his shower. He wrapped the towel around his hips, then padded through the open room to his makeshift nightstand.

Of course the text was from Jordan. Can’t wait to see you. I should be back late afternoon.

Longing shot through his heart. Longing to be with her, for a normal, sane life. Longing to tell her the truth. The clock was ticking until she stopped accepting his evasions and rejections.

After changing into his worn jeans and grey t-shirt, he turned the futon back into a sofa and put a bookmark in The Three Musketeers .

It had been on top of the pile last night, and he had tried to immerse himself in the French Revolution.

It had worked…if every musketeer smelled like citrus and wore glasses.

He sighed and picked up his phone, thumbs hovering over the keys before typing. I have a catering job tonight. Safe travels.

He grabbed his backpack and headed down the three flights of stairs to the car. What could he do to make Zach realize Josh wasn’t the enemy?

Tell him the truth. And let the consequences happen.

Once he got to the Hall, he checked the guest list for any allergies and got cooking.

Soon the kitchen filled with the sizzle of pancetta and the scent of frying onions.

Duarte came in with the vegetables Wendy had requested for the Junior League dinner that night, rather than leave the selection to chance.

Josh made a peach compote to use instead of jam, even though he hurried to finish breakfast service so he could get going on the prep work for dinner. And with a catering gig that night, he wouldn’t be able to see Jordan until tomorrow.

Desire stirred his mid-section. He wanted to revel in making her smile or touching her soft skin. He wanted to take the chance that she wouldn’t blame him, like so many others, for his mom and stepdad. He wanted her more than he wanted to breathe.

Brandi came into the kitchen covering a yawn as he was popping biscuits out of the cast iron pan, her hair pinned up at the top and falling loose down her back.

After pouring herself a cup of coffee and washing her hands, she plated the breakfast food.

“There’s got to be an easier way to go out at night and still wake up in time for the early shift. ”

“I hear that.”

“You do it all the time when you work with Barb. What’s your secret?”

He nodded to her coffee mug and then to his own. “You’re drinking it.” He had survived on caffeine and the sheer force of his will many times in the past eight years.

Brandi brought the hot food into the dining room while Josh scanned over the menu for that evening’s dinner.

Though Anthon would be doing most of the service, he wouldn’t be coming in until the end of Josh’s shift.

This night was a big deal. Josh savored the chance to show Wendy and Brandi what he could do, even without having gone to some fancy culinary institute.

Wendy breezed into the kitchen, a self-satisfied look about her and her hair loose over her shoulders instead of tied back in her usual neat ponytail.

“Good morning.” She chirped and flitted around the kitchen like a sparrow, flying from the refrigerator for yogurt to the drawer for a spoon. And was she…humming?

It was too much happiness for his present mood. “Hi.”

She tacked a piece of paper on the wall next to the daily schedule. It was a list of foods and a timeline of preparations for the dinner, down to the minute. Underneath was the serving schedule for Anthon. Ah, there was the Wendy he knew.

He raised his eyebrows at the list of foods she had already written for him.

“I know. I’m sorry.” She pressed her palms together.

“It’s just that staying on the good side of the Junior League is huge.

I trust you, I promise, but if I can’t tell that we’re on schedule, I’ll go crazy.

I’m sure you don’t want me asking you every five minutes.

And If I mess this up, Aunt Eulalee would skin me alive. ”

“And then she’d leave your carcass out to dry outside the door as a warning to others: Do not mess with the Junior League.”

Wendy pointed at him. “Exactly.”

Footsteps sounded down the servants staircase, and Rob appeared, a lazy grin on his lips, his eyes zeroing in on Wendy. “There you are. And you were doing so well.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled into her neck before turning to Josh. “I’ll keep her out of the kitchen.”

He marshaled her back up the stairs, still holding her captive.

“More sex isn’t going to make me stop worrying,” Wendy hissed as they disappeared from the landing.

“If I do it right, it will.”

Their easy show of affection struck Josh in his gut. That used to be him, able to laugh and love and be free.

He shoved his emotions into the bottom of his shoe and checked Wendy’s list, then found the recipe cards Eulalee had left behind.

The meatloaf was almost as popular as the fried chicken at Fountenoy Hall, so he was familiar with that one already.

The simple tomato and okra dish was new, but he’d made something similar for Barb several times.

Cornbread, macaroni and cheese, three-bean salad.

Straightforward appetizers and a fruit tray.

Good ol’ southern home cooking. Easy peasy.

The scent of the fresh baked cornbread had permeated all corners of the kitchen by the time Anthon arrived. He took a deep, appreciative breath before glancing at Josh. Then his frown returned and he muttered something about common cooking.

After that, they ignored each other, with Josh finishing with the tomatoes and Anthon gathering the dry seasonings for the salad dressing.

Josh used Wendy’s list as a check for his own.

The neatly cut pieces of fruit were ready to be plated and the pimento spread was keeping cool in the fridge.

The pasta was ready for Anthon to put in the oven.

Every item could be checked off. He had timed it perfectly, as Jordan had yet to arrive at the Hall.

His suppressed feelings surged. To see her, to greet her properly, to kiss her in a way that proved he missed her. But if he stayed, he’d have to leave her all too soon to get to his catering gig and make excuses as to why he wouldn’t come back.

“I’m leaving,” he told Anthon. “Are you sure you’ll be okay? You don’t need me to explain anything to you?”

“Oh, please.” His lip curled.

“Wendy has my number if you need to get a hold of me. Like if you can’t remember how to check if a meatloaf is done. Don’t be afraid. I’m here to help.”

“I won’t need it.” He squinted down his nose at the beans.

“Great.” Josh gave the man a salute and headed to his beat-up car.