A Place to Rest Part 2

When her tray was empty, she hurried back to the kitchen, almost colliding with another server at the swinging door. She spun into the kitchen and slid her tray onto the counter in front of Jori, hoping she looked much smoother than she felt.

She leaned against the counter and waited while Jori garnished another half dozen plates and transferred them to the tray. Watching her brother and sister expertly wield a knife had always impressed her. Their motions were deft and quick.

But somehow watching Jori's slender hands move quickly and confi dently over the plates was different. As fi ngers tipped with nails kept short and neat manipulated the tender fl esh of strawberry slices, she imagined them against her own skin.

When Jori reached for the melted chocolate, Sawyer turned away, unable to watch anymore. Jesus, who knew food could be so dangerous?

"All set," Jori said from behind her. Sawyer grabbed the tray without looking at her and headed back to the dining room. By the time she'd once again pa.s.sed out the desserts, she had calmed * 25 *

her racing heart, but it had taken more than a few minutes out of Jori's presence to regain her senses.

"Ready for more?" Jori asked without looking up when Sawyer returned to the kitchen once more.

"Am I ever," she mumbled, her gaze once again drawn to Jori's hands. She wondered when she had developed an unnatural obsession with hands. Her imagination was working overtime and her libido was having no trouble keeping pace.

"What?" Jori glanced up.

"Um, yeah. I've got one table left." She averted her eyes, hoping the l.u.s.t churning in her stomach wasn't evident there.

"Jesus, what a night. I forgot how much work waiting tables was." Sawyer perched on a stool at the bar, her elbows resting on the polished surface. The last guests had left over an hour ago, and she had helped Erica get the dining room back in order. She reached back and rubbed at a knot in the muscle where her neck and shoulders met. It had been several years and twice as many careers since she'd had a job that required so much physical strain.

"Are you still sure you want to come back tomorrow night?"

Erica asked, moving behind the bar and getting a bottle of water from the cooler. She took a bit of pleasure in her sister's discomfort, knowing she had expected to breeze right through the evening and obviously failed to do so. She didn't want Sawyer to struggle, but she was tired of seeing her always land on her feet.

She had been surprised when Sawyer sought her out during the salad course to tell her she had reconsidered and now wanted to continue working at Drake's.

Before Sawyer could answer, the door from the kitchen swung open and Brady walked through, leading Jori toward * 26 *

them. Erica watched as Sawyer's eyes immediately tracked to the pastry chef.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Sawyer murmured.

"How about a beer, sis?" Brady called as he slid onto the stool next to Sawyer. "And get the lady whatever she wants." He hooked a thumb in Jori's direction.

"I really should get going," Jori said.

"The fund-raiser was a big success. It should be good for business. Relax and celebrate with us," Erica suggested, sliding a local microbrew across the bar to her brother. "What can I get you?"

"Just water, please." Jori sat next to Brady.

Erica shifted her gaze between Jori and Sawyer, wondering what was going on in her sister's head. She certainly didn't want her pastry chef getting involved with Sawyer. Jori was sweet and a great addition to Drake's, and Erica didn't want to see her get hurt. Maybe she was being selfi sh, but she also didn't want to risk losing an employee when it ended. It would end, Erica was certain. Sawyer had a bad track record with women. It wasn't that she was a player. She apparently made honest attempts at relationships, but her short attention span prevented her from sticking around when the initial glow wore off. And Erica had watched one too many women, namely a good friend of hers, fall victim to Sawyer's fi ckleness.

Brady draped his arm over Sawyer's shoulders and beamed across the bar at her. "It's so great that we're all working together.

It took you long enough to come around," he said, squeezing Sawyer.

"I don't think this is a permanent move, Brady," Erica interjected. Despite Sawyer's a.s.sertion that she planned to stick around, Erica still had her doubts. She would lose interest in Jori or the job, either of which would end her commitment to Drake's.

* 27 *

He looked expectantly at Sawyer, who just shrugged. "Oh, come on. This place is in your blood. I don't know why you keep trying to fi ght it," he said, dismissing her indecision.

"Are you kidding me? In my blood? This place has never meant to me what it means to you guys," Sawyer argued.

"Then why haven't you stayed at any other job?" Brady wasn't letting her off the hook.

"Jesus, Brady, get off my back. What is it with this family?

Does everyone think they can just nag me until I give in?" Still sensitive from having her mother manipulate her so easily, Sawyer fought to keep her voice from rising. So what if she'd had a few jobs in the past several years. Why did they all think that gave them the right to dictate how she should live her life?

She glanced at Jori and bit back a retort. Her siblings sure knew how to make her seem irresponsible, and though she wanted to defend herself she decided that now wasn't the time. Jori was staring at her water as if she wished the fl oor would open up and swallow her. She hadn't spent any time around the three of them, so she couldn't know that the sniping was typical behavior for the Drake siblings.

"Well, I'm beat, and if you expect me to do this again tomorrow, I need some sleep." Sawyer stood.

"Be here by four."

"Okay."

"I should go, too." Jori rose.

Brady followed. "I'll walk you ladies out. Don't forget to lock up before you go upstairs, Erica."

The top fl oor of the building had been converted into a loft-style apartment that their parents had moved into after their children were all grown and had occupied until they retired. Tia had liked being close to the restaurant, and when Erica took over as manager, she'd moved in upstairs.

"Hey, Sawyer, how about a ride home? I was supposed to call Paige to pick me up when we got done. But she'd have to * 28 *

wake the boys and get them out," Brady said as they walked out the back door.

"Sure." Sawyer fi shed her keys from the pocket of her worn leather jacket and disengaged the automatic locks. "What's wrong with your truck?"

"I think it's the transmission. I dropped it off at the garage yesterday."

"When are you going to trade that thing in?" She didn't expect a response. Brady loved the old Ford, and she knew he'd keep patching it until his mechanic told him there was no hope.

"What about you, Jori? Do you need a ride?"

"I'll grab a cab."

"Nonsense," Brady said, pulling open the pa.s.senger door.

"Sawyer will drive you home. You're in Green Hills, right? You two are practically neighbors."

Sawyer slid behind the wheel and put the top down. "I hope you don't mind. It's a beautiful night and I thought we could enjoy it."

Jori nearly stumbled as she climbed into the low-slung car.

Sawyer was watching her and the softly spoken comment felt intimate, as if they could forget Brady was trying to settle his long body into the small backseat. Sawyer slipped off her tie and tossed it on the center console between them.

"Brady, I'd probably fi t back there better than you," she said.

She estimated that Brady was six to eight inches taller than her own fi ve foot fi ve.

"He's fi ne." Sawyer waited until Jori closed the door, then put the car in gear and backed onto the street.

Brady leaned forward and rested his forearms along the top of their seats. "The boys are excited to see you this weekend,"

he said, clapping his hand on Sawyer's shoulder. "Daniel wants you to teach him to throw a football. I offered to show him but he won't hear of it."

"That's because he knows you throw like a girl." Sawyer * 29 *

smiled. She loved spending time with her two nephews. At four and six years old they were at a great age. They were up for anything and still thought Aunt Sawyer was the coolest person on earth.

"Oh, yeah? Who taught you how to throw?"

"Mom did," Sawyer shot back with a wink in Jori's direction.

"Mom does have a pretty tight spiral," Brady conceded.

Sawyer laughed, but it wasn't far from the truth. Their mother had taken a very hands-on approach to parenting. Whenever she could, she was there cheering them on at baseball games and school plays. In fact, everything Tia did, she did it full throttle.

After fi nishing her training as a chef, she started working at Drake's where she met and soon married their father, Tom Drake.

Tom had grown up in the restaurant that his parents had founded, in much the same way Sawyer herself had. If he was the head of Drake's, Tia was the heart. The Drake family and the restaurant were hers from the moment they met.

"Jori, do you have any plans for this weekend? My wife and I are having some people over for a barbeque Sunday afternoon and you're welcome," Brady offered as Sawyer pulled up next to the curb at his house. He vaulted over the side of the car before Jori could open the door.

She hesitated.

"It's an open invitation, just let me know. See you ladies tomorrow." Brady didn't wait for a reply before he turned and strode up the walk.

"You should come," Sawyer said as she steered back into the street.

"I don't want to intrude." Jori studied Sawyer's profi le and felt the same fl utter she'd experienced throughout the night. She remembered how a wide grin had transformed Sawyer's face.

Her brown eyes sparkled and the easy smile made Jori feel inexplicably warm. Something about Sawyer defi nitely brought * 30 *

b.u.t.terfl ies to Jori's stomach, but Erica's warning about her charm lingered in her head.

"It's not an intrusion. There's always room for one more."

Realizing she'd been staring, Jori looked away as Sawyer glanced at her. She was certain this initial awareness would fade.

Since they would be working together almost daily, Jori fi gured she would become accustomed to Sawyer's energy. Charisma.

Jori had heard the word applied to others and it defi nitely fi t Sawyer Drake. In just one evening, she had seen how people seemed to be drawn to Sawyer. They would stop midtask to talk to her, and when they turned away they did so with a smile on their face. Sawyer noticed things that others wouldn't. Jori had heard her compliment one of the cooks on his weight loss, and Jori, who worked with him every day, hadn't even known he was dieting.

When Sawyer looked at her, she felt as if Sawyer saw nothing else but her, even if just for that moment. And somehow the glow that spread inside her radiated from Sawyer, not from within.

"So you'll come, then." Sawyer had taken her silence as agreement.

"If I don't say yes, will the three of you be ganging up on me for the next three days?"

Sawyer laughed. "Most likely. We're defi nitely a force to be reckoned with when we have a shared goal. It's a good thing that doesn't happen very often."

"I'll keep that in mind," she said quietly. "Turn left on Woodmont."

"Nice neighborhood."

"Brady said you're around here, too, didn't he?" She pointed to a house on the left. "You can pull in the driveway. I'm around back in the garage apartment."

"I share an apartment in a complex farther down Hillsboro Road."

Sawyer steered carefully up the drive. The Bradford pears, * 31 *

slim trees topped with shadowed puffs of foliage, guarded either side. About a hundred yards off the road, a Tudorbethan-style home was surrounded by immaculate landscaping. The white stucco and the gray half-timbers were accented with light stone.

Sawyer guessed the house dated back to the early 1930s.

As they rounded the house, she saw a large three-stall garage painted to match the gray trim on the house. A wooden staircase with a moderately sized landing led to an exterior door on the second fl oor.

"Thanks for the ride. I've fi nally saved enough to buy a car, but I haven't had time to shop around."

"What are you looking for?" After putting the car in Park, Sawyer turned to her.

"Something inexpensive and reliable. I don't need much, just a good used sedan."

Sawyer smothered an offer to go shopping with her. Her roommate Matt was a salesman at Aces Toyota and had gotten her a great deal on the Solara. But she'd just met Jori and already had threatened to browbeat her into going to Brady's that weekend.

She didn't want to scare Jori away. And though she barely knew her, something told her there was a good chance that could happen if she came on too strong.

* 32 *

CHAPTER THREE.

Jori stepped out of the shower and rubbed a towel over her hair. It was almost time for a haircut. When she let her thick curls get too long they became frizzy and unruly, especially during the humid summer months. Since she wore a bandana while at work, she chose a short, low-maintenance style.

She pulled on a pair of black chalkstripe pants, tied the drawstring, and tugged a white T-shirt over her head, b.u.mping her elbow against the wall in the process. She bit back a curse as the nerves in her arm tingled. The tiny bathroom was her least favorite part of her apartment. It was barely large enough to house the shower stall, a pedestal sink, and the small towel cabinet in the corner.