Page 17 of The Beachside Cafe 4
Jaymee maneuvered herself so she was facing him again but his arms were still around her shoulders. She smiled at him.
“I know. I can’t help it. I always think of what’s best for her first. Mother’s instinct, I guess.”
He nodded. “I know. And what a terrific mother you are to her.” He kissed the tip of her nose, making her blush.
“How sweet of you.”
He shrugged. “I like telling the truth. Especially when it’s flattering.”
They both laughed softly. He let her go and stepped back, heading to the lounge chair nearby to sit down and stretch his legs out.
“I know I like being here,” he said, putting his head back with one arm behind his head. “You’ve got it set up so nice, too. Especially that kitchen. A man could make many meals in that kitchen.”
A man did, Jaymee thought, the vision of Doug in the kitchen whipping up fancy meals passing through her mind. It made her heart squeeze with sadness.
“Cooking has always been something we liked to do in this family. Doug was good at it and so am I, and we passed that trait on to Cheyenne. Our kitchen is the pride and joy of the house. I was surprised Doug didn’t just have his business parties in there.”
She gave him a wavering smile and let out a weak chuckle.
“Well, let’s not talk about him, shall we?” Cameron said, jumping up to his feet again. “I think we’re do for some hors d oeuvres, don’t you? Come on, let’s see what you’ve got in that fantastic kitchen of yours.”
He reached out as he passed her and grabbed her arm, pulling gently on her. She reacted as if he had swept her off her feet, stumbling forward a little with no intention of falling. She was glad when she did keep her balance. For all her playing, if she had fallen in front of him, it would have been the ultimate humiliation. She couldn’t help wondering if he would laugh or be concerned.
From the looks that passed over his face when he felt her stumbling, she decided he would have been concerned first. It was the look she saw on his face.
Jaymee had no doubt, though, that once he established she was all right, he would have been laughing pretty hard.
It was nice to not be talking about the case or the vials or IDL. They would get back to the grind in the morning. But for now, Jaymee was content to think about her burgeoning Saltwater Café, which was seeing an incredible profit margin in its first three months of operation. More than even her business adviser expected.
Cameron liked to say it was because he was a blessed man and as one of the investors, the Saltwater Café was also blessed.
Laughing, the two of them searched the cabinets for junk food, eventually amassing a large pile on the island in the middle of the kitchen.
“Well, we can’t just leave all this here unattended,” Cameron said, eyeing the huge pile of crisps, chips, crackers, popcorn, popsicles, snack cakes and many more delicious delights. “Guess we better start eating it now.”
Jaymee turned wide eyes to him. “What? You’re out of your mind. You’re supposed to pick one thing. Just one thing to snack on.”
Cameron let out an abrupt laugh. “One thing? Is that right, mommy? I can only have one thing?”
Jaymee laughed. “Well, that was the rule in the house.”
Cameron ran his eyes over the variety. “Maybe that’s why you’ve got so dog gone much of it here. Good grief, Jaymee. Did you ever eat snacks?”
She continued laughing. “Of course we did. Just… not very often, I guess.”
“I don’t even know where to start,” Cameron said, rubbing his stomach with one hand. Jaymee didn’t know how he could be hungry, considering they’d had a big meal for the celebratory dinner. He held up one finger. “I know. Let’s start by eliminating everything older than six months. I’ll check expiration dates and you do the same. Then we’ll move on to the snack cakes and the crackers. Start with chips. You gotta always start with chips.”
He sounded very businesslike which made Jaymee laugh. “Let’s just open them up and taste them instead. If it’s stale, it gets tossed.”
“You want totastethe stale food, instead of checking the date? Isn’t that a little backwards?”
Jaymee shook her head. “No, because the product doesn’t go, oh, wait, I’m expired, it’s time for me to be stale.”
Cameron narrowed his eyes at her, crossing his arms over his chest. “So now you speak for all snack food? Who put you in charge?”
Jaymee grinned. “That’s just science, Cam. Just pure and simple science.”
Cameron laughed loudly, nodding. “Let’s sort everything out by kind first and then have at it, what do you say?”
