One Winter's Day: A Diamond in Her Stocking / Christmas Where They Belong / Snowed in at the Ranch. Marion Lennox
knew she had a reputation as a talented chef who had established her credentials at a very young age—he wasn’t sure she had the business sense to go with them.
‘And that would be?’ he asked.
‘The very best ingredients served simply.’ She gave another toss of her head that sent her blonde plait swishing across her back. ‘That’s what I learned in France. Not necessarily at the fine-dining establishments in Paris but in the cafés and markets of Lyon and from the home cooking of Amy’s French grandparents. You know they say the heart of France is Paris, but its stomach is Lyon?’
‘I didn’t know that.’ He’d raced through a see-Europe-in-two-weeks type backpacker tour when he was a student that had included Paris and Versailles but that was as far as his knowledge of the country went. ‘My journeys have mainly been of the have-disaster-will-travel type. And the food...well, you wouldn’t want to know about the food.’
‘Of course,’ she said, nodding. ‘I remember now you told me about some of the out-of-the-way places you’ve been sent to.’
She’d seemed so genuinely interested in the work he was doing to rebuild communities. Not once had she voiced concern that he had veered off the career track to big bucks and business success. Other girls had been more vocal. He hadn’t seen the need to explain to them that he’d been fortunate in the land he’d inherited from his grandparents and the investments he’d made. He could afford to work for a charity for as long as it suited him and not have to justify it to anyone.
Though that might be about to change. The Houston company wanted his expertise and their offer came with a salary that had stunned him with the amount of zeroes.
‘So what’s your problem with ordering through the hotel?’ he asked.
‘Their suppliers will be fine for the basics and the hotel gives us better buying power. It’s the organic and artisan produce I worked with in Sydney I need to source. Farm to plate stuff. I don’t know where to get it here.’
‘Farm to plate? That sounds expensive. Do you really want expensive for the café?’ He looked around at the fresh white décor, the round tables and bentwood chairs, the way the layout had been designed for customers to wander in from the bookshop. It said casual and relaxed to him.
‘Actually, farm to plate can be less expensive because you cut out the middle man.’
‘That’s a point,’ he said.
‘I know ridiculously high prices would be the kiss of death to a café serving breakfast and lunch,’ she said with that combative tilt to her chin that was starting to get familiar in an endearing kind of way.
‘It’s good we agree on that one,’ he said.
‘But if Bay Bites is to succeed it has to be so much better than the existing cafés around here. What would you prefer—a cheap burger made with a mass-produced beef patty or pay a dollar or two extra for free-range, hand-ground beef? Frozen fries or hand cut fries with home-made mayo?’
‘That’s a no-brainer,’ he said, his stomach becoming aware it was lunchtime and rumbling at the thought of the burger. Though the slow-roasted lamb might give it some competition. ‘So you are talking café food, not fancy-schmantzy stuff?’
‘Of course I am,’ she said, not hiding her exasperation. ‘I know people will expect the basics.’
‘Egg and bacon roll?’ he said hopefully.
‘The best you’ve ever tasted. But there will be some more creative options too, depending on seasonal ingredients. And wonderful desserts every day, of course. We’ll do morning and afternoon tea as well as breakfast and lunch.’
‘You mentioned apple pie?’ The longing crept into his voice, in spite of himself.
She nodded with a knowing smile. He’d given himself away. There was no dessert he liked better than apple pie. She’d guessed right again.
‘What I’m asking you is how I source that produce without offending Sandy and Ben,’ she said.
‘How long is it since you’ve spent any time in Dolphin Bay?’
‘There was the wedding. And I drove down to see the building when Sandy first approached me about the café.’
‘So basically your memories of the food here are based on when you were sixteen?’ Back when there’d been a fish and chip shop, a short-lived pizza place and the best food in town had been from his mother’s kitchen.
‘Well, yes.’
‘Better get yourself up to date. This area has become somewhat of a foodie haven.’
‘Dolphin Bay?’ Disbelief underscored her words.
‘Maybe not the actual town,’ he conceded. ‘But certainly the areas surrounding it. Didn’t you look into that when you did your business plan?’
She pulled a face that made him want to smile but she was so serious he kept his expression neutral.
‘Sandy and Ben did the business plan,’ she said. ‘And they’re dead certain there’s a market for a bookshop café with a harbour view. But I had to finish a work contract in Sydney and didn’t have time to do as much research into the local area as I would have liked.’
‘If you had, you would have found one of the well-known television chefs opened a restaurant in the next town and others have followed. Every time I come home on leave, there seem to be more restaurants.’
Her fine eyebrows rose in surprise. ‘That’s good. Hopefully the rising tide will float all our boats. But where are they sourcing the artisan produce? And how do I get it without offending my sister?’
Did he want to get this involved with this woman, helping her beyond what he’d agreed to with Sandy when he’d volunteered to give a hand while he was on leave? He knew the answer before he’d even finished asking himself the question.
He’d promised Sandy to do his best to make the café succeed. If that meant getting Lizzie what she wanted, he didn’t have a choice. And it had nothing to do with how lovely she was, he told himself. Or how intriguing he found her.
‘Ben and I grew up with people who have established organic farms and orchards in the area, if that’s what you’re looking for. And the seafood comes fresh from our own father’s boats.’
‘Really?’ Her cool grey eyes lit up. ‘Sandy told me about the seafood. But I didn’t know about the organic farms.’
He tilted back on his boot heels again and stuck his thumbs in his belt. ‘I suspect all you need is here if you know where to look for it.’
‘Trouble is, I don’t.’ She tilted her head to the side as she looked at him and smiled very sweetly.
Jesse suppressed a groan. He knew what was coming. ‘You’re going to ask me to introduce you to those places, aren’t you?’
‘Of course I am.’ Again he was struck by how a smile brought such light to her face. She’d been so warm and vivacious at the wedding that he’d found it hard to leave her side for even a minute.
‘Okaaay...’ He drew out the word in mock reluctance. ‘I guess I can do that for you.’
It wouldn’t be a hardship to show her around, if he kept his distance from anything too personal. Trying to be friends—that was all. It would also be a chance to catch up with people he hadn’t seen for ages. His job meant he’d lost touch with more friends from the area than he’d like.
‘Does that count in your daily two hours of rationed help?’ she asked.
His immediate impulse was to say of course not. But then he thought twice.
On meeting Lizzie again, he’d thought he’d only be able to endure two hours of her chilly, stand-offish company. Now the