Free Cowboy in the Kitchen by Mae Nunn Page B

reached across the space between them and placed her palm on his knee.
    Her tender touch was warm. “You’ve become a friend, and I’m not sure I’d have gotten this far without your advice, even though I haven’t asked for it as often as you’ve given it.”
    She smiled to mask the blunt point.
    “Well, prepare for some more.”
    Gillian dropped against her chair, ending the brief physical contact. “I’m not up to your veiled criticism right now, Hunt.”
    “Even better, because there’s no time for candy-coating.”
    “Whatever bitter news you’re determined to deliver will have to wait. My father called this morning with some tough news of his own, and I’m up to here with worry.” She gestured to the space above her head.
    He leaned forward. “What’s the matter?”
    “He and my mother will be here in a few days, and things have to be on track before they arrive.”
    “Aah, coming for their first visit to see how you’re managing their investment.”
    “I wish that was all there is to it.” She shook her head miserably and reached for a tissue.
    As she dabbed at the corner of her eye, Hunt realized the impossible was about to occur. That stiff upper lip of Gillian’s was beginning to tremble.
    “Is whatever’s got you so upset also on a need-to-know basis, or can you can tell me what’s going on?”
    “I might as well. You’ll figure it out when they show up and never leave.”
    “Huh?”
    “They’ve been laid off,” she said quietly. “Both of them.”
    “What do you mean, laid off?”
    She huffed out a breath and rolled teary eyes. “You’ve heard about it on the news. It’s that thing companies do when they have to cut costs?” The sarcasm was watered down.
    “How do you get downsized out of your own business? Who gets laid off from a place that belongs to them?”
    The misery on her face morphed into confusion.
    “Where did you get the idea that they own the hotel where they work?”
    “Different things you’ve said gave that impression.”
    But had she really planted the idea with her words, or had he jumped to the conclusion to suit his own purposes? The huevos ranchero Alma had prepared for his breakfast rumbled in Hunt’s belly as a fresh supply of acid in his gut punctuated Gillian’s news.
    “If I did, then that was my bad,” she accepted the blame. “I never meant to imply anything other than the fact that my parents are hardworking people who’ve given their lives to one employer. Only now it seems their positions are redundant, and they’re being forced to take early retirement.”
    “So they’re coming here?”
    She nodded, not at all pleased.
    “Dad and Mom are shell-shocked. They’ve decided that the best way to get past the blow is to take on a new challenge. They want to help out, ‘stay busy,’” she mimicked her father.
    “And you object to that because...” He struggled to grasp why she wouldn’t be excited to have her parents nearby. The Temple Brothers would have given anything for another day with their folks. The judgmental thought must have shown on his face. Gillian had the grace to flush with shame.
    “It must be hard to grasp. But you’ll understand once they’re here and you see how much of my personality comes from my father.”
    “So, he’s bossy, too?”
    “Oh, you have no clue. That’s why he’s been successfully running a hotel for so many years. He manages every detail, and he’s constantly correcting everybody about the way they do things.”
    “Yep, you’re a chip off the old block.”
    “I have spent my entire life trying to stay a step ahead of him so he won’t be on my case. But if he comes in here and starts being unreasonable with my contractors and crews, this place is going to experience a mutiny.”
    “You realize the potential for mutiny already exists, don’t you? And you can’t blame your daddy for that situation.”
    “It’s that serious?” She winced.
    “You know the answer to that, Gilly. I