Kaye Dacus - Menu for Romance

The director met her in the lobby and got her contact information, then walked her to the front doors.

“Thank you for coming tonight, Ms. Guidry. I’m certain Beverly and her son appreciate it, as well.”

“I’m glad I could help.” Meredith shook hands with him then headed out to her car. She sat for a moment, fingers steepled over her nose and mouth. Lord, what did I just step into the middle of? And why had Major never told her about his mother? He had a lot of explaining to do.

Awareness dawned at about the same speed it took a watched pot to boil. Major became vaguely aware of odd little sounds that he’d never heard in his condo before. A rhythmic beep. A plastic rustle and slight whoosh of air every time he moved. Though there were times when he woke up sore the morning after a hard workout, breathing had never hurt as much as it did this morning. The back of his right hand was killing him, too.

He opened his eyes, and in the dimness, his surroundings took a minute to resolve. He wasn’t at home. He was in a hospital room. And then he remembered—

The car in front of him had slammed on its brakes for no apparent reason. He’d lost control of the Jeep on the wet pavement. Kirby had rolled over a few times. After that, he only remembered bits and snatches. The emergency room. Being told he needed surgery on his leg. And Meredith...

The beeping sound increased. When she’d appeared at his side in the emergency room, all he could think of was wanting to make sure she never left him again. He’d said ... he’d said...

His face burned. Though he did want to propose to Meredith eventually, hopefully she understood that he’d been under the influence of heavy-duty painkillers.

An insistent buzzing sound caught his ear, followed by rustling from the dark corner of the room.

“Hello?” A whispered voice. “No, Beverly, he’s still sleeping. I promise, I’ll call you as soon as he wakes up so you can talk to him.... Okay. Bye.”

Nausea churned Major’s empty stomach. “Meredith?”

“You’re awake?” Her figure materialized out of the darkness and came over to the bed.

“Was that—were you just talking to my mother?”

A neutral expression masked her face. “I was. I had to go out to Beausoleil Pointe Center last night because she had an episode when you didn’t show up to see her.”

He groaned.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me about her?”

“How am I supposed to explain her? ‘Oh, by the way, I have a crazy mother’?” Anger came to his defense against the tears forming in Meredith’s eyes. “I learned a long time ago that if I didn’t want people wondering when I was going to lose my mind, I couldn’t tell them about Ma.”

Meredith was silent for a while. “I’m trying to see this from your point of view, but I can only come up with two explanations of why you basically lied to me about your mother—either you don’t trust me, or you’re ashamed of her.”

He was ashamed all right—of himself. “Mere, you don’t understand....”

“Then help me to understand. I’ve known you, worked beside you, for eight years. Eight years. And unless I’m remembering incorrectly, a couple of weeks ago, you told me you love me. Yet the next day, when I tried to ask you about your family again, you shut me down, putting me off once again. Were you ever going to tell me?”

He sighed. This was exactly why he hadn’t told her. “Last night, over dinner. I was going to tell you then.”

“If you didn’t chicken out first.”

Her words cut like his sharpest knife. She knew him too well. But he’d been right about her, as well. “All I can say is, I’m sorry. This is exactly why I’ve been trying to keep away from you, to stop myself from falling in love with you. Because I knew once you found out about her, you wouldn’t want to have anything to do with either of us. I mean, you’re the one who told me you didn’t want to take the time to deal with training a puppy. How would you possibly want to take the time to deal with my schizophrenic mother?”

Meredith stood silent for a long time. The only indication she hadn’t turned to a statue was her deep, ragged breathing.

He fought the guilt that tried to drown him over the words that had just come out of his mouth. He’d only lashed out at her because he was angry with himself. But he was doing this for her protection. In the long run, she’d thank him for saving her from his fate.

“I’m sorry you feel that way. I think your mother is a lovely woman who has done the best she can do while fighting a terrible affliction, and she’s someone I would be proud to know better.” Meredith took a few more gulping breaths.

He couldn’t look at her anymore, couldn’t bear to see the hurt in her eyes—those beautiful eyes he loved so much. Never apologize.... It’s a sign of weakness. And he had to be strong if he was going to let her walk away.

She cleared her throat, but her voice remained heavy with emotion when she spoke again. “I’ll let Mom and Dad know it’ll be awhile before you’re able to return to work. When you are ready, let me know, and we’ll discuss your duties and what you can and can’t do until you’re on your feet again.”

Turning her back on him, she returned to the chair in the corner of the room to gather up her things. “Forbes is planning to come out after work tonight. You should arrange with him about getting a ride home when you’re released.” She flipped the strap of her briefcase over her shoulder and came back to his bedside.

The words of apology, of begging her forgiveness, of pleading with her to stay, nearly tore his throat asunder. He clenched his teeth together to keep from speaking. He had to let her walk away.

She held his phone out toward him. “Call your mother. She’s worried about you.”

Meredith fought fatigue the remainder of the day—and angry tears every time someone stopped by her office to find out how Major was doing. Her only saving grace was the amount of work she needed to do to make sure Easter in the Park and the Easter brunch at Lafitte’s Landing went off without a hitch on Sunday.

Around three o’clock, she was startled out of a stupor by a knock. Steven LeBlanc stood in the doorway, a Styrofoam box in his hands.

He cleared his throat. “When I talked to Chef earlier about what I’ll need to do for Sunday, he told me I should bring you a boxed lunch this afternoon.”

The lump of emotion that she’d fought all day tightened into a fist in her throat. “Thanks.” She met him halfway across the office to take the box then waved him toward one of the guest chairs facing her desk. She put the box in the small fridge in her credenza and tried to compose herself before she turned back around.

Taking a deep breath, she clasped her hands on top of the pile of paperwork on her desktop and smiled at Major’s second in command. “Where are we since we talked this morning?”

“Jana was able to get all the servers she’ll need for the number of RSVPs we have. I got with Orly and arranged for the steam tables to be taken over to Lafitte’s. I double-checked with all the food vendors to make sure we’re still on track for everything to be delivered tomorrow—to Lafitte’s. And the pastry chefs guaranteed me that they have everything they’ll need to make the doughnuts and stuff for the event in the park.”

“I’ve also talked with Orly,” Meredith noted, “and he’s arranged for drivers to transport the food out to the park early Sunday morning. Are there some kitchen porters on the schedule to help with loading and unloading and setup once it all gets there?”

“Yes.”

“Thanks for stepping up and handling everything, Steven. I guess it’s good practice for when Major leaves to start his restaurant, huh?” Meredith shivered. She might be mad at him right now, but that didn’t keep her from wanting to continue working with him.

“But he’s not—” Steven shook his head. “He told me he’d turned down your parents’ offer to start a restaurant.”

Did she need more proof of Major’s distrust of her? “Oh. That’s interesting.” Her phone rang. “I guess that’s all. I’ll call you if I have any other questions.”

She waited to pick up the phone until Steven left. “Facilities and Events. This is Meredith.”

“Hey, Mere. It’s me.”

“Hey, Jenn. What’s up?”

“I just heard about Major’s accident. Is he okay?”

Meredith ground the heel of her hand into her forehead, trying to will away the dull, throbbing headache. “He had to have surgery on a compound fracture in his left leg last night, and he has a couple of cracked ribs and some bumps and bruises.”

“Whoa. Sounds rough. He’s still in the hospital?”

“Until tomorrow or Saturday. I’m not sure which.”

“I guess you’ll be spending your evening out there tonight instead of coming for family dinner?”

She hadn’t thought about today’s being Thursday. “Actually, I’ve got a ton of work to do for this weekend, and then I’m going home to crash. I didn’t really get any sleep last night.”

“Let me know what day Major is released, and I’ll send some meals over for him.”

“Forbes is going to take care of getting him home from the hospital.”

Jenn didn’t say anything for a long time. “What’s going on?”

“It’s—it’s private. I can’t talk about it.” But she needed to talk to someone. Why did Anne have to be gone for ten more days?

“Look, I know I’m just your younger sister, and that you’ve always chosen to confide in Anne about these things; but I am your sister, and I am a grown-up who can keep things confidential.”