Susan Mallory - Sizzling

"I've asked around," Mama said. "I know you are a Buchanan, like the restaurants. Your grandmother, she's not a nice woman."

Dani wasn't sure what to say to that. "Gloria can be a challenge," she admitted.

Mama sniffed. "Is that what we call it? Still, you didn't pick her for family. What can you do? I have four boys. Four. God was good to us. And of the four, only Bernardo wants to go in the family business. One is enough, right? So now my grandchildren are growing up. This one wants to be a lawyer, that one a doctor. Nicholas wants to do hair." She shook her head. "A man who wants to do hair. But he's family, so I love him. The restaurant? Not so much. Alicia, she loved working here, but now she's moving to New York to get married. What? We can't have a wedding in Seattle?"

Mama sighed. "What can you do?" She looked at Dani. "You're not married?"

"Ah, no. I was. My husband and I…He, ah- "

Mama Giuseppe nodded. "I understand. Some men are good men. Some, not so good. My Bernardo, he's a good man. His wife died." She paused, considering. "You're a little young for him. Too bad."

Dani nearly choked on her pasta. Bernie, as he'd asked her to call him, had to be close to fifty.

Just then the man in question hurried into the room.

"Sorry about that," he told Dani. "My daughter's getting married in a month. We're averaging about one crisis every four hours. Has my mother been torturing you?"

Dani glanced at her empty plate. "Not at all. She's been keeping me well fed. I love everything here."

"A girl who eats," Mama said. "Good."

Bernie sighed. "I'm going to take Dani to my office, Mama. We're going to talk business. You'll want to leave us alone for a while."

"I'm an old woman. What do I know about business? I wouldn't want to get in the way of something important. Did I start this place with your father? Did I work all hours of the day while raising four children?"

"Ignore her," Bernie murmured as they left the kitchen and headed down a rear hall. "She can be dramatic."

"I adore her," Dani said and meant it.

"If you're not careful, she'll run your life."

Dani figured she wasn't doing such a great job of it herself, so maybe someone being in charge would be good.

They sat in Bernie's crowded office. He looked at the stack of papers and files lying on his desk and groaned. "I've got to get this organized," he said. "I never have the time. That's why we're hiring a manager. My daughter, Alicia, was working here, but she's moved to New York to be with her fiancé. I was hoping one of the other kids or one of my cousins would be interested, but they're not. They love to eat here, of course, but the work? Not so much."

He sounded a lot like his mother, Dani thought, holding in a grin. She was impressed the two of them could work together day after day and not kill each other.

"We're a close staff," he said. "Most of my servers have worked here for years. Over half the clients are regulars. You know what that means?"

Dani knew he wasn't just making conversation. The interview had officially begun.

"Regulars are a steady cash flow, so you want to keep them happy," she said easily. "They like what they like. Some resist change. They have higher expectations. They want to be remembered and treated as special because they're giving something money can't buy- loyalty."

"Exactly." He sounded pleased. "For a while our customers were mostly older family and retirees. Aging. Then the neighborhood began to change. Suddenly we're hip. Or in. I can't keep up with the right term. Which means I'm neither, right?"

Dani smiled at him. He was terrific. For a second she wanted to agree with Mama Giuseppe- it's too bad that Bernie wasn't closer to her age.

"So now we're getting a younger crowd. I thought they'd clash with our regulars, but they don't. It's nice to see newlyweds and college kids around."

He passed her a menu. "We're traditional here. Mama sees to that. Our head chef answers to her. Nick has been here ten years and when he and Mama start screaming at each other, it's better to duck and run." He chuckled. "Lucky for you, they argue in Italian, so you'll miss most of it."

He flipped through a couple of papers. "What else? No real staff problems right now, but they come up. The older servers can resent new staff, but they work it out. The restaurant runs fairly smoothly, but there are always hassles."

He paused and Dani sensed he was waiting for her to elaborate on what the hassles could be.

"Late deliveries, missing linens, a batch of bad wine, an off dish that everyone starts sending back," she said. "The party of twenty that booked the private room changes their mind about the menu a half hour before they show up. That sort of thing?"

Bernie nodded. "Right. Good. Okay, then let's talk about your experience."

Over the next hour, she was grilled on everything from her college education to handling the temporary head chef while Penny had been on maternity leave.

When she'd finished, Bernie leaned back in his chair. "We want someone to start right away," he said. "Are you available?"

Dani nodded. "I've given my notice at The Waterfront. I can leave anytime."

"You're clear on the fact that my mother is a big part of the restaurant? She's going to get involved and tell you what to do. She'll swear she won't, but don't believe her for a second."

"I like your mother," Dani admitted with a grin. "We'll work well together."

"Then the job is yours, if you want it." He named an impressive salary. "You'll get a cut of the profits. I'd like you to start out during the day. It's not so crazy then and you can feel your way. Once you're up to speed, we'll split shifts, so neither of us is always working nights."

Dani stared at him. "You're offering me the job? Just like that?"

"Just like that. I go with my gut. You'll do well here, Dani. So what do you think?"

LORI TRIED TO FOCUS on the fact that Reid had asked her out to dinner- like a date. Because worrying about a date was far less scary than thinking about meeting the board that would direct Reid's new foundation.

Nothing was official. The lawyers were still drawing up papers, but everyone was getting together to discuss direction, purpose, a mission statement.

Lori had gone online the previous evening to figure out what a mission statement was. She'd looked at other charities to find out what they were trying to do with their money. In a way it was good she was so scared about the board meeting because it distracted her from what her sister had said a couple of days ago, when they'd watched Reid taping his interview. That he'd put himself in the public eye and had endured humiliation for her. She couldn't seem to get her mind around that.

While it didn't rank as high as Kyle Reese's "I crossed time for you, Sarah Connor" in the first Terminator movie, it was damn close. A guy like Reid having to defend his sexual performance on national television was way worse than any punishment she could come up with- and yet he'd done it willingly. It had even been his idea.

Had he really done it for her? Because he cared about her? The possibility made her chest tighten and her eyes burn. She was afraid to believe, because if she believed, she would have to admit she'd fallen in love with him.

They parked in the lot of the Doubletree Hotel in Bellevue and walked into the foyer. Reid took her hand in his and led the way to the conference room he'd rented for the meeting.

"I'm nervous," she admitted.

"Then we can be nervous together."

She looked at him. "Why are you worried? You're doing an incredible thing."

"I'm some dumb jock who's been front page gossip. I picked a hell of a board. Why will important people with expertise in what I want to do take me seriously?"