Reserved (14 page)

“Travis?”

Her endless green eyes met his as she remained standing in the doorway. He couldn’t speak, so he raised his eyebrows in acknowledgment.

“Perfect is boring.”

He grinned. “Unless we’re talking spreadsheets,” he joked, because he was about to drag her back into dry storage and lock the door.

Makenna laughed and walked through the door. “Yes, but only in the case of spreadsheets.”

By the time Logan arrived with a stupid grin on his face, the inventory was done. He and Travis spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon finishing up the tasting menu they were going to serve to Grady and Kate next week. Kenna had all of the options, and she was formatting a card they would print so the happy couple could check their preferences. The Malendar wedding was still a couple of months out and so far things were going smoothly. She had emailed the wedding cake baker, and he agreed to send over samples for the tasting next week so they could present Kate and Grady with a taste of the full wedding dinner. Kenna had to admit it was fun putting together a couple’s wedding, at least from the catering perspective. The wedding planner handled other things like seating and the wedding party. That didn’t seem to be quite so much fun, but the food had proved a pretty interesting experience.

Logan sat next to her, peeking over her shoulder as she finished typing up the selections.

“That’s confit, not condit.”

“Thank you,” Kenna said through the pen she was holding in her mouth. She made a few other corrections and saved her document. “Done. Okay, so Sloan, aka perfect hair, is the wedding planner and she just emailed me that she will be handling the wine.”

“Why? If we’re doing the food, wouldn’t it make sense that we’d have our guy do the pairings?”

“It would make sense, but that’s not how they want to do it. At least, that’s not how Sloan wants to do it.”

“That’s stupid. Why do I feel like this is some kind of weird wedding team power struggle?”

“Oh get ready, my dear brother, you’re next. I spoke to Kara last week and she said you guys were getting married on the beach?”

“Well, we’re just in the early stages and she wants the beach. I just want her. So as long as the food is good and she’s there, I honestly couldn’t care less.” Logan’s face was warm. “Oh, and you guys, I’d need you there too.”

“Thanks. I think the beach is a beautiful idea.”

“Yeah, well, back to reality. I’m a little pissed about the wine, so I might talk to Grady about that when they come in because it makes no sense. The wedding planner probably has some connection to a big distributor that can buy and sell our guys up the river, and I don’t think that’s what Grady wants.”

“You don’t think that’s what he wants, or it’s not what you want?” Kenna smiled.

“Both. I’ll talk to him.”

“Sounds good. I’m still emailing this to the big bad wedding planner though and then you can look at their selections.”

“Great. How’s your life going? I saw Paige at Dad’s yesterday. Things go all right with Adam’s parents?”

“They did. It seemed like they had a great time and Paige came home with lots of new clothes and extra sand, so that usually means a successful trip.”

“And the dating thing?”

“Subtle, Lo, very subtle.”

“Kara wanted me to ask. She said you seemed pretty discouraged.”

“I’m finding my way. It’s a little artificial for me, you know?”

“I do. Maybe the online thing isn’t a good idea.”

“Maybe not, but I don’t exactly have time to hang out in bars and my life doesn’t put me in contact with a lot of single people. It’s fine. I’m good single. I was thinking I needed to get out there, but that feeling is starting to pass. I’m meeting some guy this weekend, so we’ll see.”

“What about Travis?”

Kenna almost fell off her seat. “What about him?”

“Have you ever thought of dating him?”

She’d thought of Travis more than she wanted to admit in the last few weeks; couldn’t stop actually. Was it that obvious?

“No,” she lied.

“Huh, well, maybe you should.”

“Why? Travis is . . . we work together and he has a pretty substantial reputation.”

“He just hides behind all that stuff.”

“Oh, okay. Where is this coming from?”

“Kenna, you’re open to letting someone in your life. Travis is obviously interested.”

“He is not obviously anything. I’m not his type.”

“What is his type?”

“Tiny dresses, big boobs, not much talking. Trixie came in a few days ago in a sad attempt to see Travis. She looked like a damn supermodel. I’m not that.”

Her brother looked genuinely puzzled. “You dress up for dates. I don’t see the difference. And I’m going to pretend you didn’t just bring up Trixie as a viable option for Travis.”

“A viable option? I know he’s your friend, but I don’t get the impression that Travis needs options. He seems perfectly happy with what he’s doing.”

“Oh, come on Kenna, that’s all a game. Why do you think the guy makes lunch for Paige?”

“Because he, because she’s his . . . He’s being nice. I’m sure he feels bad that I’m rushing around, or . . . I have no idea why he makes her lunch.”

“I do. He cares about you.”

Kenna said nothing. She felt like she’d slipped down some rabbit hole where everything she used to understand no longer applied. Her brother was telling her Travis had feelings for her as if it was the most natural, expected thing in the world. As if it was so obvious and she was ridiculous for not seeing it.

“Am I ridiculous?”

She hadn’t realized she’d said it out loud, but Logan laughed.

“I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s pretty obvious, at least to me. Ask him.”

“Ask him what?”

“Why he makes Paige’s lunch.”

“No, that’s such an odd question. I mean what if he doesn’t know?”

“Or, more likely, what if you’re afraid to hear the answer?” Logan stood, patted his sister on the back, and returned to the kitchen.

Well, thanks for that, big brother.
As if she needed anything more to think about.

Chapter Twelve

T
ravis showered after a few rounds with Brick. The last round, he had really “held his own,” according to David. That was progress. He’d pushed hard this morning to get some of his crap out because he knew there would be a text on his phone by the time he got to work.

Good morning! Sorry you couldn’t meet us last night for dinner. We are thinking of stopping by the restaurant tonight after the game. Too bad you’re going to miss the game too. Your brothers are really bummed.

“Oh yeah, I bet,” Travis said out loud to an empty kitchen.

We can’t stay long, though, maybe just drinks, because Drew needs to get to the airport.

“And God knows where Drew goes, so go the rest of you.” He was talking to himself again. He hadn’t even seen them yet and they were already making him crazy. He slipped the phone into his pocket and tied his apron at his waist. He didn’t reply; he didn’t need to. They’d show up tonight either way. It was as if he orbited around them, occasionally bumped into them, but never really connected. He wasn’t sure when that had happened, but he was pretty sure it was around the time they stopped having anything in common. They’d have drinks, probably not eat any food just to spite him, and then go back to their lives until the next time they found themselves in his “neck of the woods,” as his father liked to say. John lived fifteen minutes away from him, and the only time they spoke to one another was when the family got together. That was to be expected, considering he was now married to Travis’s ex, but every now and then Travis realized just how messed up it all was. None of it really mattered right now though because he had a tasting menu to finish. Grady and Kara would be in around two, the wedding cake guy was bringing his samples by one, and there was work to be done. His kitchen, his life, his work.

Makenna had managed to get the linens and dishes from the wedding planner. It was like pulling teeth, but Sloan finally gave it up. Kenna set two places in the private dining area for Grady Malendar and Kate Galloway. Grady ran the Roads Foundation and was the son of US Senator Patrick Malendar. More importantly, Grady was Kara’s brother and Logan’s soon-to-be brother-in-law.
Lots of coupling and love
, Makenna thought as she placed three wineglasses at each seat. Logan had won the wine battle against Sloan’s large distributor, and Grady wanted to see what Twisted Tree, a local vineyard, had to offer.

Makenna stood back, admired the table, and felt a calm sense of satisfaction. It seemed so much of her life was a hurried frenzy that she never really took the time to step back and look. Adjusting the flowers on the table, she decided to add calm reflection to her list of things to work on. She walked toward the hostess station and along the way, bussed a table because Summer still had a bit of a lunch rush. Entering the back kitchen, she dropped off the dishes and stood watching her brother and Travis do what they did best: create.

Small plates covered the large stainless steel counter, each of them white with perfect bites of food in the center. Travis was placing two roasted kalamata olives gently next to each baby lamb chop while Logan stood waiting to hand him the basil oil. The only reason Kenna knew any of this was because she had seen the menu, studied the details, checked for typos, and wondered what the hell most of it was. Watching the meal come to life was something special. When Logan had asked her to be part of his restaurant, Kenna never realized what a journey it would be. At the time, she assumed he did it to take her mind off the tailspin of Adam’s death, but now she saw it. Kenna was always about the pieces, the numbers, the pennies. She wasn’t particularly creative; she liked reading and had become a master at Play-Doh thanks to her daughter’s tutelage, but her brain didn’t work in a creative way. When she’d said that to Logan once, he’d pointed out the chairs in the private dining room.

“Everyone has a creative part, Kenna,” he’d said.

“Those are just chairs that I found on sale. I liked the colors and the price. You’re the one who came up with the idea for your place. I’m simply following the design.”

“Okay, and I just pull things out of the dirt and cook them in a pan.”

She’d laughed.

God, she loved him. She loved both her brothers, but Logan had saved her. Garrett had held her, fixed her in his own way, but Logan gave her purpose without making her feel weak. Kenna hoped he knew what that had meant to her, but maybe she needed to tell him more. It was such a strange thing becoming the “tragedy” of a family. For a time, everything swirled around her axis until she became strong enough to stop it and look around. Kenna felt like she was only recently doing that: looking and appreciating. She let out a slow breath.

“Are we good? Is everything ready?” Logan asked, looking up.

“Everything looks great. Summer had a couple more tables to sit last time I walked by, but we look good, busy but not crazy.”

“Great. Okay, well, I think we’re ready in here. Travis?”

Logan rubbed the back of his neck and Makenna recognized the tension. Neck rub was always Logan’s stress tell. Travis didn’t look nervous at all. She wasn’t familiar enough to know his signs, but she was sure somewhere on the inside he had to be nervous . . . or maybe not. Either way, his calm was good for Logan. They complemented one another.

“As ready as we’re ever going to be.” Travis patted his friend on the shoulder and Logan seemed to instantly relax. “Shall we change into our we-never-spill-anything aprons now?”

Makenna laughed and left them to it. Sage had her hands full with a group of young executives who were asking her what it was like being a female bartender. Kenna caught her gaze and rolled her eyes as she passed. The woman had infinite patience.

Like magic, Summer sat the last couple waiting for a table and was returning to her post as Grady and Kate walked through the door. Makenna loved when things worked out. She felt that calm again, shook hands, and led the couple back to the private dining area.

“What was on that shrimp?” Grady asked after the formal tasting was over and Travis and Logan joined them at the table.