Roxy is struggling.
The owner of Roxy’s Diner has been working hard to take her business to the next level, but things haven’t worked out as she had hoped.
Enter Mason Brandt, celebrity chef, restaurateur, writer and TV personality.
Mason thrives on the challenge of going in and fixing failing restaurants.
His new TV show is doing well, but he’s always on the look out to increase his ratings.
This feisty little fireball and her small town diner could be just the thing he needs.
Except that Roxy doesn’t need anyone’s help, least of all from a celebrity chef who thinks he knows better than she does.
But when two strong and stubborn souls are put together it’s a sure fire recipe for disaster.
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Excerpt:
The smell of freshly cooked bacon assailed her as she rushed into the kitchen to place another batch of orders with her chef.
Roxy wiped a hand across her sweaty brow. It had been a long day, starting way before most of the people in Starling Bay got up. The lunchtime crowd had only just slowed, and she still had a good few hours ahead of her. She needed to get a bite to eat, to get some energy before she started preparing for the evening rush. And in between that she still had bills and her daily accounts to go through. This was fast becoming a part of the day she didn’t like, so she was happy to put it off until later.
She barely had a moment to herself, and while she no longer spent as long in the kitchen, or waited on tables as much, there was still the paperwork, the planning, the budgeting, the constant whirl, whirl, whirl of the worry wheel in her head as to whether she would make enough this month to pay the rent, the wages, the supplies, and have money for taxes and bills, and then have something to set aside so that one day, one day, she could maybe have enough to extend the premises of the diner, expand the business, have more money and less headaches. And maybe buy a nice place of her own.
No sooner had she sat down to have her lunch, when her brother Jax and his girlfriend suddenly joined her. “I was about to have my lunch.”
It was an odd thing to say, but she was so bone tired, so hungry, so in need of time to herself that, as much as she loved her brother Jax, and had come to be good friends with Hailey, she wasn’t in the mood, or the right headspace to entertain anyone. She had initially been wary of Hailey and had even resented her a little for her seemingly easy life as a Hollywood movie star. But recent events Hailey had experienced had shown her that fame had its own price.
“Hey.” They both looked pleased with themselves. Jax always looked happy these days, and this fact made Roxy happy. He’d left his job as a security guard at the mall and was now working alongside Hailey—the Hollywood movie star—and keeping her safe.
“You’re finally getting to sit down, huh?” Jax swiped a piece of cucumber from her plate.
“We should maybe let you eat in peace, then?” Hailey suggested.
Duh.
Things were looking up for Jax. He’d been to LA with Hailey and had loved that lifestyle. He was making plans and had been talking getting proper security training with a view to building up a team to run operations in LA and here. He had tried that before, here in Starling Bay, on a much smaller scale, doing things like warning off abusive ex-boyfriends, but it hadn’t really taken off. He’d given up and worked odd security jobs on the side while working at the mall.
But his life had taken a turn for the better now, and Roxy was happy for him. Her little bro was in love and had new dreams.
It was okay for some.
For others, life trudged along. “When are you guys leaving?”
“Tomorrow,” Hailey answered, her blue eyes twinkling with mischief. “So …”
“So, we were wondering, why don’t you let Hailey put in a word for you?” Jax leaned back in his chair.
Roxy couldn’t taste the cherry tomato she had just popped into her mouth. These two were still entertaining that crazy business idea Hailey had mentioned; the one in which Roxy had no interest whatsoever. “The celebrity chef? Me going on TV? Oh puh-leese. Can’t you let that go?” She dipped a piece of her sourdough bread into her soup and wished she had chosen the path of a nun. At least this way she would be afforded the peace and quiet which seemed so elusive to her now.
Hailey had mentioned her friend the famous chef a few times. Apparently, the guy was world-famous, but he couldn’t be that famous because she’d never heard of him before. He also traveled the world, cooking for many famous people, had lots of restaurants in the country, had many cookbooks to his name, was seriously wealthy, and in recent years had become well known for his TV shows. Here, he sailed into a failing business and turned things around.
Roxy had two problems with this. Her business wasn’t failing. It was still making a profit, albeit not as big a profit as she liked, given the amount of blood, sweat and tears that she had put into it, and secondly, she wasn’t about to let anyone tell her how to run her business. “Still no.”
“Told you she wasn’t going to come around.” Her brother knew her well. There was no way in hell she was going to have a celebrity chef tell her what to do, or how to run her diner.
No way.
Jax had given up trying to convince her long ago, but Hailey seemed more determined. “Why are you being so stubborn, Roxy? What if this worked? What if this helped you?”
“Going on national TV and being humiliated?”
Hailey laughed, shaking her head slightly. “Mason isn’t like that, I mean, yes, he has to put on a persona for his show, and he can be a bit in-your-face but—”
“In your face?” Roxy blinked at Jax. Did Hailey really not understand her? The idea of taking orders from someone was so alien to her that it she wouldn’t even consider it. And having someone who sounded like he would be loud and arrogant, well, that just wasn’t going to happen.
There was about as much chance of her standing up in front of an auditorium, dispensing business advice, as there was of her doing what Hailey was proposing.
It would never happen.
“We’re meeting Mason for dinner tomorrow evening. He’s a really nice guy and his show is seen by millions. I really think you should at least consider it.”
Roxy tore off another piece of bread. She and Hailey were worlds apart, and in the beginning, before she’d gotten to know the actress, she’d been unfriendly towards her not realizing that Jax had started to have feelings for her.
Ever since they had been together, she’d seen how good they were for one another, and she had felt bad for her earlier prejudice towards Hailey. Because of that she had tried to make it up to her. Now, they were good friends, but while she appreciated that Hailey was eager to help her with her business, she didn’t want any help. She could turn things around herself.
“I have considered it. I’ve been considering it each time you mention it and I always come up with the same answer. ‘No’.”
“How can you dismiss something without trying?” Hailey’s refusal to give up was ruining her appetite. “Mason is always looking for new material—”
“I’m not material.” That came out a little harsher than she had intended, but Hailey smiled. Maybe she was beginning to understand her better.
“You’re not material, no, but Mason has a new TV show, Roxy, and this is such a great opportunity for you. Why not take that huge leap of faith? You don’t know what you don’t know.”
“I know I don’t want your friend coming here and telling me how to run my business.” That would be like hell on earth. There was also that other minor factor of going on TV. She didn’t know what was worse, going on TV and letting the world know that she was struggling or allowing a famous celebrity chef, and a man at that, to tell her what she ought to be doing.
“I have some things I want to try.” She had customers. She wasn’t as ridiculously expensive as Fellini’s, the upscale Italian restaurant nearby, but she had been here for years, even since she had taken over the diner from her parents.
There were things she knew she had to do, but there never seemed to be enough time. She wanted to revamp her menus and make better use of celebratory days. Have promotions and discounts and better advertise the diner on Valentine’s Day and Mothers’ and Fathers’ Days. She had also toyed with the idea of having select hours for elderly people to come and have lunch on certain days at a reduced rate, and she wanted to introduce loyalty cards so her customers received points when they bought something. She had plans to improve the décor, to update the signage. To update the kitchen.
She had plans; of course she had plans.
It was time and energy that she didn’t seem to have enough of.
“Then why haven’t you tried them, Rox?” Jax attempted to swipe another piece of cucumber from her salad bowl but she swatted his hand. It was bad enough that they weren’t letting her eat in peace, but taking the food off her plate was testing the boundaries of her patience.
Jax’s life was working out amazingly well, but she didn’t want to have her nose rubbed in it while she was struggling to find out ways of making own life better.
“You know why, little bro. Maybe if you helped out more …”
“I said I’d help you. You only had to ask.”
“Well, you’re busy now, and you have your work to focus on.” He used to help her, more a few years ago, in between his various odd shifts of security work, but she had taken on a few more staff, and Jax had obviously thought things were fine. With more staff came more responsibility, wages to pay, employees to train and managed and inspire.
“What if you doubled your income?” Jax sat forward and drummed his fingers on the table.
He knew how to get her to sit up and take notice. “Doubled?”
“Or tripled.” Hailey pressed her lips together. They were lovely, pouty, full lips and even though she didn’t dress like a superstar here in Starling Bay, or flaunt her celebrity status, Hailey being naturally beautiful meant that she was always noticed wherever she went. Roxy bet that she would be noticed even if she wore nothing but a plastic bin liner. She often felt a little inferior next to her, like a weed growing next to a sunflower.
“Tripled?” The idea speared her like a harpoon. If she doubled her earnings, that would be amazing, to treble them would be out-of-this-world crazy. It was something she couldn’t comprehend.
She ran a hand through her hair as she considered the quantum leaps in income that Jax and Hailey dangled in front of her like tempting cupcakes. Any increase in her income would be a godsend.
“Why don’t you look Mason up online?” Hailey suggested, “And look at some clips from his past shows? You’ll see that he turned things around for a lot of people. I don’t know if he tripled their income, but he left many with successful businesses and he transformed their lives.” Hailey put her hand on Roxy’s. “I see you working all the hours every day, and I just wish you could enjoy life a bit more. Have fun, do fun things. I just want to help you, Roxy.”
Hailey’s words made her warm and fuzzy all over. For two women who could not be more different, Hailey had become a wonderful friend and for that Roxy was grateful. Maybe it was time for her not to be so judgmental. She had been so wrong about Hailey, maybe she would also be wrong about the chef and his show?
For the sake of turning her business around, she could put up with someone telling her what to do. She only had to put up with the pain for an episode. One episode. How long would it take to film one episode? Not that long, she assumed.
She could tolerate the chef and his in-your-face-ways for one episode.