For a moment, professional jealousy reared up in his chest. Why hadn’t they asked him to cater? Then, before the envy could take full root, he spotted Maggie Babineaux, Mairee Guidry’s sister—the caterer who’d taught Major more about food service than they’d ever imagined teaching in culinary school. She waved at him but didn’t break away from her conversation. He waved in return.

To his right, circulating around the twenty-person dining table piled high with exquisite displays of pastries, he recognized a few people—the mayor’s wife and her little dog, the state senator for Beausoleil Parish, the pastor of Bonneterre Chapel ... who motioned Major into the room.

“We’ve missed you the last couple of Sundays.” Pastor Kinnard shifted his plate and extended his right hand.

Major smiled and shook hands with him. “I’ve missed everyone, too, but I was filling in for the chaplain out at ... one of the nursing homes.”

Reverend Kinnard nodded. “When are you boys going to sing for us again?”

Major shrugged. “Everything’s been so crazy with the holidays and then with the Christmas musical before that—we haven’t practiced in months.”

“Three weeks enough notice?”

To pull together four professional workaholics to learn the intricate harmonies of a southern gospel song and have it memorized? “Shouldn’t be a problem—oh, but I think Forbes said something about going to a conference in Baton Rouge in a couple of weeks, so let me check with him—and George and Clay—and I’ll try to let you know by Wednesday.”

“Sounds good—ah, Mairee, no doubt you’re here for our chef extraordinaire.”

Average height, like Meredith, with dark auburn hair, Mairee Guidry entered the dining room with a majestic air. “I hate to steal him away, Frank, but I do have some business to discuss with everyone’s favorite chef.” She hooked her arm through Major’s and, though ever polite, steered him through the crowd without interruption.

She led him up the back staircase from the kitchen. “I know you probably want to get home and relax on your day off.” She pushed open a set of double doors at the end of the hall. “So I’ll keep this as short as possible.”

The study was at least the size of Major’s living room and bedroom combined. Mairee led him to a raised area in a bay window and motioned for him to take one of the wing chairs while she enthroned herself in the other.

“How’s your mother?” she asked, settling back as if ready for a long chat.

“She’s fine. I just came from seeing her, actually.”

Mairee’s eyes flickered to the door. “Oh, good, Lawson—there you are.”

Discomfort settled in Major’s gut. What in the world would they want to talk to him about that they couldn’t do at the office? He blanched. Please, Lord, don’t let anyone have come down with food poisoning last night! But Mairee had told him early yesterday evening she wanted him to come by today.

He stood and offered the chair to Lawson, but Meredith’s father waved him off and pulled one of the ottomans beside Mairee’s chair.

Mairee folded her hands in her lap. “I know you’ve got to be wondering why we asked you to meet with us today, outside of business hours.”

Major nodded and swallowed, trying to ease the dryness in his throat.

“We wanted to discuss your future with Boudreaux-Guidry Enterprises. Your annual appraisal is coming up in a couple of weeks, and Lawson and I wanted to take some time to talk to you about your goals and plans for the future.”

Rubbing his tongue hard against the backs of his teeth, Major nodded again, flickering a glance at Lawson then back at Mairee. Meredith looked more like her father than her mother.

“You told us a long time ago that one of your dreams is to open a restaurant here in Bonneterre.” Mairee uncrossed and recrossed her ankles, leaning forward slightly. “We have recently purchased a bundle of properties in the Warehouse District—all of which has been rezoned to commercial and retail space. You may or may not have heard that we have just contracted with another company to develop the area into a village square–style shopping area—boutiques, specialty stores, high fashion, and the like.”

The knot in Major’s stomach stopped twisting.

Lawson took over. “One of the properties in the parcel was a cafeteria. It’s a separate building with a large industrial kitchen. While it would need a complete overhaul, we believe you’re up to the task.”

His heart tripped and fell into his feet, then leaped back up into his throat. “Me? You want me to overhaul the cafeteria?”

Lawson chuckled. “No. Not a cafeteria. A restaurant. Your restaurant. Well, technically, we would own most it—but with an investment, you’ll be a co-owner in addition to being executive chef. And over time, we expect you to buy us out of it—even if it’s just 10 or 20 percent at a time—until it truly is your restaurant.”

Investment. He prayed he had enough money saved. So long as nothing happened with Ma anytime soon, he could be on the road toward becoming the restaurateur he had always dreamed of being.

Mairee laid her hand on her husband’s arm. “We don’t need to get into all of the business details right now—Forbes will take care of that. What we do want is for you to take some time to think about this. You’d still be working for us—drawing a salary—and we would need you to continue to oversee the event catering division. I know that will put quite a strain on your time, but no one ever said opening a restaurant would be easy.”

“No, ma’am, no one ever did.” Major’s heart pounded so hard, he could feel it in the tip of his nose.

Lawson stood and stepped over to the large writing desk nearby, returning with a thick manila folder. “Forbes is handling all of the legalities—the restaurant will be incorporated separately from B-G Enterprises. I believe he’s already called you to set up an appointment.”

Rising from the chair, Major took the folder with trembling hands. “Yes, sir.”

“We don’t expect you to make this decision quickly or without a lot of thought,” Mairee said. “In fact, if you said yes today, I would withdraw the offer because you hadn’t thought through all of the pros and cons. We do ask for an answer by Easter, though. Groundbreaking is scheduled for the first week of May.”

Lawson extended his right hand to Major. “We want you to know that if you feel this isn’t the right time for you to take on something like this, we’ll still consider ourselves fortunate to have the best chef in the Gulf South working for us at B-G.”

Hand so numb he barely felt the pressure from Lawson’s, Major thanked his employers.

“Will you stay a little while?” Mairee asked, standing. “Several people hoped to see you to compliment you on last night’s food.” She raised her brows.

Networking—one of the most important skills he’d learned about the food service industry. Personal relationships with the right people could ensure a restaurant’s success. “Of course I’ll stay awhile.”

Mairee beamed. “Come along, then. I believe I saw Kitty McCord looking at you with adoring eyes just before we came up.”

He followed his employers downstairs. No sooner had he cleared the bottom step than a woman dressed in pink tweed took hold of his arm.

“Major O’Hara, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Mrs. McCord.” Major eyed her little dog speculatively, but for the moment it appeared calm.

“Just call me Kitty. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you when we came in. When Gus told me who you were, I just had to find you to tell you how fabulous the food was last night—though really I should be reprimanding you, making me have to start the New Year off with a resolution to lose the ten pounds I know I put on with all of your wonderful dishes.”

“Thank you.”

“Now, come with me. There are a few people I want to introduce you to.”

Feeling very much like the dog clasped in her other arm, Major allowed himself to be led around the Guidrys’ home and introduced like a prized pet to Mrs. McCord’s friends.

“Were you responsible for last night?” the state senator’s wife asked. “That was one of the most wonderful galas I’ve ever attended—and we’ve been to ever so many in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.”

“I wish I could claim full responsibility, ma’am, but that praise rightfully goes to Meredith Guidry, the executive director of events. She planned and organized everything.” He wished Meredith were here, listening to the accolades. She tended to be too hard on herself, taking a few minor complaints to heart and not enjoying the copious amounts of praise for her events.

“Yes ... Meredith. Bless her heart. I met with her the other day to start planning Easter in the Park. I never would have guessed she’d be capable of pulling off an event like last night, though. She must rely greatly on you.” Mrs. McCord’s simpering voice and flirtatious expression were repeated by the retinue of ladies circled around him.

Major stiffened, and the tiny hairs at the back of his neck prickled. “Actually, Mrs. McCord, the truth of the matter is that we all rely on Meredith more than we should. She’s such an organizational genius that all I have to do is show up and follow her plan to make everything go smoothly.”

“Hmm.” Kitty McCord’s smile tightened. Before she could say more, a commotion caught her attention. “Oh, here’s someone you must meet.”

Major turned to look the same direction and quickly closed his eyes against a blinding beam of light. He blinked a couple of times and finally was able to open them enough to see the source—a large TV camera.

The mayor’s wife held her hands out toward an exotic young woman with dark hair and features. “Alaine Delacroix, what a surprise to see you here.” The two women exchanged a kiss on the cheek.

“Mrs. McCord, how lovely to see you. Might I impose on you for an interview?”

“Naturally, you know how much I love talking to you.” Mrs. McCord clamped her hand around the reporter’s elbow. “But first, there’s someone I want to introduce to you.”

Major’s skin tingled as the two women drew closer, even with as much as he tried to quell the purely epicurean reaction to the younger one. What man wouldn’t react to such a beautiful creature?

“Alaine, this is Major O’Hara. He’s the chef responsible for the New Year’s Eve Ball.”

The young woman shook hands with him. “Alaine Delacroix, Channel Six News. I would love to get an interview with you, Mr. O’Hara. Would you have time this afternoon?”

Held enthralled by Alaine Delacroix’s chocolate eyes, Major swallowed a couple of times. “I ... yes, I’m ... I have time.”

Alaine’s full lips split into a smile revealing perfect, dazzlingly white teeth.

“Did I hear someone say something about Major being interviewed for Alaine’s show?” Mairee Guidry joined the cluster of women. She gave Major a significant look. “What a wonderful opportunity.”

Major wiped his clammy palms on his khakis, unsure of how he’d gotten himself into this situation. Yes, being featured on a news show would be great publicity for B-G Enterprises—and potentially for the restaurant—but that kind of publicity would only lead to people asking questions, finding out about his background ... about his mother.

He cleared the rising apprehension from his throat. “Yes, it would be a wonderful opportunity.” Collecting himself, he gave a slight bow. “Ladies, it was a delight to meet you. Ms. Delacroix, I just recalled a previous engagement, so I won’t be able to do that interview right now—” Catching sight of Mairee’s raised eyebrow, he fished into his back pocket, slid a business card out of his wallet, and handed it to the reporter. “But do call me sometime, and we’ll reschedule.”

Alaine’s fingers brushed his as she took the card, sending quivers of sensation up his arm. “I will call you tomorrow morning, Major O’Hara.”

Major excused himself, retrieved his coat from the kid at the door, and barely waited for the door to close behind him before he took off toward Kirby at a full-out run. The cold rain in his face helped calm him, and by the time he reached the Jeep, his thoughts had stopped swirling. He hadn’t had a reaction like that to a woman’s mere presence in ... ever. Now that he was away from her, shame over his reaction seeped through him. He’d foresworn dating, realizing that he’d never be able to saddle a woman he loved with his life—between the hours he worked and never knowing when the day might come that his mother would have a complete psychotic break.