“Um…”
“Did he order from the menu?”
She nodded. “He ordered a couple of pints of the She-crab soup, four of the Southern loaded sweet potatoes, two orders of the Peach-Chipotle Baby Back Ribs, two orders of the shrimp and cheddar grits, two of the baked catfish specials, two orders of crab cakes, um… an order of the seaside egg rolls, a whole sweet tea cake, a whole pecan pie… and… some cornbread and biscuits.”
Nodding, Peyton was mildly impressed. He caved and ordered. If he simply did that while they were talking, she wouldn’t be sitting here thinking negative things about him.
And herself.
Still, she had to wonder what kind of dinner party consisted of grits and tuxes…
“So?” Dana asked, interrupting her thoughts. “Is that all okay with you? Mr. Ashford was insistent that Landon get your approval.”
She fought hard to hide her smile. “As long as Landon knows he’s off the clock…”
“Oh, yeah. He does. His shift ends at seven and that’s what he told Mr. Ashford.” She paused and stepped in a little closer to Peyton as she whispered, “And he’s paying him fifty bucks to deliver it!”
It seemed Ryder was the kind of person who believed throwing cash at people was the way to get what he wanted rather than simply following the rules. Still, Peyton knew that Landon and his wife had a new baby, so the extra money would probably come in handy. “Tell them both I’m more than fine with it and be sure to thank Mr. Ashford for his business.”
“Thanks, Peyton,” Dana said with a smile as she walked out of the office.
Once the door was closed, Peyton leaned back in her chair and sighed. It boggled her mind how some people simply had to be difficult. Would it have killed the man to simply accept the way she did business graciously? Did he have to use veiled threats and intimidation? Is that how he ran his businesses?
“Probably,” she murmured before straightening and dealing with some paperwork she’d been putting off.
She was tired–exhausted, really. And now she was cranky, too. It seemed like her life was consumed with the café, consulting with The Mystic Magnolia, and her plans for the new place. There was very little time left over for… well… a life. It had been a long time since she’d gone out with friends or seen anyone socially except for her family. She missed going to lunch with her sister and her cousin Mallory and going for pedicures and catching up on all the town gossip. It had been a couple of months since she’d done any of that, and even longer since she’d gone out on a date.
Groaning, she forced herself to acknowledge what she really missed.
Sex.
Yeah, and thanks to Ryder looking like sex on a stick in his tux, that’s what she had on the brain right now.
Hot, sweaty, sex.
Damn him.
“Bills,” she blurted out as she booted up her computer. “Pay some bills. There is nothing even remotely sexy about that.” And sure enough, an hour later all thoughts of Ryder were pushed aside as she paid the last invoice and pulled up her plans for her new venture. Pretty soon, she’d have a little piece of Magnolia Sound for herself and no one could say she hadn’t earned it.
“This is… quite a variety of dishes, Ry. Nice of you to put in the effort.”
Stepping out of his bedroom and into the living room, Ryder glared at the snarky remark from his brother. “Well, maybe if they had given me more than a few hours’ notice, I could have gone a little more gourmet.”
Patrick Ashford laughed as he shook his head. “You think you had short notice; I was getting ready to leave for work when they called. So instead of driving to work, I had to drive almost four hours to get here.”
“You could have flown.”
“It seemed like a lot of effort when it was just easier to drive. Besides, it gave me to time to clear my head a bit. You know how exhausting they can be.”
The they in question were their parents and the reason for this thrown-together family dinner.
And he was already exhausted.
Looking around, he noticed it was relatively quiet. “Where are they?”
“Freshening up. I told them dinner was here so…” Pausing, he studied the table again. “Why are we eating here instead of going out?”
“Mom requested a quiet dinner–just the four of us,” Ryder explained. “Besides, you drove through the town. Did you see anyplace worthy of Helen and Jonathan Ashford?”
“I wasn’t paying much attention but…I’m not sure how the foil and Styrofoam containers are going to go over.”
Ryder hadn’t thought of that, but it was too late now.
Glancing at his watch again, he wondered how much freshening they could possibly need to do. Raking a hand through his hair, he fought the urge to growl. He hated when people weren’t considerate of other people’s time. He’d spent the earlier part of the day being photographed for an article in GQ where he’d finally had to call a stop to it because the shoot was taking longer than they agreed upon. Then his mother called and dropped the news that they were on their way to Magnolia to sit down with him and his brother, which meant he had to cancel meetings and rearrange his schedule to accommodate them, so the least they could do was come to the table when the food arrived.
Walking over to the dining room table, Ryder looked at all the food and had to admit he was impressed. Each tray of food was beautifully plated and presented–albeit in disposable containers–and it all smelled delicious. The café might not have looked like much, but clearly he’d judged too quickly.
Reaching out, he carefully straightened plates before walking over to pour himself a glass of wine. “So what do you think this is all about?”
“No idea,” his brother said as he moved over to accept a glass for himself. “Mom was pretty tight-lipped.”
That was typical, he thought to himself. Neither parent felt the need to share what they were doing or ask their sons how they felt about it. Ryder wasn’t sure why it still bothered him, but… it did.
“Oh, something smells wonderful!” his mother said as she came up the stairs. The house had a reverse floor plan which meant the main living area and kitchen were up on the third floor. “And I’m starving!” Helen Ashford had sleek, silver hair, a full face of makeup, and dressed like she was ready to dine at a five-star restaurant.
Again he had to stifle a groan.
His father was right behind her and he walked over and gave Ryder a firm handshake. Heaven forbid the man give his son a hug or a sign of affection. “Thank you for dinner, Ryder,” was all he said before walking to the table and sitting down.
Just another cozy dinner with the Ashfords…
They all took their seats and immediately began passing plates around. This certainly wasn’t the kind of meal he envisioned serving, but he’d suffer through it for tonight.
His mother served herself one of the Southern loaded sweet potatoes and stared at it for a solid minute as if expecting it to do something. “My goodness, Ryder, I don’t know what this is exactly, but it looks…interesting.”
“It’s pulled pork and coleslaw served in a baked sweet potato. I was told they’re a local favorite,” he explained, although for the life of him, he couldn’t imagine why.