sporting a military haircut walked onto the porch and waved to her. Now she had a face to go with the deep drawling voice with a distinctive Southern cadence.
* * *
Aiden’s expression did not reveal his surprise when he approached the woman with whom he’d had several conversations about possibly homeschooling his daughters. His eyes met Taryn’s large, slightly slanting light-brown eyes flecked with gold as she gave him a direct stare. If her intent was to make a good first impression, then she had made her point. Everything about her demeanor radiated confidence. And she was beautiful. Aiden found himself mesmerized by her round face and delicate features in a toffee-brown complexion.
He extended his right hand. “Aiden Gibson.”
Taryn stared at his hand for several seconds before she took it. “Taryn Robinson.”
He had lost count of the number of people he had interviewed to work for his family-owned sports bar, but suddenly Aiden felt like a gauche teenage boy meeting the girl on whom he had a crush. But then he had to remind himself that Taryn wasn’t looking for a position as a server, busser, dishwasher or cook. She had come to interview for a position where she would share a house with him and his daughters.
Aiden released her hand. “Please come inside where it’s warm.” He led her up to the porch and into the house. “Have you had breakfast?” He knew he’d surprised Taryn when she gave him a questioning look.
“No. Why?”
“I thought we’d talk over breakfast. I know I asked you to meet me at eight because I was scheduled to be at the restaurant at nine, but my brother just called and offered to take the lunch shift at the Wolf Den. That’s the name of our family’s restaurant.”
“Who watches your daughters when you’re working?”
“It’s been a merry-go-round with my mother, my sister, Esther, and occasionally my sister-in-law. My mother came up from Florida to stay with me for almost six months but went back because my stepfather was complaining that he missed her. Right now my sister babysits them whenever I work the night shift.”
Taryn followed Aiden through the parlor, living and dining rooms with furnishings she thought of as classic farmhouse with oak-topped bleached pine tables. Area rugs with geometric designs covered polished plank floors. Off-white sofas and plush love seats and chairs covered in prints and plaids in varying hues of pink and red flowers immediately caught her practiced eye. She had minored in art in college, and Taryn was always conscious of colors and symmetry.
“How often do you work nights?”
“I’m two weeks on and two weeks off.” Aiden wanted to tell Taryn it wasn’t easy being a single father, yet he was willing to make sacrifices to afford his girls a stable environment. He pointed to the trio of stools at the breakfast bar. “Please sit down and relax.”
Taryn sat and placed the tote on the floor. The kitchen was a chef’s dream with stainless-steel appliances, white bleached pine cabinets, a built-in refrigerator/freezer, eye-level oven, microwave, twin dishwashers, a breakfast bar and nook with bench seats, and an industrial stovetop and grill.
“Are your daughters here now?”
Aiden shook his head. “No. They’re in Orlando with their grandparents.” He washed his hands in the smaller of two stainless-steel sinks and then slipped on a pair of disposable gloves. “What would you like for breakfast?”
“Oh, I get to choose?”
“Of course,” he countered, smiling.
Lately, there hadn’t been much for Aiden to smile about because it was as if his life was in limbo. The restaurant was down one cook and he’d had to put in more hours, which took time away from Allison and Livia. He also felt guilty that his mother, who should’ve been enjoying her retirement, was looking after his children. However, he never regretted divorcing his wife and being awarded full custody of their daughters.
Taryn rested an elbow on the granite countertop and cupped her chin on her fist. “Do you have a menu?”
His smile grew wider. So, he thought, the pretty teacher definitely has jokes. “Not available, but I’m certain I can whip up whatever you want.”
A pair of light brown eyes met and fused with his bluish-green pair. “If that’s the case, then I’d like a bagel with lox.”
“Sorry, but I happen to be out of bagels.”
Taryn scrunched up her pert nose. “Then I’d like a Southern breakfast: grits, fluffy scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, buttered toast and coffee.”
I like her! Aiden mused, as he turned on the eye-level oven. It appeared she had a sense of humor, something that had been lacking with his ex-wife. Denise had claimed she had nothing to laugh or smile about because the townsfolks hated her and her family.
“That’s one order I can fill. Do you want cheese in your grits?”
“Yes, please.”
Aiden walked over to the built-in refrigerator/freezer to select the items he needed to prepare breakfast. Of all of the rooms in the house, he felt most comfortable in the kitchen. He’d grown up watching his father cook for his family, and once he entered adolescence he had been invited to join his father and uncles in the Wolf Den’s kitchen.
“Do you cook?” he asked Taryn as he returned to the cooking island with eggs, bacon, a loaf of bread and a plastic bag of shredded cheddar cheese. Aiden placed strips of slab bacon on a baking sheet and sprinkled them with a shaker filled with brown sugar before setting the pan on a shelf in the oven.
“I do. But I prefer baking.”
“That’s where we differ. I love to cook, but I don’t bake.”
Taryn slipped off the stool, took off her suit jacket and draped it over the back of her stool. “Do you work weekends?”
“Right now I do, because we’re down one cook. I’d like for you to clear up one thing for me.”
“What’s that?” Taryn asked.
“Why do you want to homeschool my daughters?”
* * *
Taryn leaned forward. “Why do you need someone to homeschool your daughters?”
Aiden went completely still and gave her a direct stare. “I asked you first.”
“I can’t answer your question until you answer mine. After all, Aiden, you’re the one who put out the word that you were looking for someone to provide instruction to your children.” They engaged in what Taryn thought of as a stare-down until Aiden nodded.
“You’re right. I don’t know if Sawyer told you about how folks in The Falls view my ex-wife’s family.”
“He’s never said anything to me,” Taryn admitted truthfully. She knew Jessica’s husband had grown up in Wickham Falls.
“The Wilkinsons are considered the town’s black sheep, and because my daughters share that bloodline they are looked down upon. Many of the parents
