A Pinch of Commitment Read online

  A Pinch of Commitment

  Jean Oram

  To Emma and Kristal. For the baking.

  Contents

  From the Back Cover

  Acknowledgments

  A Note from the Author

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  Sneak Peek from The Wedding Plan

  More Books by Jean Oram

  About the Author

  From the Back Cover

  When falling in love isn’t part of the contract.

  Techie Ethan Mattson may have married chef Lily Harper but he didn’t vow to love her. His only commitment was to hand her half of his business assets and a year later file for divorce while saving a tidy sum on taxes.

  Little does Ethan know that the pretty woman from his past needs so much more than just a business. She needs protection and love, the two things he feels too broken to offer.

  Chef Lily Harper grew up tagging along after Ethan who saved her from bullies, mud puddles and being an outsider. When Lily flees a nasty ex who won’t take a hint, she comes running home to Blueberry Springs, striking a deal with her childhood protector, Ethan. If he marries her, she’ll take his restaurant off his hands, giving him more time to spend on his dream tech business. Not only that, but she’ll finally earn her way into owning a thriving restaurant. It seems like an ideal agreement…until she begins to fall in love.

  Will Lily be able to show Ethan how to love again or will their hidden histories ruin their recipe for love? Find out in this irresistible new book from New York Times bestselling author Jean Oram.

  A Pinch of Commitment is the second book in the Veils and Vows series and it can be read out of series order and as a standalone. Start reading it today!

  A Pinch of Commitment

  Book 2 (Veils and Vows)

  By Jean Oram

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  © 2017 Jean Oram

  All rights reserved

  First Edition

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  Cover created by Jean Oram.

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  Thank you for downloading this ebook. Although in electronic form, it remains the copyrighted property of the author, and it cannot be reproduced, modified, copied and/or distributed by any means for commercial or non-commercial purposes whether the work is attributed or not, unless written permission has been granted by the author, with the exception of brief quotations for use in a review of this work. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite online vendor where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support. Keep reading!

  All characters and events appearing within this book are fictitious with the exception of Allison Fentriss who was a CLIC Sargent charity event winner and has been named within these pages. However, she has also been fictionalized to a certain extent and any other resemblances within these pages to real people, alive or dead, as well as any resemblance to events is coincidental. (And, truly, a little bit cool in a freaky sort of way.)

  ISBN: 978-1-928198-34-5

  0320

  Acknowledgments

  A big, generous thank you goes to Allison Fentriss who supported the annual CLIC Sargent Get in Character charity event that helps raise money in the U.K. for families with children with cancer. She was the winning bid to be named as a character in this book. Any errors in my representation of Allison are on me. Thank you for helping families in need, Allison!

  I’d also like to thank Donna W. and Mrs. X., Rachel B., Margaret C., Erin D. and Emily K. for their help with fine tuning Ethan and Lily’s story.

  And as always to my online writing support network which expands with every year. Writers are the best!

  XO,

  Jean Oram

  A Note from the Author

  Growing up, a friend and I often baked like Lily and Mandy did in this story. However, neither my friend nor I started a newsletter or went on to start any culinary-related businesses. But we did learn how to make a mean (that roughly translates as: unrivalled and delicious) Nanaimo bar (it’s a Canadian dessert) that her father liked to consume. In my friend’s kitchen I learned you can make a ‘pumpkin’ pie with carrots. You can separate an egg white and egg yolk without a fancy contraption and much more.

  However, learning to shop for groceries was a skill I picked up from my parents—especially stocking up on good deals. I still remember being embarrassed as a teen as I pushed an entire cart full of discounted two litre containers of pop (soda) through the store and was stopped by a neighbour who asked if we were having a party. Nope. We were just stocking up because money was tight and the deal was unreal. Now, I shamelessly load my own cart with deals, excited to be saving money on groceries as I feed my own family of four. Oh, how times change!

  I hope my readers enjoy this tale of friendship, family and love. (And that the pages within don’t make them recall their own silly, embarrassing stories from their youth.)

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  Happy reading,

  Jean Oram

  Alberta, Canada 2017

  1

  Ethan Mattson needed out. He needed a buyer to finally follow through and take his restaurant and catering business off his hands so he could focus on what he truly enjoyed—his web design company. Not slapping ham and cheese on rye multiple times a week.

  Ethan leaned back, peeking through the doorway that joined the kitchen’s prep area to the dining room of his sister’s café. He also needed to figure out why the hottie chatting with Mandy seemed familiar. The two were chatting as though they were long-lost friends and he wondered if the hottie was going to help out around the place when Mandy’s soon-to-be adopted newborn son arrived next week. If so, Ethan could use the distraction of a fling. Not that he had the time and energy for something like that these days, but it could be fun.

  Although the way the hottie held herself, bubbly and free, reminded him of Mandy’s old high school friend Lily Harper, a woman who’d definitely be off-limits. Then again, Lily had been more of a tomboy growing up, rejecting anything feminine, and this woman at the counter? There was nothing tomboy about her whatsoever. She was not Tagalong Lily. She was voluptuous, fit, and the sexiest thing he’d ever seen in the small town of Blueberry Springs, including his ex-fiancée the international model, who had left him a decade ago.

  Massaging a kink in his bothersome left shoulder, Ethan went back to making sandwiches for the town hall’s order. He should be grateful for the reliable business that his brother, Devon, the mayor, sent his way each month. He should also be grateful for how his sister had passed on her catering company when the café had taken off, helping him get a start on the road to independence and recovery after a particularly bad car accident had left him wheelchair bound for several years.

  But catering wasn’t his dream, his passion. It had once been construction. Putting up walls, roofs. Creating a home out of nothing but a pile of lumber and nails. The physical satisfaction of a hard day’s work. There had been nothing else like it in his life.

  And then a massive avalanche had swept his car off the road and down the side of the mountain on his way home from visiting his then fiancée, Dani Demare. The accident had taken everything away from him. His independence. His savings. His apartment. Even his fiancée when she found out he might never walk again.

  He still owed his dad and stepmom nearly six figures even though they said to forget the debt. And that was why, even though he receiv
ed no joy from working in the food business, he had purchased the town’s biggest restaurant, Benny’s Big Burger. But the place, even though it was fully staffed and only needed him there for a few hours a day, was proving to be more headache than profit and he needed it gone. Sold.

  Ethan fitted a slice of cheese on another sandwich. What he really needed now was luck. Lately, whenever he seemed to get close to a sale for his catering company and restaurant, something weird happened, chasing away the interested party. If that happened one more time he swore he’d cave and accept the disgustingly low offer he’d rejected several weeks ago. Anything so he’d have the time to pursue the lucrative web design contract business magnate Burke Carver had offered him.

  Ethan picked up a bamboo skewer to begin the task of creating colorful fruit kabobs. He ought to take the skewer and jam it through his eye. Every week it was the same order. Sandwiches. Fruit kabobs. Over and over again. If there’d been more profit in the job he’d have hired it out long ago.

  Finished, he tossed his tea towel across the prep area and turned down Mötley Crüe, then scrolled through the list of unread emails on his phone. He was slowly losing track of his web business.

  Ethan heard a warm voice say “Hello” and looked up, expecting to see the hottie from the café in the dining area’s doorway. Nobody was there. He turned, spotting a tall woman standing in the alley’s delivery entrance, her handcart ladened with boxes of lettuce. She was cute.

  “I like your uniform,” Ethan told her. The light blue shirt brought out her dark skin, the beige shorts showing off the fact that she worked out.

  She smiled shyly, her lashes lowering. “Thanks. I like your shirt.”

  He checked to see what he was wearing. Just a regular cotton number which was a bit small, causing it to pull across his chest. She was flirting with him. Nice. That didn’t happen often.

  “You can set the lettuce there.” He pointed to a corner. If he asked her out before she noticed his limp, his chances would be better. At least, if his history down at the local pub Brew Babies was any indicator. Women wanted men who were whole and capable, and his personality and general low level of charm weren’t quite enough to bring them past the fact that he was still slightly crippled despite numerous surgeries and years of physical therapy.

  A bumblebee buzzed in through the door behind the woman and she panicked, her ponytail swinging as she tried to duck. “Kill it!” she squealed as she swatted the air.

  “Aw, no. The poor thing’s just hungry.” The bee was hovering over his uncovered fruit platter. “It’s heard about my amazing kabobs and wants a taste.”

  “Bees freak me out!” She wrapped her arms around her head, ducking low as she scurried through the open door and out into the alley again.

  The bee finally settled on the fruit and Ethan gave it a moment to take a nibble, even though he knew he shouldn’t due to the food regulation acts his sister was always spouting on about. Then he slowly cupped his hands around the insect so he wouldn’t damage its wings.

  “Come on, little guy.” He gently lifted it as it buzzed in his hollowed hands, and ambled to the back door, his left leg dragging more than he’d like. Maybe the cutie would overlook that when she saw how he’d saved the day.

  “They don’t sting,” he said from the alley as he opened his hands. The bumblebee flew away, its wings hardly seeming able to carry its large, fuzzy body.

  “They freak me out.” The woman’s shoulders were still hunched, her eyes wide and on the lookout for more winged attackers.

  “Would you like an iced tea? Lemonade?”

  She watched him move. “Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?” Her eyes had drifted from his leg up to the thin scar that lined the edge of his mouth, her expression changing to one of caution. If he smiled, the scar would look like a charming laugh line. He didn’t smile. He could see her reassessing him, his manhood, his possible value to her within her able-bodied life. He didn’t blame her. She looked like she did the things he couldn’t—hike up steep mountain trails and camp out on the ground without waking up with frozen joints. It didn’t matter that he could still perform as a man should—he’d engaged in an experiment with one of his nurses after his accident to see if he still had his mojo, even though his legs hadn’t yet been working. He’d been able, but lying there had stolen what felt like the last thread of his manhood and he hadn’t bothered with another “experiment” since.

  Ethan shook off his thoughts with a scowl.

  “I’m fine and walking, aren’t I?” His tone was slightly curt. “It’s almost lunchtime. Care to join me?”

  “I’m sorry, I’ve got more deliveries.” She brushed past him, collecting her cart from the kitchen.

  “Another time then,” he said gruffly as she handed him her clipboard.

  “Yeah. Sure. Please sign.”

  Ethan scribbled his initials and returned to the kitchen, grumbling about women not wanting half a man. He found himself face-to-face with his sister and her friend the hottie. He quickly turned away, embarrassed that they’d likely witnessed him being rejected.

  He went to push past Mandy, but she stopped him, giving him a light smack on the chest. “What’s your problem?” she scolded.

  “What’s yours?” he retorted just as quickly. Having a sister who picked up on his every mood—and he had plenty—was a colossal pain in the you-know-what. It was as if she thought him smiling more would fix his life.

  Ethan glanced over at the hottie, who looked even sexier from the front. All curves and low neckline and high hemline. She dressed like a powerful businesswoman from the city and his mind spun down Dirty Avenue before his gaze had a chance to make its way up to check out her pretty face, which was quite likely to be filled with pity.

  She had beautiful eyes, no hint of pity, and a familiar pert nose speckled with freckles.

  Aw, man.

  Hottie was totally off-limits.

  He’d been jonesing for his sister’s childhood friend, Tagalong Lily. Sure, she wasn’t a kid any longer, but she was like a sister to him, a year younger than Mandy and several more junior to him. Not that it mattered as adults, but you didn’t think about a woman’s legs wrapped around your waist so you could fall into her if she was essentially family. You protected her from men with thoughts like his.

  He shook his head, disappointed in himself.

  “Hey,” said Hottie. Scratch that. Lily. Lily, Lily, Lily and her newfound hotness.

  Her cheeks were pink, her eyes filled with happiness at seeing him. Or something else. Probably something else. People generally weren’t delighted to see him. Something about his stormy moods that frequently rolled in. He should probably do something about that. If, say, he desired a social life and didn’t mind his bad days becoming a burden on others—but he believed his family and friends deserved more than that. They had their own lives to lead and he didn’t need them constantly worrying over him anymore.

  “Hey, Lilypad.”

  She gave him a sassy head tilt that exposed an expanse of smooth neck. Then, as though unable to hold back any longer, Lily yanked him into a fierce, brief hug that left him stumbling, his mind imprinted with one impression—she felt amazing pressed up against him.

  Last he’d heard from Moe—the bartender at Brew Babies—his younger sister, Lily, had been working in the city as some fancy-pants chef after cooking school or whatever it was called, and had broken up with the latest douche in a long line of men not good enough for her. Was she here to stay, or just to torment him with the fact that he hadn’t been with a woman in what felt like long enough to re-grant him his virginity and her middle name had been changed to Hot Stuff? Lily Hot Stuff Harper.

  Hello, libido, so nice of you to pop in and turn me into an imbecile with a one-track mind that likes to play in the gutter like a neglected orphan.

  Lily leaned in, her perfume soft and sweet, her hands light on his elbows as her lips neared his.

  He flinched, jerking away. Too late
, he realized she was only going in for a polite cheek kiss to top off her hug.

  She gave a smile, but the hurt in her eyes wasn’t easily masked. It reminded him of when, as a family guest at his high school graduation, she’d tried to kiss him goodbye since her family was moving to South Carolina to be closer to cousins. She’d been vulnerable, and it had been his job to protect her like a sibling, not take advantage of her. He’d pulled away, receiving the same look of rejection she was giving him now.

  “She wants to relieve you of your burdens,” Mandy said, jabbing a thumb in Lily’s direction.

  “She what?” His mouth went dry. Surely not that burden.

  All right. Gutter mind needed to take some time off. His eyes drifted to her long legs again before he caught himself.

  “Lily wants to buy your catering biz as well as Benny’s.” Mandy was speaking slowly, letting the lifeline hit the water, swirl around him, tempting him to change his drowning tune, grab hold and haul himself in.

  He could ditch this job.

  He could accept the contract from Burke Carver and his fashion-conscience company, Sustain It, Honey. Ethan could change the course of his business, helping him repay his dad and stepmom for the way they’d made their home wheelchair accessible so he could leave the rehab facility and eventually get his life back in order. Return the down payment they’d placed on his current home.