and tomato.” Kaiden took out a large cast-iron skillet. “Or have nothing. It’s entirely up to you.”
He busied himself gathering the ingredients and ignored Blaine, who remained in his seat hunched over his phone reminding Kaiden of Wes, but far less likeable.
“Where did you fly in from, Blaine?” Kaiden asked as he sliced the thick ham.
“San Francisco.”
“The big city, eh?”
“Yes, have you ever been there?”
“Once or twice. Not really my thing.”
“You prefer riding the range, singing around the campfire, and all that stuff?”
“Yeah, especially the beans and the farting.” Ignoring Blaine’s condescending tone took some doing, but Kaiden just about managed it. “Much healthier way to live.”
“Right, along with all that fat you’re cooking up.”
Kaiden turned to face Blaine and patted his flat stomach. “No fat on me, dude.” He ran his eye over the other man.
“You, on the other hand, look like you could do with losing a few pounds.”
Blaine flushed red. “I work out. I just have a very busy and important job, which means I don’t get a lot of leisure time.”
“Oh, right. That makes sense.” Kaiden turned back to the pan, which was heating up nicely. “I’ll go and check up on Mr. Garcia.”
He walked out, whistling, and checked that Juan was up from his nap and ready for his lunch. When he returned to the kitchen, Blaine was still hunched over his phone.
“I need to set the table.” Kaiden said. “Unless you want to help?”
“I don’t know where anything is.” Blaine cast a dismissive glance around the kitchen. “I still can’t believe Julie actually grew up here.”
“I’ll set the table.” Julia came back in. Her wet hair was tied back in a severe bun and she wore all black, which from his intimate knowledge of women Kaiden knew was a bad sign. “Did you call Dad, Kaiden?”
“Yes, he’s coming.”
Kaiden turned back to the skillet and carefully placed the cooked potatoes in on one side and the ham on the other. The sizzling sound of the fat hitting the hot surface made his stomach growl. He flipped the ham, left the potatoes to brown up on the skin side, and put the halved tomatoes in. With the high heat radiating from the pan the meal wouldn’t take long to cook.
Julia set four plates on the table and the silverware while Blaine just sat there like a sack of potatoes. If he took a wild guess, Kaiden imagined the guy had never done a thing to help anyone in his life. No wonder Julia didn’t like him. Kaiden wasn’t a fan, either. Juan wheeled himself through the door in his wheelchair and Julia smiled at him.
“Dad, this is Blaine Purvis. He works with me at MZB.”
Juan held out his hand and Blaine shook it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, son. I’m sorry you had to come all this way to meet with my daughter.”
“It’s no bother, Mr. Garcia.”
At least Blaine was being polite to Julia’s father. If he hadn’t been, Kaiden might have been wielding the skillet a bit too close to his head.
“Lunch is ready.” He carried the heavy pan over to the table and set it in the center. “Why don’t you go first, Juan?”
“No, that should be our guest.” Juan smiled at Blaine, who was licking his lips at the sight of the ham.
“Nah, he only wants the potatoes and tomatoes.” Kaiden leaned over and started dumping the ham on three plates. “He can wait until everyone else has got theirs.”
* * *
Julia watched as Kaiden somehow managed to reduce Blaine to a mere inconvenience and wanted to hug him. Blaine had put her in an impossible situation. For a moment when he’d stared at her like she was trash, she’d thought of just quitting right there and to hell with the consequences. Kaiden’s unexpected support was strengthening her resolve. She’d deal with Blaine in as short a time as possible and send him on his way. As soon as she got back to San Francisco, she would start looking for a new job.
Kaiden carried on a conversation with her and her father about the restoration of the chicken coop, the plumber who was coming to start on the bathroom renovations on Monday, and anything else that politely excluded Blaine from voicing his opinion. Of course he still did, but somehow he always ended up looking stupid, which was highly gratifying. Not that he realized he looked stupid, because he was far too conceited to notice.
It did help having someone pointing out how