With No Reservations. Laurie Tomlinson

He’d made a fortune selling fast-casual restaurant templates. Make-and-take pizza parlors. Noodle buffets. Cupcake and doughnut boutiques. He could feed a third-world country for a year by selling one of his custom suits—or denying one of his wife du jour’s plastic surgery whims. Marian used to be married to that guy?

      Relieved that this conference call was just a preemptive announcement, Sloane zoned out as Kathryn went on about “strategic partnerships” and “trend forecasts.” All Sloane could focus on was her overwhelming urge to reach through the computer screen and adjust Dana’s glasses, which were tilted a few degrees lower on her right eye.

      When she heard the words national network spokesperson, however, Sloane’s attention snapped to the nasal, authoritative voice of the VisibilityNet founder.

      “Wait. What?” She registered her own deer-in-the-headlights expression on the screen.

      “That’s where you come in, naturally,” Kathryn said. “Marian convinced them to hire you specifically. And it’s perfect because you’re local.”

      Panic gripped Sloane with razor-sharp claws as her fight-or-flight mechanism went from zero to sixty in a heartbeat. She nodded in the right places and scribbled notes on the pad of paper she’d placed on her makeshift desk for ceremony, never expecting to actually use it.

      Son’s restaurant opening this winter.

      Recipe development.

      Reviews.

      Basically, VisibilityNet expected Sloane to shake hands with a lot of highbrow people.

      In person. Wearing real pants.

      This could not be happening.

      Shaky words formed on the tip of her tongue. “And if I choose not to agree to this partnership?” Too late to take them back.

      Dana paled, her eyes widening in shock.

      “There is no choice in the matter.” Kathryn let out a singsong little laugh.

      Great. She thought the whole thing was a joke.

      “Listen. We have a pretty good arrangement, Sloane. We increased your revenue percentage and gave you our top-tier accounts because people have been eating out of the palm of your hand with that whole organized food prep shtick.”

      “But—”

      “Because of us, you get to work with some of the highest-grossing companies in the food industry. And all you have to do is put on a pretty face and post pretty little pictures of your food.”

      Sloane sighed. “I know, but I don’t think you understand.”

      “I understand this.” A muscle twitched in Kathryn’s face. “You’re contractually bound to do this and breaking your contract would mean severing ties with VisibilityNet. If you don’t do this restaurant opening, then we don’t get J. Marian Restaurants. A partnership with them on a national level.”

      “Just be the charming character who’s won over hundreds of thousands of page views this quarter.” Dana upped the pleasantries before Sloane could fight back. “It won’t be a problem for you.”

      No problem? Right. They had no clue who they were sending to their front lines. No idea that, if her track record was any indication, their leader in ad revenue was about to be their undoing.

      “Besides, the majority of your obligations surround the restaurant launch date. In a few months, it’ll be like nothing ever happened.”

      A few months. Sloane could handle a few months, especially if the alternative meant losing her primary source of income. The non-compete agreement she’d signed ensured she would never receive so much as a coupon from those companies if she ever left.

      VisibilityNet had a list of bloggers who would jump out of a moving train for those accounts. But losing VisibilityNet would change everything for her.

      Sloane made nice for the rest of the conversation and ended the call, gulping in a deep breath to try to get the elephant on her chest to budge. No such luck. Her cell phone lit up immediately, and she snatched it before it could buzz.

      “Dana, we’re in trouble.”

      “What? Who’s in trouble?” It wasn’t Dana’s chirpy voice on the other end.

      It was her mother’s.

      “Hi, Mom.” She forced a smile in an effort to hide the panic in her voice. “I thought you were someone else.”

      “Who’s in trouble?”

      Sloane let out a breath slowly. “It’s nothing. Just a new contract they gave me today. Work stuff. It’ll be fine.” She winced at the last word. Fine. Everything was always fine. Only, it wasn’t.

      “Does that mean you can’t come home for Thanksgiving? Or Christmas?”

      Home. The little town in Indiana hadn’t resembled home to her in ages.

      She padded into her bedroom and folded the ironing board with a loud screech. “Yeah, no, Mom. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it this year. Maybe in the spring.”

      “That’s what you said last year.”

      A stake of guilt punched through Sloane’s heart as she paced to the kitchen. That’s what she’d said for so many years.

      “Would it be better if we came to you?”

      “Well, with this new contract, life’s going to be pretty busy.” Sloane pulled a dustrag from a drawer and began scrubbing the dishes and props on the rolling wire pantry in her kitchen.

      “As long as you’re taking care of yourself, Sloanie. Spending time with your friends. Going to church. You’ve made friends, right?”

      “Yes, ma’am.” Probably not in the sense her mother meant, but she had friends.

      By the time she hung up with her mother, two rows of pots and dishes gleamed, and every limb in her body was itching to medicate with a few miles of downtown Dallas pavement. To help her process this new work arrangement as something that was manageable—and now to take the edge off of the reminder of why her mother had called.

      It was his birthday.

      She bit her lip against the pressure of tears building between her temples and crouched to the immaculate tile floor. Bracing herself, yet again, for the crush of painful memories.

      But in a way, Sloane saw a silver lining in the conversation. Another one of her mother’s semiregular attempts to reach out was over.

      There was now one less time she had to remind her parents that the daughter they knew was gone. Things would never be the way they used to be.

       CHAPTER TWO

      IT WAS RAINING so hard that Sloane only caught glimpses of the buildings outside the car in between broad swipes of the windshield wipers. But according to her phone’s GPS, the brick storefront barely visible from the rear window was the right location for J. Marian Restaurants’ latest franchise venture, Simone.

      She grabbed her compact umbrella. “Thanks,” she told the driver, opened the door—and immediately stepped into a gargantuan puddle that soaked her black pants to midshin.

      If this was seventy-five and sunny like the local news had forecasted, then Sloane was the queen of England.

      Rainwater sloshed in her black flats as she scurried under the awning and through the heavy wooden door.

      This couldn’t be right. The inside of this café was nothing like J. Marian Restaurants’ other prototypes—usually sunny and cheerful with modern decor, bright flowers and lots of clean lines. The best way to describe this place was a cozy, inviting cavern with a modern industrial edge to it. The walls were painted a dark gray framed by exposed