In the Eye of the Storm by Jennifer Hayden Page A

than toaster pastries and Super Sugar Puffs.
    “I like to cook,” he went on. “Mamaw, my grandmother, taught me a lot about the kitchen when I was barely old enough to turn on the burner.”
    Kate had met Mamaw at Trey and Kylie’s wedding. She was deeply loved by all of her grandchildren, that was obvious. “I’m impressed. I can cook a mean toaster pastry.”
    He chuckled, but didn’t comment.
    “My car runs great by the way. I should thank you for that.”
    “Not a problem.” He grabbed a loaf of whole wheat bread. “I can do your brakes too when you get some time. You really should have those taken care of before they cause a problem.”
    “I’ll get to it eventually.”
    “I can drive you to work some time and take the Explorer if you want. I’d be finished before you’re done at school.”
    This guy was either really bored or a saint, she thought. He was bored, she decided a moment later, when he grabbed every sports magazine he could find off the shelf and tossed them all into his cart. Then he went after the auto mechanics.
    “How about tomorrow? Drive over and you can have breakfast with us. Then you can drive to school with Kylie.”
    “A real breakfast, huh? With eggs and bacon and French toast?” The mere thought of such food was making her mouth water. She was starving.
    “I can probably manage that. How about if you come over around seven?”
    “I’m not letting you pay for my brakes, Beau,” she finally said. “You’ve paid for too much already.”
    He studied her for a moment. “Brake pads are thirty bucks or so, Kate. They’re not going to break my bank.”
    “Still, they’re my expense, not yours. I can’t let you keep paying for things.”
    “Suit yourself. I won’t argue with you about it.” They reached the ice cream aisle. Both looked over the selection carefully. Beau selected some Rocky Road and some Butter Brickle. Kate went for Vanilla with Carmel.
    After that, they headed to the counter to pay. He went first. She watched as the sales girl stared at him intently while he slid his debit card through the machine. She may as well have been batting her eyelashes at him. Her lips spread into a wide grin.
    Kate rolled her eyes and waited.
    “You look real familiar,” the girl said.
    Beau smiled halfway and took the receipt she offered him. “I get that a lot. They say everyone looks like someone.”
    Kate tapped her foot impatiently. The girl behind the counter looked her way and glared,

7
    True his word, Beau was up at five-thirty and went to work making a breakfast fit for a king. He fried up some eggs and bacon, whipped up some of Mamaw’s famous cinnamon French toast and even squeezed some fresh orange juice. By the time Kylie and Trey came out, showered and dressed for work, breakfast was on the table and Kate was knocking on the door.
    “Kate’s riding to work with you,” he told Kylie as he walked over to let her in. “I’m doing her brakes today.”
    Kylie exchanged a glance with Trey, who shook his head in warning. Beau saw them in the mirror over the fireplace and frowned. He opened the door and let Kate in, who cursed a blue streak.
    “It’s getting colder than Alaska around here. I’m going to move to Hawaii.”
    “It’s getting close to winter,” Kylie reminded her. “Sit down. Beau made enough food for an army.”
    Kate took her coat off and set it on a chair with her purse. Then they all sat down.
    “You didn’t have to get up so early and go to all this trouble. I usually just do cereal during the week,” Kylie said, digging into her French toast.
    “Me too,” Kate agreed.
    “You mean toaster pastries,” Beau said, grinning as he drank some coffee.
    “I like cereal too.”
    “Super Sugar Puffs, I know.”
    Almost forgetting about Trey and Kylie, Beau straightened. They were both staring at him as though he’d gone n a breakfast fit for a king.s b the babyuts.
    “We ran into each other at the store last night,” he said