Angels Fall

while now, Slim. You'll be back on it if you try for this. Reporters, questions. You'll have to decide if you're up for it."
    "'Mass-murder survivor, former mental patient writes gourmet cookbook.' I get it. Shit."
    "Something to think about."
    "I guess it is." She looked around, the water, the mountains, the marsh. Willows dipped their feathery green leaves into the water. Across the lake, a silver fish wmuled in.idly on the end of Carl's line. It was so beautiful, so peaceful—and there was no place to hide. "She may not represent it anyway. And even it she does," Reece considered, "she may not be able to sell it." She looked back at Brody.
    "It's a lot of big steps."
    "Smaller ones get you to the same place, but they take a hell of a lot longer. So figure out where you want to go, and how long you want to take to get there." He took another bite of his sandwich. "Why'd you put paninis on Joanie's menu today?"
    "Because they're good, fun, fast. Add a little variety."
    "Another reason '—he gestured with the sandwich—"you're creative. You can't stifle it. You like to feed people, but you like to do it your own way, or at least add a dash of yourself to the process. If you keep working there, you're going to be compelled to put yourself into it, little by little." She shifted on the bench, uncomfortable because she knew he was right. Knew she was already doing just that. "I'm not trying to take over."
    "No. But you're not just trying to fit in anymore. The Fist's never going to be Jackson Hole." Contused now. Reece shook her head. "Okay."
    "But it's going to grow. Look again," he suggested, and gestured to the mountains. "People want that. The view, the air, the lake, the trees. Some want it for a weekend, or a couple of weeks on vacation. Some want it for good, or for a second home where they can boat or ski or ride horses. The more crowded the cities and the burbs get, the more people want a place that isn't for their alternative time. The thing about people is. they always need to eat."
    She uncapped the bottle of water she'd brought along for herself. "Is this a convoluted way of suggesting I open a restaurant here?"

    "No. First, you'd seriously piss Joanie off. Second, you don't want to run a restaurant. You want to run a kitchen. Do you know who happens to be the biggest entrepreneur in Angel's Fist?
    "Not offhand, no."
    "Joanie Parks."
    "Come on. I know she owns a couple of places."
    "Angel Food, half the hotel, my cabin and three others, four houses, just in the Fist, and a chunk of acreage in and outside it. She owns the building that holds Teton Gallery and Just Gifts."
    "You're kidding. She squawks if I want to spend a few cents extra on arugula."
    "Which is why she owns a big handful of the town. She's frugal."
    "I've come to love and admire her. but come on. She's cheap." He grinned as he lifted his take-away cup again. "Is that any way to talk about your business partner?"
    "How does she go from my boss to my partner?"
    "When you propose to her that she open a Casual Gourmet on the opposite side of town from the diner. A small, intimate restaurant, with upscale yet accessible dining."
    "She'd never… She might. Small, intimate for that special night out or that fancy ladies' lunch. Hmmm. Hmmm. Lunch and dinner service only. Revolving menu. Hmmm."
    The third  Hmmm  had Brody fighting hack a smile. Her brain was already caught up in the idea. Her nerve, he imagined, would catch up quickly enough.
    "Or course, it depends on where you want to go."
    "And how long I want to take to get there. You're a sneaky bastard. Brody, putting that seed in my head. I won't be able to get it out."
    "Gives you a lot to think about. Are you going to eat the other half of that sandwich? " Grinning, she passed it over, and the cell phone in her pocket rang. "Nobody calls me,'" Reece began as she dug it out. "'I wonder why I carry it most of the time. Hello?"
    "Reece Gilmore?"
    "Yes."
    "It's Serge. I made you beautiful in Jackson."
    "Oh, yes. Serge. Um, how are you?"
    "Absolutely fine, and hoping you and Linda-gail will come back to visit me."
    Instinctively, Reece lifted a hand to her breeze-tousled hair. She could use a trim, no question. But she also needed to pay her car insurance. "I'll have to talk to her about that."
    "Meanwhile, I called about the picture you left with me. The flyer?"
    "The sketch? You recognized her?"
    "I didn't, no. But I just hired a new shampoo girl who thinks she does. Do you want me to