Chapter 1

The sound resounded around the suddenly quiet bar as Matti’s hand left the boy’s forehead.

“Dude! What did you do that for?” young, scrawny Taylor asked, his china blue eyes wide with shock.

“For ignoring my warnings about being stupid,” Matti declared. He watched as Taylor’s normally pale skin turned a striking red where Matti’s hand had landed. Oh shank! He thought as he beat a hasty retreat to the kitchen.

He leaned against the inside of the kitchen door, and closed his eyes. What the hell had just happened? Had he really just slapped young Taylor Burman against the forehead? He pinched the bridge of his nose, and bit his lip, but it wasn’t enough to stop the fits of laughter.

“You okay, chil’?” He looked at his kitchen manager through blurred eyes. Ma May was five–foot–nothing, and she always reminded him of the chocolate version of Mrs Pillsbury. She was from the depths of Louisiana, with her roots firmly set in her Creole ancestry. She had bright gray hair and the softest hazel eyes that invited your confidence. She also had the gentlest touch that could either soothe a young man’s foolishness or mix up the lightest batch of muffins. Ma May was the grandmother the Billow boys had never had.

She was also the last person Matti wanted to tell about what just happened with Taylor. “Just something that happened in the bar, Ma. How’s my orders doing?”